Int. No. 56
By Council Members Ossé, Restler, Stevens, Gutiérrez, Brewer, Hudson, Hanif, Ung, Cabán, Rivera, Avilés, Louis, Won, Farías, Abreu, Joseph, Schulman, Narcisse and Krishnan
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the administration for children’s services to report annually on the number of and placement of LGBTQ+ foster youth
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 9 of title 21 of the administrative code of the City of New York is amended by adding a new section 21-922 to read as follows:
§ 21-922 Survey on foster youth placement. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the term “LGBTQ+” means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-heterosexual orientations or non-cisgender gender identities.
b. No later than October 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, ACS shall provide to all youth in foster care ages 13 and older a survey regarding such youth’s identification as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, racial identity, and placement into permanent homes. For youth placed with foster parents, such surveys shall be administered in a location other than the foster parents’ home, or administered online or through a mobile application. ACS shall explain the purpose of the survey and how the privacy of survey respondents will be protected.
c. No later than 120 days after the administration of the survey required pursuant to subdivision b of this section, ACS shall submit to the speaker of the council and make available on its website an anonymous report aggregating information on youth in foster care including:
1. The number of youth in foster care;
2. The number of youth in foster care who have been placed in a permanent home;
3. The number of youth in foster care who identify as LGBTQ+;
4. The number of youth in foster care who identify as LGBTQ+ who have been placed in a permanent home;
5. The number of youth in foster care who identify as LGBTQ+ disaggregated by specific LGBTQ+ identity;
6. The number of youth in foster care who identify as LGBTQ+ who have been placed in a permanent home disaggregated by specific LGBTQ+ identity;
7. The racial identity of youth in foster care;
8. The racial identity of youth in foster care who have been placed in a permanent home;
9. The combined racial and LGBTQ+ identity of youth in foster care; and
10. The combined racial and LGBTQ+ identity of youth in foster care who have been placed in a permanent home.
d. No information that is otherwise required to be reported pursuant to this section shall be reported in a manner that would violate any applicable provision of federal, state or local law relating to the privacy of information relating to youth in foster care or that would interfere with law enforcement investigations or otherwise conflict with the interests of law enforcement. If any category requested contains between 1 and 5 youth in foster care, or allows another category to be narrowed to between 1 and 5 youth in foster care, the number shall be replaced with a symbol. ACS shall not attribute survey responses to individuals. Any records accumulated in the survey collection shall be destroyed after the completion of the report aggregating such records.
§2. This local law takes effect immediately.
Session 13
LS #9668
1/25/2024
Session 12
RL
LS #9668
7/29/2022