Bill Text: NY A01760 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes the youth in progress advisory board and regional teams for adolescents in foster care to provide mentorship of youths in foster care; requires reporting.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-14 - referred to children and families [A01760 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A01760-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1760

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 14, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  CUNNINGHAM  -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Children and Families

        AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to establishing the
          youth in progress statewide advisory  board  and  regional  teams  for
          adolescents in foster care for the state

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Article 6 of the social services law is amended by adding a
     2  new title 1-B to read as follows:

     3                                  TITLE 1-B
     4                              YOUTH IN PROGRESS

     5  Section 394-h. Youth in progress.
     6    § 394-h. Youth in progress.  1. The youth in progress statewide  advi-
     7  sory  board  is hereby established for the purposes of bringing together
     8  youth age fourteen and older who are or have  been  in  foster  care  in
     9  order  to  discuss  common  experiences,  ideas  and concerns. The local
    10  social services departments, authorized agencies serving adolescents  in
    11  foster care, the office of children and family services, and contractors
    12  of  the office may recruit appropriate youth to participate in the youth
    13  in progress statewide advisory board and regional teams on  a  voluntary
    14  basis.
    15    2.  The  office  of  children and family services shall facilitate the
    16  formation of regional youth in progress teams and assist in  identifying
    17  an  adult  mentor  for  each  youth  team  member. The regional youth in
    18  progress teams and adult mentors shall meet on a regular basis and shall
    19  conduct periodic regional forums for foster care youth to speak  out  on
    20  issues of interest to adolescents in foster care.
    21    3.  The  youth  in  progress  statewide advisory board shall include a
    22  representative from the regional teams that will advise  the  office  of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01960-01-5
        A. 1760                             2

     1  children and family services and the council on children and families on
     2  issues  relating  to  foster care. In each of the six office of children
     3  and family services regions the youth in progress regional team or teams
     4  shall  nominate  up  to  four  youth  members and their adult mentors to
     5  participate in the youth in progress statewide advisory board. In  addi-
     6  tion,  four  youth currently or formerly placed with the office of chil-
     7  dren and family services' division of juvenile justice and opportunities
     8  for youth shall be selected by the members  of  the  youth  in  progress
     9  statewide  advisory board, to be members of the advisory board's member-
    10  ship. The youth in progress statewide advisory board shall  have  up  to
    11  twenty-eight youth participants and shall meet at least three times each
    12  year.
    13    4.  (a)  The  youth  in progress statewide advisory board may issue an
    14  annual report with its recommendations on issues of interest to  adoles-
    15  cents  in  foster  care. The report may include other information on the
    16  activities of the youth in progress statewide advisory board. The office
    17  of children and family services shall provide  technical  assistance  to
    18  the  youth  in progress statewide advisory board, including distribution
    19  of the annual report. Such reports shall be made available to the public
    20  and shall be submitted to:  the governor, the legislature, the  director
    21  of  the council on children and families, and the member agencies of the
    22  council on children and families. The contents of the youth in  progress
    23  annual  report shall be solely the work product of the youth in progress
    24  statewide advisory board and its members, and shall not  be  revised  or
    25  edited by the office of children and family services.
    26    (b)  At  least  sixty  days prior to the commissioner of the office of
    27  children and family services final approval  of  rules  and  regulations
    28  pertaining  to  foster  care or services for adolescents who are or have
    29  been in foster care, other than emergency  rules  and  regulations,  the
    30  commissioner  shall  submit  the  proposed  rules and regulations to the
    31  youth in progress statewide advisory board  for  review.  The  youth  in
    32  progress statewide advisory board may report its recommendations thereon
    33  to the commissioner of the office of children and family services within
    34  sixty days.
    35    §  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    36  have become a law.