Bill Text: NY S01605 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to the provision of criminal history background checks free of charge to mentoring programs operated by not-for-profit corporations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-06 - referred to children and families [S01605 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S01605-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1605

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 13, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. SERRANO, KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to  the  Committee  on  Children  and
          Families

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  social  services  law and the executive law, in
          relation to the provision of criminal history background  checks  free
          of  charge  to  mentoring  programs  operated by not-for-profit corpo-
          rations

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

     1    Section  1. Subdivision 4 of section 390-e of the social services law,
     2  as added by chapter 459 of the laws of  2006,  is  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    4. Every mentoring program that chooses to apply for a criminal histo-
     5  ry background check with the division of criminal justice services shall
     6  obtain  a  set  of fingerprints from each individual for whom a criminal
     7  background check is to be completed and such  other  information  as  is
     8  required  by  the  office and the division of criminal justice services.
     9  For each prospective employee or mentor for whom the  mentoring  program
    10  completes  a  criminal  background  check,  the  mentoring program shall
    11  provide the applicant with blank fingerprint cards and a description  of
    12  how  the  completed fingerprint card will be used upon submission to the
    13  mentoring program. The mentoring program shall  promptly  transmit  such
    14  fingerprint  card and the processing fee to the office; provided, howev-
    15  er, if the mentoring program is  operated  by  a  not-for-profit  corpo-
    16  ration,  no  processing  fee  shall be imposed for a criminal background
    17  check. The office shall promptly submit the  fingerprint  card  and  the
    18  processing  fee,  if  imposed pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section
    19  eight hundred thirty-seven of the executive  law,  to  the  division  of
    20  criminal justice services for its full search and retain processing.
    21    §  2.  Subdivision 8-a of section 837 of the executive law, as amended
    22  by chapter 561 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04792-01-3
        S. 1605                             2

     1    8-a. Charge a fee when, pursuant to statute or the regulations of  the
     2  division,  it  conducts  a  search  of  its criminal history records and
     3  returns a report thereon in connection with an application  for  employ-
     4  ment  or for a license or permit. The division shall adopt and may, from
     5  time  to  time,  amend a schedule of such fees which shall be in amounts
     6  determined by the division to be  reasonably  related  to  the  cost  of
     7  conducting such searches and returning reports thereon but, in no event,
     8  shall  any  such  fee  exceed  twenty-five  dollars  and  an  additional
     9  surcharge of fifty dollars. The  comptroller  is  hereby  authorized  to
    10  deposit  such  fees  into  the general fund, provided, however, that the
    11  monies received by the division of criminal justice services for payment
    12  of the additional surcharge shall be deposited in equal amounts  to  the
    13  general  fund  and  to  the  fingerprint  identification  and technology
    14  account. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the division shall  not  request
    15  or  accept  any  fee  for searching its records and supplying a criminal
    16  history report pursuant to section two hundred fifty-one-b of the gener-
    17  al business law relating to participating in flight instruction  at  any
    18  aeronautical  facility, flight school or institution of higher learning,
    19  or pursuant to section three hundred ninety-e of the social services law
    20  when the division is supplying a criminal history report to a  mentoring
    21  program operated by a not-for-profit corporation.
    22    §  3.  Paragraph  (c)  of subdivision 1 of section 390-e of the social
    23  services law, as added by chapter 459 of the laws of 2006, is amended to
    24  read as follows:
    25    (c) "Mentoring program" shall mean a formalized program, operated by:
    26    (i) a corporation which has been incorporated pursuant to subparagraph
    27  five of paragraph (a) of section one hundred two of  the  not-for-profit
    28  corporation  law  or  pursuant  to subparagraph four of paragraph (a) of
    29  section one hundred two of the business corporation  law[,  or  operated
    30  by];
    31    (ii) an educational institution or school district, that matches youth
    32  with  adult  volunteers  with  the  purpose of providing such youth with
    33  positive role models to enhance their development; or
    34    (iii) a youth sports program.
    35    § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
    36  have become a law.