Bill Text: NY S06518 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes the social services department to terminate the subsidies that may be provided to a parent who adopts a disabled or hard to place child under certain circumstances.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-20 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S06518 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S06518-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6518 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 30, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. AVELLA -- 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, in relation to the adoption subsidies provided for disabled or hard to place children The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 453 of the social 2 services law, as amended by chapter 83 of the laws of 1995, is amended 3 and four new paragraphs (c-2), (c-3), (c-4) and (c-5) are added to read 4 as follows: 5 (c) No payments may be made pursuant to this subdivision if the social 6 services official determines that the adoptive parents are no longer 7 legally responsible for the support of the child or the child is no 8 longer receiving any support from such parents. For purposes of this 9 section: 10 (i) "any support" shall be limited to support that is directly for the 11 benefit of the adopted child that meets the food, clothing, education, 12 medical and shelter needs of the adopted child and that has an identifi- 13 able value; 14 (ii) "no longer legally responsible for the support of the child" 15 means (A) the child has become legally emancipated, married or joined 16 the military; or (B) a court has ruled that the adoptive parent is no 17 longer legally responsible for the support of the child. 18 (c-1) The social services official on [a biennial] an annual basis 19 shall: 20 (i) require adoptive parents to certify that they are fulfilling their 21 obligations pursuant to any adoption subsidy agreement entered into in 22 accordance with this section, including their obligation to provide 23 support for the child; 24 (ii) remind the adoptive parents of [their obligation] the following 25 obligations, which shall also be included in any agreement entered into EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11815-02-7S. 6518 2 1 with an adoptive parent concerning payments made for the care and main- 2 tenance of the child pursuant to this section: 3 (A) to support the child [and]; 4 (B) to notify the social services official if the adoptive parents are 5 no longer providing any support of the child or are no longer legally 6 responsible for the support of the child[.]; and 7 (C) to notify the social services official if: (I) another person has 8 been granted physical custody of the child; (II) another person has been 9 appointed guardian for the child; or (III) the child no longer resides 10 with the adoptive parent. 11 (c-2) If the adoptive parent fails to respond to an annual certif- 12 ication notice within thirty days of the receipt of the certification 13 notice from the social services official, the social services official 14 may: 15 (i)(A) contact the adoptive parent by letter, telephone or electronic 16 means; or (B) if other means of contact have not been successful, visit 17 the home of the adoptive parent; and 18 (ii) require the adoptive parent, as a condition for the continuation 19 of the subsidy payments, to produce evidence of the support that is 20 being provided on behalf of the adopted child. 21 (c-3) (i) If the social services official receives from any person 22 information that provides reasonable cause to suspect that the adoptive 23 parent is no longer providing any support to the child, the social 24 services official shall review whether the adoptive parents are legally 25 responsible for the support of the child and whether the child is 26 receiving any support from the adoptive parents. Circumstances in which 27 the social services official shall conduct this review include the 28 following: 29 (A) the child has been placed in foster care; 30 (B) a person alleges to the social services official that: 31 (I) a person other than the adoptive parent has been granted legal 32 custody of the child; 33 (II) another person has been appointed guardian for the child, or 34 (III) the child is found to no longer reside with the adoptive parent. 35 (ii) In conducting the review described in this paragraph, the social 36 services official may: 37 (A) contact the adoptive parent by letter, telephone, electronic, or 38 other means; 39 (B) visit the home of the adoptive parent; and 40 (C) require the adoptive parent, as a condition for the continuation 41 of the subsidy payments, to produce evidence of the support that is 42 being provided on behalf of the adopted child. 43 (iii) If the child is not in foster care and the social services offi- 44 cial determines that the adoptive parents are no longer legally respon- 45 sible for the support of the child or that the child is no longer 46 receiving any support from the adoptive parents, the social services 47 official shall terminate the assistance provided to the adoptive parents 48 pursuant to this section. The adoptive parents may appeal the termi- 49 nation of assistance to the department in accordance with section twen- 50 ty-two of this chapter. 51 (iv) If the child is in foster care and the social services official 52 determines that the child is no longer receiving any support from the 53 adoptive parents, the social services official may reduce, suspend, or 54 terminate the assistance provided to the adoptive parents pursuant to 55 this section. The adoptive parents may appeal the termination of assist- 56 ance to the department in accordance with section twenty-two of thisS. 6518 3 1 chapter. If assistance is reduced, suspended or terminated pursuant to 2 this paragraph and the child is returned from foster care to the care of 3 the adoptive parents, the social services official shall resume assist- 4 ance effective from the date when the child was returned to the adoptive 5 parent's care. 6 (c-4) If the social services official terminates the adoption assist- 7 ance provided to adoptive parents pursuant to paragraph (c-three) of 8 this subdivision and the child resides with another person who has been 9 granted physical custody or appointed as guardian of the child, the 10 social services official shall enter into a written agreement to make 11 adoption assistance payments to the custodian or guardian. Such payments 12 shall be made retroactive from the termination of assistance to the 13 adoptive parents pursuant to paragraph (c-three) of this subdivision and 14 shall be made until the child's twenty-first birthday. A custodian or 15 guardian who receives adoption assistance payments pursuant to this 16 paragraph shall be subject to the same requirements that apply to adop- 17 tive parents under this section. 18 (c-5) If the social services official terminates the adoption assist- 19 ance provided to adoptive parents pursuant to paragraph (c-three) of 20 this subdivision after the eighteenth birthday and before the twenty- 21 first birthday of the adopted child, and no person other than the adop- 22 tive parents has legal custody or guardianship of the child, the social 23 services official shall make payments to the child: 24 (i) through direct payments to the child, if the social services offi- 25 cial determines the child demonstrates the ability to manage such direct 26 payments; or 27 (ii) to a representative payee certified by the social services offi- 28 cial in accordance with paragraph (g) of this subdivision. 29 § 2. Clause (B) of subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (g) of subdivision 30 1 of section 453 of the social services law, as added by chapter 518 of 31 the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 32 (B) If the twenty-first birthday of the child occurs while awaiting 33 the certification of a representative payee, the child shall be entitled 34 to retroactive direct payment of subsidy payments since the death of the 35 adoptive parent or parents or the termination of assistance to the adop- 36 tive parent or parents pursuant to paragraph (c-three) of this subdivi- 37 sion after the eighteenth birthday of the child. 38 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 453 of the social services law, as 39 amended by chapter 83 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as 40 follows: 41 2. [The] Any agreement provided for in subdivision one of this section 42 shall be subject to the approval of the department upon the application 43 of the social services official; provided, however, that in accordance 44 with the regulations of the department, the department may authorize the 45 social services official to approve or disapprove the agreement on 46 behalf of the department. In either situation, if the agreement is not 47 approved or disapproved by the social services official within thirty 48 days of submission, the voluntary authorized agency may submit the 49 agreement directly to the department for approval or disapproval. If the 50 agreement is not disapproved in writing by the department within thirty 51 days after its submission to the department, it shall be deemed 52 approved. Any such disapproval shall be accompanied by a written state- 53 ment of the reasons therefor. 54 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
