Children and Families

This bill changes the timeframe for adoptive parents to cover certain birth-related expenses for the birth mother. It extends the period from 60 days before birth and 30 days after birth to 180 days before birth and 45 days after birth. The change directly affects adoptive parents and birth mothers in New York adoption cases, allowing payments for reasonable costs like housing, medical care, or transportation during pregnancy and shortly after birth. The bill maintains existing restrictions, such as prohibiting payments to unauthorized agencies and requiring court approval for exceptions beyond the new timeframes.

Bill A 8248 streamlines the New York City Department of Investigation's (NYC DOI) access to records concerning children and vulnerable persons. It removes existing requirements for state agencies, such as the Department of Social Services or Justice Center, to give prior approval before the NYC DOI can access identifying information in child abuse or vulnerable persons reports. The bill explicitly grants the NYC DOI broader access to these records for its investigations, including those probing allegations of improperly conducted investigations by local child protective services. These changes aim to enhance the NYC DOI's ability to conduct investigations within its legal authority.

This bill allows social services workers, including those in child welfare, to complete required training courses using remote or distance learning methods. It permits counties to adopt local rules enabling their departments to use these online options for specific training needs, provided the courses verify that participants are present and can interact with instructors. The change applies to prospective and current agency personnel involved in foster care, adoption, and preventive services, effective immediately upon passage.

Directs the department of social services to establish an outdoor, nature-based child care pilot project to explore establishing licensing guidelines for the operation of outdoor, nature-based child care programs in an outdoor space and that employ a nature-based early learning curriculum to teach enrolled children.

Provides that the retention of the child in the home of a non-respondent parent with whom the child resided prior to the filing of the proceeding under this article shall not constitute a release or placement; requires that where, during the pendency of a proceeding under this article, a child either remains in the home of a non-respondent parent or parents or is released to a non-respondent parent or parents, the court may require the cooperation of such non-respondent parent or parents to the extent necessary to meet the needs of the child with respect to the proceeding, including, but not limited to, a direction to make the child available for court-ordered visitation with respondents, siblings and others, as well as appointments with the child's attorney, clinician or other individual or program providing services to the child during the pendency of the proceeding.