NY State Senate Bill 2015-S62

Senate Bill S62

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Expands the duties of the office of children and family services concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender runaway and homeless youth

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 12, 2016	reported and committed to finance
Jan 06, 2016	referred to children and families
Jan 07, 2015	referred to children and families

Votes

- Apr 12, 2016 - Children And Families Committee Vote
  S62
  
  5
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  2
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Children And Families Committee Vote: Apr 12, 2016
      
      aye (5)
      
      Avella
      
      Montgomery
      
      Persaud
      
      Savino
      
      Young
      
      aye wr (2)
      
      Bonacic
      
      Serino

co-Sponsors

2015-S62 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A4989
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §532-e, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S6615, A9804
2017-2018: S277, A2662
2019-2020: S1481, A3619

2015-S62 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Expands the duties of the office of children and family services concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender runaway and homeless youth.

2015-S62 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S62

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the executive law, in relation to
expanding the duties of the office of children and family services
concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender runaway and
homeless youth

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

Requires that all employees of programs and organizations' providing
care to runaway and/or homeless youth complete training providing
instruction in issues pertaining to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender youth.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 1. Section 532-e of the executive law is amended by adding a
new subdivision 7, requiring all employees of approved programs
providing care to runaway and/or homeless youth to complete training
as set forth in regulations promulgated by OCFS. The training must
place particular emphasis on appropriate terminology, particular
challenges for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, ways to
address homophobia from other youth at the shelter, confidentiality,
and how to properly address the families of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender youth.

Section 2 is the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

The enactment of this bill would ensure that all employees of approved
programs providing care to homeless youth in New York State would
receive adequate and comprehensive training to allow them to be more
sensitive to issues specifically affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender runaway and/or homeless youth.

According to the Center for American Progress, between 20-40% of
runaway and/or homeless youth in the United States are LGBT, as
compared to only 5- 10% of the overall youth population. Often, LGBT
youth find themselves homeless because their parents do not accept
their sexual or gender. orientation and throw them out of the house.
This rejection from their. families leads LGBT runaway and/or homeless
youth to experience increased social and personal problems, including
dramatically increased rates of alcohol abuse and suicide attempts.
LGBT youth are also much more likely to drop out of school due to
discrimination. 86% of LGBT youth report being verbally bullied and
harassed at school due to their sexual orientation. The average age
that a lesbian or gay youth becomes homeless in New York is 14.4 years
old, while the average age a transgender youth becomes homeless in New
York is 13.5 years old.

Runaway and/or homeless LGBT youth are also disproportionately likely
to suffer physical and mental abuse. 58% of runaway and/or homeless
LGBT youth report being assaulted, compared to 33% of heterosexual
runaway and/or homeless youth. 44% of runaway and/or homeless LGBT
youth have been asked to exchange sex for money, food, drugs, shelter,
or clothes, as compared to only 26% of heterosexual runaway/homeless
youth.

New York facilities providing care to homeless youth must do a better
job accounting for the needs and issues of a critical segment of the
runaway and/or homeless population. This bill would require all
employees of approved programs providing care to runaway and/or
homeless youth to complete training with instruction on the needs and
issues of this community, with particular. emphasis on the correct
terminology to use when talking about gender and sexual identity;
addressing homophobia and transphobia from other youth in shelters;
and how to deal with the families of LGBT youths.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

S.6615 of 2014 (Hoylman): Died in Children & Families
A.9804 of 2014 (Ortiz): Died in Children & Families

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date upon which it shall have become a law.

2015-S62 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                   62

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2015
                               ___________

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

AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to expanding  the  duties
  of the office of children and family services concerning lesbian, gay,
  bisexual, and transgender runaway and homeless youth

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Section 532-e of the executive law, as amended  by  chapter
182 of the laws of 2002, are amended to read as follows:
  S 532-e. Powers  and  duties  of  the  office  of  children and family
services. The office of children and family services shall:    [(a)]  1.
visit,  inspect  and make periodic reports on the operation and adequacy
of approved runaway programs and transitional independent living support
programs;
  [(b)] 2. certify residential  facilities  providing  care  to  runaway
and/or homeless youth, provided, however, that no certification shall be
issued  or  renewed until it can be demonstrated that a program operated
pursuant to this article  has  consistent  with  appropriate  collective
bargaining  agreements  and  applicable  provisions of the civil service
law, developed and implemented a procedure for reviewing and  evaluating
the  backgrounds  of and the information supplied by any person applying
to be an employee, volunteer or consultant, which shall include but  not
be  limited to the following requirements: that the applicants set forth
his or her employment history, provide personal  and  employment  refer-
ences  and  sign  a sworn statement indicating whether the applicant, to
the best of his or her knowledge, has ever been convicted of a crime  in
this state or any other jurisdiction;

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD01396-01-5

S. 62                               2

  [(c)]  3.  maintain  a  register of approved runaway programs, transi-
tional independent living support  programs  and  runaway  and  homeless
youth service coordinators;
  [(d)]  4.  submit  to  the  governor  and legislature an annual report
detailing the numbers and characteristics of runaway and otherwise home-
less youth throughout the state and their problems and service needs;
  [(e)] 5. develop and promulgate  in  consultation  with  county  youth
bureaus  and  organizations  or  programs which have had past experience
dealing with runaway and  homeless  youth,  regulations  concerning  the
coordination  and  integration  of  services  available  for runaway and
otherwise homeless youth and prohibiting the disclosure or transferal of
any records  containing  the  identity  of  individual  youth  receiving
services  pursuant  to  this section, without the written consent of the
youth; [and]
  [(f)] 6. develop and promulgate regulations in consultation  with  the
office  of  temporary and disability assistance concerning the provision
of services by transitional independent living support programs consist-
ent with the provisions of this article[.];
  [(g)] 7.  REQUIRE ALL EMPLOYEES OF APPROVED PROGRAMS PROVIDING CARE TO
RUNAWAY AND/OR HOMELESS YOUTH TO COMPLETE TRAINING AS SET FORTH IN REGU-
LATIONS PROMULGATED BY THE  OFFICE.  SUCH  TRAINING  SHALL  REQUIRE  ALL
EMPLOYEES OF SUCH RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTION AS SPEC-
IFIED  BY THE OFFICE IN THE REGULATIONS AND SHALL, AT A MINIMUM, INCLUDE
INSTRUCTION IN ISSUES PERTAINING TO LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL,  AND  TRANS-
GENDER YOUTH WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON:
  (A) APPROPRIATE TERMINOLOGY;
  (B)  PARTICULAR CHALLENGES FOR LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER
RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH, INCLUDING WHY LESBIAN,  GAY,  BISEXUAL,  AND
TRANSGENDER YOUTH ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY HOMELESS;
  (C)  HOW  TO ADDRESS HOMOPHOBIA OR TRANSPHOBIA FROM OTHER YOUTH AT THE
SHELTER;
  (D) CONFIDENTIALITY IN THE CASES OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANS-
GENDER YOUTH; AND
  (E) HOW TO ADDRESS THE FAMILIES OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND  TRANS-
GENDER YOUTH; AND
  8.  in  conjunction  with  the  commissioner of education, develop and
annually review a plan to ensure coordination and  access  to  education
for  homeless  children,  in  accordance  with the provisions of section
thirty-two hundred nine of the education law, and monitor compliance  of
residential programs for runaway and homeless youth with such plan.
  S  2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
ing the date upon which it shall have become a law.

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Senate Bill S62

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Sponsored By

Brad Hoylman-Sigal