S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    277
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 4, 2017
                                ___________
 
 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, is amended to read as follows:
   § 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.
                                                            LBD05185-01-7
              

 S. 277                              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.
   §  2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law.