BILL NUMBER: S6394

SPONSOR: CARLUCCI
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the social services law, in relation
to the requirement to check the justice center's register of substanti-
ated category one cases of abuse or neglect

 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:

This bill would require additional providers of services to people who
are vulnerable to abuse or neglect to check the register of substanti-
ated category one cases of abuse or neglect maintained by the Justice
Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs ("Justice
Center") before hiring employees or allowing persons to have regular and
substantial contact with a person with a disability, and would allow all
providers required to check such register to re-check it no more than
once in any six-month period.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill would amend Social Services Law (SSL) § 495(2) and
              

(3). A new paragraph (a) is added to subdivision 2 and language is
included to add entities to the list of facilities and providers author-
ized to check the register of substantiated category on e cases of abuse
or neglect maintained by the Justice Center. These additional entities
are: overnight, summer and traveling summer day camps for children that
are subject to article thirteen of the Public Health Law (PHL) and
health care providers listed in PHL § 2899(6) (a). Subdivision 2 is also
amended to clarify that the operators of overnight, summer day and trav-
eling summer day camps, and not state or local officials, are responsi-
ble for checking the SEL for prospective employees.

Section 1 also adds a subparagraph (b) to subdivision 2 that would allow
all providers required to check such register to re-check it no more
than once in any six-month period.

Section 1 of the bill would also amend SSL § 495(3) to include language
to preclude the additional entities included in subdivision 2 from
hiring a person who is on the register of substantiated category one
cases of abuse or neglect for any position in which that person would
have the potential for regular and substantial contact with persons to
whom they would be providing care.

Section 2 of the bill would amend SSL § 424-a(7) to clarify that a
facility or provider as defined by SSL § 488(4) that is required to
check the register of substantiated category one cases of abuse or
neglect is not required to conduct a subsequent check of the Statewide
Central Register for Child Abuse and Maltreatment maintained by the
Office of Children and Family Services if the potential employee is on
such register.

Section 3 of the bill would make it effective one year after it is
signed into law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Justice Center is responsible for maintaining a statewide register
of substantiated category one cases of abuse or neglect, known as the
Staff Exclusion List (SEL), which contains the names of individuals
found responsible for serious or repeated acts of abuse and neglect. A
person can only be placed on the list after each allegation is thorough-
ly investigated and substantiated based upon a preponderance of
evidence. The staff person has an opportunity to appeal the decision
before permanently being placed on the SEL. There are currently approxi-
mately 474 individuals on the SEL who will be barred from future employ-
ment with any facility or provider agency under the jurisdiction of the
Justice Center. The SEL has already worked to keep individuals who are
on the list from working with vulnerable populations again. Since 2014,
the Justice Center has identified almost 100 individuals who were on the
SEL who attempted to secure subsequent employment in a setting under the
Justice Center's jurisdiction. Requiring providers to check the SEL
prevented these individuals who had already committed serious abuse or
neglect against a vulnerable person from again working with vulnerable
persons.

While many providers and facilities are required to check the SEL, there
are additional entities that provide services and care to vulnerable
populations that should have access to this information about potential
employees. Without access to the SEL, providers are not aware that a
potential employee may have a history of committing serious acts of
abuse or neglect against service recipients. This proposed legislation
would add nursing homes, home care and long term home health programs,
all children's camps and all adult care facilities to the list of enti-
ties that must check the SEL.  Currently, only children's camps that
serve twenty percent or more of children with developmental disabilities
and adult homes or enriched housing programs that have 80 or more beds
and in which at least twenty-five percent of the residents are persons
with serious mental illness are required to check the SEL. Expanding
access to the SEL to additional settings will give these facilities and
providers critical information when making decisions about allowing an
individual to interact with vulnerable persons. It also would address
the concern that persons on the SEL who are currently barred from work-
ing in a facility or provider agency under the Justice Center's juris-
diction will instead seek employment at a facility or program providing
services to vulnerable individuals that is not required or authorized to
check the SEL. The new language makes it clear that this prohibition on
hiring is limited to positions in which the employee would have the
potential for regular and substantial contact with persons to whom they
would be providing care.

The legislation also includes language to authorize subsequent checks of
the SEL by employers. Currently, there is no mechanism for a provider or
facility to check the SEL once an individual is hired. Often, individ-
uals who provide services to vulnerable persons work in more than one
facility or program. If an individual is substantiated for category one
abuse or neglect in one setting, his or her other employer may not have
knowledge of that finding. Allowing subsequent checks of the SEL by
authorized entities would provide employers with important information
about the individuals working with vulnerable populations. This language
authorizing subsequent checks mirrors the language that allows provider
s to re-check the Statewide Central Register for Child Abuse and
Maltreatment.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A similar version of this bill was introduced in the 2016 and 2017
legislative sessions. This bill includes some technical amendments and
an extended effective date that was requested by the Department of
Health.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

This bill would be implemented within existing resources. It would have
no impact on local governments:

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that section
one of this act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
law and shall apply to any person who is a prospective employee, admin-
istrator, consultant, intern, volunteer, or contractor considered for
any position in which they would have regular and substantial contact
with persons to whom they would be providing care, on or after such
date.