BILL NUMBER: S3938A
SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to the establish-
ment of a statewide supervised visitation initiative to support safe and
structured parenting time
 
PURPOSE:
To establish a statewide supervised visitation initiative in New York
state
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the social services law to add a new section 398-f
directing the Office of Victim Services, in consultation with the Office
for the Prevention of Domestic Violence to administer supervised visita-
tion services throughout the state and require each county and New York
City to submit annual assessments of local needs for such services.
Section 2 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Twenty counties in New York State lack supervised visitation services, a
key resource providing safe, supervised contact between children and
parents in custody and domestic violence disputes. In a comprehensive
report compiled by the Unified Court System's Office of Justice Initi-
atives detailed the "serious gap in the availability of programs for
professional supervision of visitation." The report found that even in
areas that do have supervised visitation programs, the service offerings
are so limited as to have length wait-lists and high costs to litigants,
as well as limitations on the number of visits they can offer. Families
and children have a right to maintain relationships through legal
proceedings - especially when Family Court backlogs mean cases can spend
months, if not years, in limbo. Cost and limited programming should not
be prohibitive to accessing this crucial service.
This bill would authorize the Office of Victim Services, in consultation
with the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, to administer
supervised visitation throughout the state. It would require counties
and New York City to submit annual reports on the need for such services
in their area and require OVS to report annually to the legislature and
governor data regarding each program's success in meeting local need and
recommendations for improvement.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.8661A of 2023-2024 (Hoylman-Sigal): Died in committee
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Yes, requires state budget funding to implement.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law.