BILL NUMBER: S6753
SPONSOR: BRISPORT
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to limitations on
the number of cases handled by child welfare personnel
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 409-g of the social services law to limit the
number of cases on a foster care worker's caseload to a maximum of 16.
Section 2 provides for an effective date of 60 days after the bill
becomes law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
According to the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA),
caseworkers in New York State handle an average of 25-30 cases at a
time. This overload of cases seriously undermines the effectiveness of
their work, keeps them from providing adequate services to the families
they serve, and places the foster children in harm's way. There have
been a number of recent cases where foster children have languished in
the system because of the worker's inability to get the cases in order.
Most of the time the reason for this is not the caseworker's ineptness,
but the overwhelming number of services they need to coordinate for so
many families. According to the National Association of Social Workers
(NASW) the maximum number of cases a foster care worker can adequately
serve is 16.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: S2021-22: S2587 S2023-24: S5031
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

Statutes affected:
S6753: 409-g social services law