§ 372 — Records and reports

New York § 372

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law SOS: Social Services
• Title 1: Care and Protection of Children
• Art. 6: Children

Text

§ 372. Records and reports. 1. Every court, and every public board,\ncommission, institution, or officer having powers or charged with duties\nin relation to abandoned, delinquent, destitute, neglected or dependent\nchildren who shall receive, accept or commit any child shall provide and\nkeep a record showing:\n (a) the full and true name of the child;\n (b) the child's sex and date and place of birth, if ascertainable, or\nthe child's apparent age;\n (c) the full and true names and places of birth of the child's\nparents, and such parents' actual residence if living, or such parents'\nlatest known residence, if deceased or whereabouts unknown and the name\nand actual residence of any other person having custody of the child, as\nnearly as the same can reasonably be ascertained;\n (d) the religious faith of the parents and of the child;\n (e) the name and address of any person, agency, institution or other\norganization to which the child is committed, placed out, boarded out,\nor otherwise given into care, custody or control;\n (f) the religious faith and occupation of the head or heads of the\nfamily with whom the child is placed out or boarded out and their\nrelationship, if any, to the child;\n (g) if any such child shall die, the date and cause of death and place\nof burial;\n (h) any further disposition or change in care, custody or control of\nthe child;\n (i) the date or dates of reception and of any subsequent disposition\nor change in care, custody or control and, in case of adoption, the name\nand title of the judge or surrogate making the order of adoption, the\ndate of such order and the date and place of filing of such order;\n (j) the reasons for any act performed in reference to such child\nherein required to be recorded, together with such further information\nas the department may require; and shall make to the department upon\nblanks provided by the department reports of each such child placed out,\nor boarded out, containing the information herein required to be kept;\nand shall furnish such information to any authorized agency to which any\nsuch child shall be committed or otherwise given into custody; and\n (k) if any such child shall have a developmental disability as defined\npursuant to subdivision twenty-two of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene\nlaw, and, if so, the type of such developmental disability.\n 2. Every charitable, eleemosynary, reformatory, or correctional\ninstitution, public or private, incorporated or unincorporated, and\nevery agency, association, corporation, institution, society or other\norganization which shall receive, accept, or admit any child whether or\nnot in receipt of payments from public funds for the support of such\nchild shall provide and keep a record as described in subdivision one,\nand also showing how, by whom and for what reason such child shall have\nbeen given into its custody or committed to it and shall make reports of\neach such child to the department upon blanks provided by the department\ngiving all the information required by subdivision one to be recorded\ntogether with such further information as the department may require.\nExcept as to children placed out, boarded out or surrendered or for whom\nguardianship is accepted or adoption provided, the requirement of this\nsection shall not apply to hospitals, day nurseries, eleemosynary day\nschools, and summer and vacation homes and camps, or to institutions for\nthe care of convalescent, anaemic, under-nourished or cardiac children,\npreventoria, working boys' homes, emergency shelters and schools for the\nblind and for the deaf, but all such hospitals, homes and institutions\nshall keep such records and make to the department such reports as the\ndepartment may require.\n 3. Such records maintained by the department or an authorized agency,\nincluding a local social services district, regarding such children are\nconfidential, provided, however, that such records are subject to the\nprovisions of article thirty-one of the civil practice law and rules.\nWhen either the subject foster child, or such child's parent, or such\nchild's guardian if any, is not a party to the action, a copy of the\nnotice or motion for discovery shall be served upon such parent,\nguardian, and child and, if the child is still a minor, the child's\nattorney. Such persons may thereafter appear in the action with regard\nto such discovery. Where no action is pending, upon application by a\nparent, relative or legal guardian of such child or by an authorized\nagency, after due notice to the institution or authorized agency\naffected and hearing had thereon, the supreme court may by order direct\nthe officers of such institution or authorized agency to furnish to such\nparent, relative, legal guardian or authorized agency such extracts from\nthe record relating to such child as the court may deem proper. The\ndepartment through its authorized agents and employees may examine at\nall reasonable times the records required by this section to be kept.\n 4. (a) All such records relating to such children shall be open to the\ninspection of the board and the department at any reasonable time, and\nthe information called for under this section and such other data as may\nbe required by the department shall be reported to the department, in\naccordance with the regulations of the department. Such records kept by\nthe department shall be deemed confidential and shall be safeguarded\nfrom coming to the knowledge of and from inspection or examination by\nany person other than one authorized, by the department, by a judge of\nthe court of claims when such records are required for the trial of a\nclaim or other proceeding in such court or by a justice of the supreme\ncourt, or by a judge of the family court when such records are required\nfor the trial of a proceeding in such court, after a notice to all\ninterested persons and a hearing, to receive such knowledge or to make\nsuch inspection or examination. No person shall divulge the information\nthus obtained without authorization so to do by the department, or by\nsuch judge or justice.\n (b)(i) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law to the\ncontrary, records relating to children kept pursuant to this section\nshall be made available to officers and employees of the state\ncomptroller or of the city comptroller of the city of New York, or of\nthe county officer designated by law or charter to perform the auditing\nfunction in any county not wholly contained within a city, for the\npurposes of a duly authorized performance audit, provided that such\ncomptroller shall have certified to the keeper of such records that he\nor she has instituted procedures developed in consultation with the\ndepartment to limit access to client-identifiable information to persons\nrequiring such information for purposes of the audit, that such persons\nshall not use such information in any way except for purposes of the\naudit and that appropriate controls and prohibitions are imposed on the\ndissemination of client-identifiable information obtained in the conduct\nof the audit. Information pertaining to the substance or content of any\npsychological, psychiatric, therapeutic, clinical or medical reports,\nevaluations or like materials or information pertaining to such child or\nthe child's family shall not be made available to such officers and\nemployees unless disclosure of such information is absolutely essential\nto the specific audit activity and the department gives prior written\napproval.\n (ii) Any failure to maintain the confidentiality of\nclient-identifiable information shall subject such comptroller or\nofficer to denial of any further access to records until such time as\nthe audit agency has reviewed its procedures concerning controls and\nprohibitions imposed on the dissemination of such information and has\ntaken all reasonable and appropriate steps to eliminate such lapses in\nmaintaining confidentiality to the satisfaction of the department. The\ndepartment shall establish the grounds for denial of access to records\ncontained under this section and shall recommend, as necessary, a plan\nof remediation to the audit agency. Except as provided in this section,\nnothing in this paragraph shall be construed as limiting the powers of\nsuch comptroller or officer to access records which he is otherwise\nauthorized to audit or obtain under any other applicable provision of\nlaw. Any person given access to information pursuant to this paragraph\nwho releases data or information to persons or agencies not authorized\nto receive such information shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.\n 4-a. Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, social\nservices districts shall provide a written summary of services rendered\nto a child upon the request of a probation service conducting an\ninvestigation pursuant to the provisions of section 351.1 of the family\ncourt act. Information provided to a probation service pursuant to the\nprovisions of this subdivision shall be maintained by such service\naccording to the provisions of subdivision five of section 351.1 of the\nfamily court act.\n 4-b. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, foster care\ninformation governed by this section may be released by the department\nor an authorized agency to a person, agency or organization for purposes\nof a bona fide research project. Identifying information shall not be\nmade available, however, unless it is absolutely essential to the\nresearch purpose and the department gives prior approval. Information\nreleased pursuant to this subdivision shall not be re-disclosed except\nas otherwise permitted by law and upon the approval of the department.\n 5. The requirements of this section to keep records and make reports\nshall not apply to the birth parent or parents, or relatives within the\nsecond degree of such parents.\n 6. The provisions of this section as to records and reports to the\ndepartment shall apply also to the placing out, adoption or boarding out\nof a child and the acceptance of guardianship or of surrender of a\nchild.\n 7. An authorized agency as defined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of\nsubdivision ten of section three hundred seventy-one of this chapter or\nany primary or secondary school or an office of the division for youth,\nexcept agencies operating pursuant to article nineteen-H of the\nexecutive law, who shall receive, accept, enroll or commit any child\nunder such circumstances as shall reasonably indicate that such child\nmay be a missing person shall make inquiries of each such child to the\ndivision of criminal justice services in a manner prescribed by such\ndivision; provided that as used in this subdivision a court shall not be\nincluded within the definition of an authorized agency. If such child\nappears to match a child registered with the statewide central register\nfor missing children as described in section eight hundred\nthirty-seven-e of the executive law, or one registered with the national\ncrime information center register, such agency shall immediately contact\nthe local law enforcement agency.\n 8. In any case where a child is to be placed with or discharged to a\nrelative or other person legally responsible pursuant to section ten\nhundred seventeen or ten hundred fifty-five of the family court act,\nsuch relative or other person shall be provided with such information by\nan authorized agency as is provided to foster parents pursuant to this\nsection and applicable regulations of the department.\n