A 11698: Excludes certain social workers employed or supervised by lawyers from reporting cases of suspected child abuse or maltreatment when the belief of suspected child abuse or maltreatment arises solely out of the course of representation or the seeking of representation.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 11698  IN ASSEMBLY September 2, 2026 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Hevesi) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to excluding certain social workers employed or supervised by lawyers from report- ing cases of suspected child abuse or maltreatment The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 413 of the social services law is 2 amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows: 3 (e) A social worker shall not be required to report cases of suspected 4 child abuse or maltreatment when such social worker is: 5 (i) employed or supervised by a lawyer who is providing representation 6 in a criminal or civil matter, including but not limited to a family law 7 or delinquency matter, and the basis for the belief of suspected child 8 abuse or maltreatment arises solely in the course of such represen- 9 tation; or 10 (ii) employed or supervised by a lawyer with whom a prospective client 11 is seeking representation in a criminal or civil matter, including but 12 not limited to a family law or delinquency matter, and the basis for the 13 belief of suspected child abuse or maltreatment arises solely in the 14 course of seeking such representation. 15 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD16273-01-6