A 5544: Provides for a sex offender registry check for youth organization volunteers who have direct contact with youths under the age of 18.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5544 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JACKSON -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Correction AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to sex offender registry checks for youth organization volunteers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The social services law is amended by adding a new section 2 378-b to read as follows: 3 § 378-b. Sex offender registry checks for youth organization volun- 4 teers. 1. As used in this section: 5 (a) "Youth organization" means any public or private agency, organ- 6 ization, association or group organized and functioning, in whole or in 7 part, for the purpose of providing youth with the opportunity to 8 participate in supervised activities, including but not limited to 9 sporting, recreational, educational or religious activities. As used 10 herein, "youth organization" shall include only those organizations that 11 use volunteers to supervise youth and exclude institutions which are 12 sanctioned by the state education department to provide educational 13 instruction to youth. 14 (b) "Youth" means a person under the age of eighteen. 15 2. (a) Before any person is permitted to volunteer their services with 16 a youth organization where such person is expected to have direct 17 contact with youth, such youth organization must, by use of the special 18 telephone number described in section one hundred sixty-eight-p of the 19 correction law, request that an inquiry be made of the statewide sex 20 offender registry operated by the division of criminal justice services 21 to determine whether the prospective volunteer is listed in the registry 22 as a person who must register as a sex offender or a sexually violent 23 predator under article six-C of the correction law. 24 (b) No later than January first, two thousand twenty-six, youth organ- 25 izations shall cause to be conducted the statewide sex offender registry EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD07498-01-5 
 A. 5544 2 1 inquiry described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision for all active 2 volunteers of such organization where such volunteer has direct contact 3 with youth. Any subsequent statewide sex offender registry inquiries 4 initiated by such youth organization shall be made at the discretion of 5 the youth organization. 6 3. A youth organization, prior to initiating the statewide sex offen- 7 der registry inquiry described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 8 two of this section, shall inform the volunteer or person seeking to 9 volunteer their services that such inquiry will be performed. The youth 10 organization shall provide the volunteer or prospective volunteer the 11 opportunity to cease such volunteer services before such inquiry is 12 initiated. 13 4. A youth organization is prohibited from permitting any person 14 determined to be listed in the statewide sex offender registry pursuant 15 to paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision two of this section to volun- 16 teer their services with such organization where such person has or is 17 expected to have direct contact with youth. 18 5. The provisions of article six-C of the correction law which 19 restrict the use and dissemination of information obtained from the 20 statewide sex offender registry shall apply to youth organizations. 21 6. A willful violation of any of the provisions of this section shall 22 subject such organization to a civil penalty of not more than one 23 hundred dollars provided, however, that for a second or subsequent 24 violation the commissioner of the office of children and family services 25 may impose a civil penalty of not more than two hundred dollars. 26 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.