S 1056: Relates to the provision of criminal history background checks free of charge to mentoring programs operated by not-for-profit corporations.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1056 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. SERRANO, KRUEGER, RAMOS, WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the social services law and the executive law, in relation to the provision of criminal history background checks free of charge to mentoring programs operated by not-for-profit corpo- rations The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 390-e of the social services law, 2 as added by chapter 459 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 4. Every mentoring program that chooses to apply for a criminal histo- 5 ry background check with the division of criminal justice services shall 6 obtain a set of fingerprints from each individual for whom a criminal 7 background check is to be completed and such other information as is 8 required by the office and the division of criminal justice services. 9 For each prospective employee or mentor for whom the mentoring program 10 completes a criminal background check, the mentoring program shall 11 provide the applicant with blank fingerprint cards and a description of 12 how the completed fingerprint card will be used upon submission to the 13 mentoring program. The mentoring program shall promptly transmit such 14 fingerprint card and the processing fee to the office; provided, howev- 15 er, if the mentoring program is operated by a not-for-profit corpo- 16 ration, no processing fee shall be imposed for a criminal background 17 check. The office shall promptly submit the fingerprint card and the 18 processing fee, if imposed pursuant to subdivision eight-a of section 19 eight hundred thirty-seven of the executive law, to the division of 20 criminal justice services for its full search and retain processing. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00452-01-5 
 S. 1056 2 1 § 2. Subdivision 8-a of section 837 of the executive law, as amended 2 by chapter 561 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 3 8-a. Charge a fee when, pursuant to statute or the regulations of the 4 division, it conducts a search of its criminal history records and 5 returns a report thereon in connection with an application for employ- 6 ment or for a license or permit. The division shall adopt and may, from 7 time to time, amend a schedule of such fees which shall be in amounts 8 determined by the division to be reasonably related to the cost of 9 conducting such searches and returning reports thereon but, in no event, 10 shall any such fee exceed twenty-five dollars and an additional 11 surcharge of fifty dollars. The comptroller is hereby authorized to 12 deposit such fees into the general fund, provided, however, that the 13 monies received by the division of criminal justice services for payment 14 of the additional surcharge shall be deposited in equal amounts to the 15 general fund and to the fingerprint identification and technology 16 account. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the division shall not request 17 or accept any fee for searching its records and supplying a criminal 18 history report pursuant to section two hundred fifty-one-b of the gener- 19 al business law relating to participating in flight instruction at any 20 aeronautical facility, flight school or institution of higher learning, 21 or pursuant to section three hundred ninety-e of the social services law 22 when the division is supplying a criminal history report to a mentoring 23 program operated by a not-for-profit corporation. 24 § 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 390-e of the social 25 services law, as added by chapter 459 of the laws of 2006, is amended to 26 read as follows: 27 (c) "Mentoring program" shall mean a formalized program, operated by: 28 (i) a corporation which has been incorporated pursuant to subparagraph 29 five of paragraph (a) of section one hundred two of the not-for-profit 30 corporation law or pursuant to subparagraph four of paragraph (a) of 31 section one hundred two of the business corporation law[, or operated 32 by]; 33 (ii) an educational institution or school district, that matches youth 34 with adult volunteers with the purpose of providing such youth with 35 positive role models to enhance their development; or 36 (iii) a youth sports program. 37 § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 38 have become a law.