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Home/Bills/S 504New York · 2025–2026 Legislative Session
Senate BillIntroducedSOS

S 504: Authorizes school officials to temporarily retain custody of a suspected abused or maltreated child until a police or child protective services official arrives to determine whether it is safe to return the child to the parent or guardian.

New York · Senate · 2025–2026 Legislative Session · last verified January 8, 2026

What S 504 does, verified January 8, 2026

The bill allows school administrators to temporarily retain custody of a suspected abused or maltreated child if they believe the child's current living situation poses an imminent danger to their life or health. The school administrator can take necessary measures to protect the child, including retaining custody at the school or an educational facility, until law enforcement or child protection services take over. This measure is intended to protect the child's safety until a proper investigation and determination can be made.

Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (2026-01-07)Alert me
Recent actions2 total · showing 2
Jan. 07, 2026REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Jan. 08, 2025REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Latest bill textIntroduced version, January 8, 2025 · 292 words
  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 504 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PALUMBO -- 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, in relation to authorizing school officials to temporarily retain custody of a suspected abused or maltreated child The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 417 of the social services law is amended by adding 2 a new subdivision 2-a to read as follows: 3 2-a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a school administra- 4 tor may, where such person has reasonable cause to believe that the 5 circumstances or conditions of the child are such that continuing in the 6 child's place of residence or in the care and custody of the parent, 7 guardian, custodian or other person responsible for the child's care 8 presents an imminent danger to the child's life or health, take all 9 necessary measures to protect the child including, where appropriate, 10 retaining custody of a suspected abused or maltreated child at the 11 school or an appropriate educational facility, until a law enforcement 12 officer or a child protection service official takes custody of the 13 child or makes an initial determination that the child may safely be 14 returned to the custody of the parent, guardian, custodian or other 15 person responsible for the child's care. 16 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02155-01-5 
Text of S 504 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions
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