S 7920: Allows the court to enter an order regarding a destitute minor freeing the child for adoption and granting guardianship and custody to the commissioner of social services for the purposes of consenting to an adoption; authorizes agencies, commissioners of public welfare and city public welfare officers to consent to such adoptions.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7920 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE May 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PERSAUD -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the family court act and the social services law, in relation to dispositional alternatives for children placed with local social services agencies as destitute minors The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision (d) of section 1095 of the family court act, as 2 amended by chapter 3 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 3 (d) If the court sustains the petition pursuant to subdivision (b) of 4 this section, it may immediately convene a dispositional hearing or may 5 adjourn the proceeding for further inquiries to be made prior to dispo- 6 sition provided however, that if a petition pursuant to article six of 7 this act has been filed by a person or persons seeking custody or guar- 8 dianship of the child, or if a petition pursuant to article seventeen of 9 the surrogate's court procedure act seeking guardianship of the child 10 has been filed, the court shall consolidate the dispositional hearing 11 with a hearing under section one thousand ninety-six of this article, 12 unless consolidation would not be appropriate under the circumstances. 13 If the court does not consolidate such dispositional proceedings it 14 shall hold the dispositional hearing under this section in abeyance 15 pending the disposition of the petition filed pursuant to article six of 16 this act or article seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act. 17 Based upon material and relevant evidence presented at the dispositional 18 hearing, the court shall enter an order of disposition stating the 19 grounds for its order and directing one of the following alternatives: 20 (1) placing the child in the care and custody of the commissioner of 21 social services; [or] 22 (2) granting an order of custody or guardianship to relatives or suit- 23 able persons pursuant to a petition under article six of this act or 24 guardianship of the child to a relative or suitable person under article EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13035-01-5 
 S. 7920 2 1 seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act and in accordance with 2 section one thousand ninety-six of this article; or 3 (3) freeing the child for adoption and granting guardianship and 4 custody to the commissioner of social services for the purposes of 5 consenting to an adoption where both of the child's parents are 6 deceased, or where one of the child's parents is deceased and the other 7 parent is not entitled to consent or notice pursuant to sections one 8 hundred eleven and one hundred eleven-a of the domestic relations law or 9 section three hundred eighty-four-c of the social services law and no 10 other guardian or custodian has been appointed. 11 § 2. Section 1095 of the family court act is amended by adding a new 12 subdivision (h) to read as follows: 13 (h) If the child has been freed for adoption pursuant to paragraph 14 three of subdivision (d) of this section, the court shall include the 15 following in its order: 16 (1) a date certain for the permanency hearing in accordance with para- 17 graph two of subdivision (a) of section one thousand eighty-nine of this 18 act; 19 (2) a direction that the child be placed together with or, at mini- 20 mum, to visit and have regular communication with, the child's siblings, 21 if any, unless contrary to the best interests of the child and/or the 22 siblings; 23 (3) if the child is or will be fourteen or older by the date of the 24 permanency hearing, the services and assistance that may be necessary to 25 assist the child in learning independent living skills; and 26 (4) a direction for the commissioner of social services to provide or 27 arrange for services or assistance, limited to those authorized or 28 required to be made available under the comprehensive annual services 29 program plan then in effect, to facilitate the child's permanency plan. 30 § 3. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 1 of section 398 of the 31 social services law, paragraph (b) as added and paragraph (c) as amended 32 by chapter 3 of the laws of 2012, are amended and a new paragraph (d) is 33 added to read as follows: 34 (b) report to the local criminal justice agency and to the statewide 35 central register for missing children as described in section eight 36 hundred thirty-seven-e of the executive law such relevant information as 37 required on a form prescribed by the commissioner of the division of 38 criminal justice services, in appropriate instances; [and] 39 (c) assume charge of and provide care and support for any child who is 40 a destitute child pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision three of 41 section three hundred seventy-one of this article who cannot be properly 42 cared for in [his or her] the child's home, and if required, petition 43 the family court to obtain custody of the child in accordance with arti- 44 cle ten-C of the family court act[.]; and 45 (d) consent to the adoption of a child whose custody and guardianship 46 has been transferred to a social services district in accordance with 47 section one thousand ninety-five of the family court act or paragraph 48 (a) of subdivision four of section three hundred eighty-four-b of this 49 article, where the child's parents are both deceased, or where one 50 parent is deceased and the other parent is not entitled to consent or 51 notice pursuant to sections one hundred eleven and one hundred eleven-a 52 of the domestic relations law or section three hundred eighty-four-c of 53 this article and no other guardian or custodian has been appointed. 54 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 55 have become a law.