STATE OF NEW YORK
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6662
2019-2020 Regular Sessions

IN ASSEMBLY
March 14, 2019
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Introduced by M. of A. WALLACE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules and the social services
law, in relation to the "child abuse reporting expansion (CARE) act"
​ he People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and AssemT
​bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "child
2 abuse reporting expansion (CARE) act".
3 § 2. Section 4505 of the civil practice law and rules, as amended by
4 chapter 520 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows:
5 § 4505. Confidential communication to clergy privileged. Unless the
6 person confessing or confiding waives the privilege, a [​clergyman​] ​cler7 ​gy member​, or other minister of any religion or duly accredited Chris8 tian Science practitioner, shall not be allowed ​to​ disclose a confession
9 or confidence made to him ​or her​ in his ​or her​ professional [​character​]
10 ​capacity​ as spiritual advisor​, except when the confession or confidence
11 ​relates to a matter involving abuse or maltreatment of a minor. Such
12 ​privilege shall not be grounds for failure to report a case of suspected
13 ​child abuse or maltreatment, as required by section four hundred thir14 ​teen of the social services law, and shall not be grounds for excluding
15 ​evidence of child abuse or maltreatment from any examination, trial, or
16 ​other judicial proceeding in which the commission of such abuse or
17 ​maltreatment is a subject of inquiry​.
18 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 413 of the social
19 services law, as amended by section 7 of part C of chapter 57 of the
20 laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
21 (a) The following persons and officials are required to report or

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cause a report to be made in accordance with this title when they have
reasonable cause to suspect that a child coming before them in their
professional or official capacity is an abused or maltreated child, or
when they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is an abused or
EXPLANATION--Matter in ​italics​ (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[​ ​] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10180-02-9

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1 maltreated child where the parent, guardian, custodian [​or​]​,​ other
2 person legally responsible for such child ​or other person related or
3 ​unrelated to such child​ comes before them in their professional or offi4 cial capacity and states from personal knowledge facts, conditions or
5 circumstances which, if correct, would render the child an abused or
6 maltreated child: any physician; registered physician assistant;
7 surgeon; medical examiner; coroner; dentist; dental hygienist; osteo8 path; optometrist; chiropractor; podiatrist; resident; intern; psychol9 ogist; registered nurse; social worker; emergency medical technician;
10 licensed creative arts therapist; licensed marriage and family thera11 pist; licensed mental health counselor; licensed psychoanalyst; licensed
12 behavior analyst; certified behavior analyst assistant; hospital person13 nel engaged in the admission, examination, care or treatment of persons;
14 a Christian Science practitioner; ​clergy member or other minister of any
15 ​religion;​ school official, which includes but is not limited to school
16 teacher, school guidance counselor, school psychologist, school social
17 worker, school nurse, school administrator or other school personnel
18 required to hold a teaching or administrative license or certificate;
19 full or part-time compensated school employee required to hold a tempo20 rary coaching license or professional coaching certificate; social
21 services worker; employee of a publicly-funded emergency shelter for
22 families with children; director of a children's overnight camp, summer
23 day camp or traveling summer day camp, as such camps are defined in
24 section thirteen hundred ninety-two of the public health law; day care
25 center worker; school-age child care worker; provider of family or group
26 family day care; employee or volunteer in a residential care facility
27 for children that is licensed, certified or operated by the office of
28 children and family services; or any other child care or foster care
29 worker; mental health professional; substance abuse counselor; alcohol30 ism counselor; all persons credentialed by the office of alcoholism and
31 substance abuse services; employees, who are expected to have regular
32 and substantial contact with children, of a health home or health home

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care management agency contracting with a health home as designated by
the department of health and authorized under section three hundred
sixty-five-l of this chapter or such employees who provide home and
community based services under a demonstration program pursuant to
section eleven hundred fifteen of the federal social security act who
are expected to have regular and substantial contact with children;
peace officer; police officer; district attorney or assistant district
attorney; investigator employed in the office of a district attorney; or
other law enforcement official.
§ 4. Section 420 of the social services law, as added by chapter 1039
of the laws of 1973, is amended to read as follows:
§ 420. Penalties for failure to report. 1. Any person, official or
institution required by this title to report a case of suspected child
abuse or maltreatment who willfully fails to do so shall be guilty of a
class A misdemeanor ​for a first offense and a class E felony for a
​second or subsequent offense​.
2. ​Any person, official or institution required by this title to
​report a case of suspected child abuse or maltreatment who acts as part
​of a plan or scheme having as its object the prevention of discovery of
​child abuse or maltreatment by lawful authorities for the purpose of
​protecting or insulating any person, official, or institution from
​arrest or prosecution, shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor for a
​first offense and a class E felony for a second or subsequent offense,

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​regardless of whether the second or subsequent offense involves any of
​the same facts or persons as the first or other prior offense.
​3.​ Any person, official or institution required by this title to
report a case of suspected child abuse or maltreatment who knowingly and
willfully fails to do so shall be civilly liable for the damages proximately caused by such failure.
§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately.