CPS can check grownups’ records

Child Protective Service workers will no longer be walking blindly into some households now that Governor David Paterson has signed a bill giving them the power to get criminal background checks on adults.
The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously in March of 2007 and in May of this year, had died in the Assembly in January.
It was resurrected in its present form, under the sponsorship of Assemblymember Nettie Mayersohn, joined by a legion of co-sponsors, including most of the Queens delegation.
Previously, under New York State law, Child Protective Services workers had no way of knowing who it was that would be greeting them at the door when they were responding to alleged complaints of child abuse, neglect or maltreatment.
The workers, who do not have arrest authority, were virtually defenseless and at risk, according to the documents attached to the new law.
In addition to risking their own safety, child welfare workers, when making assessments about the safety and risk to a child victim and other children living in the home, were not given access to all the information relating to the possible criminal records of adults living there.
“This is an important day for New York’s most vulnerable children,” Mayersohn said, adding, “We cannot ignore the fact that some of these children are living in dangerous circumstances, that too often we are unaware of those circumstances.”
To answer concerns, it was pointed out that Children Protective Service supervisors already handle confidential information and there are penalties in existing law which cover the inappropriate release of confidential information.
By having this information in advance, Mayersohn said, “Child Protective Service workers could make appropriate decisions for a safer response and would themselves be less at risk as well as having a fuller understanding of the child(ren)’s situation.”
“Now child welfare workers will have more information at their disposal to determine if these children face an additional threat in the home,” she said.
The new law, which had been supported by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was signed by Paterson on Thursday, September 25 and took effect immediately.