Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 12, March 26, 2025
(a) An authorized agency must perform a
criminal history record check with the Division of Criminal Justice Services
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in accordance with subdivision (c) of
this section regarding any prospective adoptive parent and each person over the
age of 18 who is currently residing in the home of such prospective adoptive
parent before the adoptive parent is finally approved for the placement of a
child.
(b) Except for the
requirement that a criminal history record check must be completed by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the provisions of this section also apply to
persons who were approved as adoptive parents on or before February 11, 1999
but have not completed the adoption process.
(c)
(1) The
authorized agency must obtain fingerprints of the prospective adoptive parent
and each other person over the age of 18 who currently resides in the home of
such prospective adoptive parent in the form prescribed by the Office of
Children and Family Services and such other information as is required by the
Office of Children and Family Services, the Division of Criminal Justice
Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(2) The authorized agency must provide to the
prospective adoptive parent sufficient blank fingerprint cards and a
description of how the completed fingerprint cards will be used upon submission
to the authorized agency.
(3) The
authorized agency or its designee must promptly transmit such fingerprint cards
to the Office of Children and Family Services.
(4) The Office of Children and Family
Services will promptly submit the fingerprint cards to the Division of Criminal
Justice Services for its full search and retain processing in regard to the
State criminal history record check and for the forwarding of the fingerprints
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Office of Children and Family
Services will also include the applicable fee imposed by the Division of
Criminal Justices Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(5) No part of the fee imposed for the
processing of the fingerprints with the Division of Criminal Justice Services
or the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be charged to the prospective
adoptive parent or any person over the age of 18 who currently resides in the
home of such prospective adoptive parents who submitted fingerprints pursuant
to this subdivision.
(6) The
Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
will promptly provide the Office of Children and Family Services with a
criminal history record, if any, on such person(s).
(7)
(i) The
Office of Children and Family Services will review the criminal history record
information provided by the Division of Criminal Justice Services and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and promptly provide the authorized agency, as
defined in section
371
(10)(b) of the Social Services Law, with a
summary of the criminal history record and notify the authorized agency of the
actions that it must take regarding the person as set forth in subdivisions
(d), (e), and (f) of this section.
(ii) The Office of Children and Family
Services will review the criminal history record information provided by the
Division of Criminal Justice Services and promptly provide the authorized
agency, as defined in section
371 (10)(a) or
(c) of the Social Services Law, with a
summary of the criminal history record and notify the authorized agency of the
actions it must take regarding the person as set forth in subdivisions (d), (e)
and (f) of this section.
(iii) The
Office of Children and Family Services will review the criminal history record
information provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding an
application for approval made to an authorized agency, as defined in section
371 (10)(a) or
(c) of the Social Services Law, and evaluate
such results in accordance with the standards set forth in paragraph (d) of
this section. The Office of Children and Family Services will inform the
authorized agency that the application for approval of the prospective adoptive
parent either:
(b) must be held in abeyance pending
subsequent notification from the Office of Children and Family Services;
or
(c) that the Office of Children
and Family Services has no objection, solely based on the Federal Bureau of
Investigation record check, for the authorized agency to proceed with a
determination on such application based on the standards for approval of a
prospective adoptive parent, as set forth in this Part.
(d)
(1) Except as set forth in subdivision (h) of
this section, the authorized agency must deny an application to be an approved
adoptive parent or revoke the approval of an approved adoptive parent when a
criminal history record of the prospective or approved adoptive parent reveals
a conviction for:
(i) a felony conviction at
any time involving:
(a) child abuse or
neglect;
(c) a crime against a child,
including child pornography;
(d) a
crime involving violence, including rape, sexual assault, or homicide, other
than a crime involving physical assault or battery; or
(ii) a felony conviction within five years
for physical assault, battery, or a drug-related offense.
Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, with
regard to an adoptive parent fully approved prior to October 1, 2008, the
provisions of this paragraph only apply to mandatory disqualifying convictions
that occur on or after October 1, 2008.
(2) The authorized agency must hold the final
determination of an application for approval of a prospective adoptive parent
or the final approval of the placement of a child with an approved adoptive
parent in abeyance when the criminal history record of the prospective or
approved adoptive parent reveals:
(i) a charge
for a crime set forth in paragraph (1) of this subdivision which has not been
finally resolved; or
(ii) a felony
conviction that may be for a crime set forth in paragraph (1) of this
subdivision. An authorized agency may proceed with a determination of such
application or the final approval of such placement, in a manner consistent
with this subdivision, only upon receiving subsequent notification from the
Office of Children and Family Services regarding the status of such charge or
the nature of such conviction.
(3) The authorized agency may deny an
application for approval of a prospective adoptive parent or revoke the
approval of an approved adoptive parent, consistent with the provisions of
article 23-A of the Correction Law, when:
(i)
a criminal history record of the prospective or approved adoptive parent
reveals a charge or a conviction of a crime other than one set forth in
paragraph (1) of this subdivision; or
(ii) a criminal history record of any other
person over the age of 18 who resides in the home of the prospective or
approved adoptive parent reveals a charge or a conviction of any
crime.
(4) A voluntary
authorized agency, as defined in section
371 (10)(a) or
(c) of the Social Services Law, must deny or
hold in abeyance an application for approval as an adoptive parent when the
voluntary authorized agency is notified by the Office of Children and Family
Services to do so in accordance with a determination made pursuant to
subparagraph (c)(7)(iii) of this section.
(e)
(1)
When an authorized agency, as defined in section
371
(10)(b) of the Social Services Law, denies an
application or revokes an approval pursuant to this section, an authorized
agency must provide to the prospective or approved adoptive parent, to the
extent authorized by Federal and State law, a written statement setting forth
the reasons for such denial, including the summary of the criminal history
record provided by the Office of Children and Family Services in accordance
with subdivision (c) of this section. The authorized agency must also provide a
description of the Division of Criminal Justice Services' and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation's record review process and any remedial processes
provided by the Office of Children and Family Services of any prospective or
approved adoptive parent. If the prospective or approved adoptive parent is
disqualified under clause (d)(1)(i)(
b) of this section for a
felony conviction of spousal abuse, then the prospective or approved adoptive
parent may apply to the Office of Children and Family Services through an
administrative hearing held in accordance with section
22 of the
Social Services Law for relief from the disqualification based on the grounds
that the offense was not spousal abuse, as that term is defined in subdivision
(h) of this section.
(2) When an
authorized agency, as defined in section
371 (10)(a) or
(c) of the Social Services Law, denies an
application or revokes an approval pursuant to this section based on criminal
history record information provided to the Office of Children and Family
Services by the Division of Criminal Justice Services, an authorized agency
must provide the prospective or approved adoptive parent, to the extent
authorized by Federal or State law, a written statement setting forth the
reasons for such denial, including the summary of the criminal history record
provided by the Office of Children and Family Services in accordance with
subdivision (c) of this section. The authorized agency must also provide a
description of the Division of Criminal Justice Services"TM record review
process and any remedial processes provided by the Office of Children and
Family Services of any prospective or approved adoptive parent. If the
prospective or approved adoptive parent is disqualified under clause
(d)(1)(i)(
b) of this section for a felony conviction of
spousal abuse, then the prospective or approved adoptive parent may apply to
the Office of Children and Family Services through an administrative hearing
held in accordance with section
22 of the
Social Services Law for relief from the disqualification based on the grounds
that the offense was not spousal abuse, as that term is defined in subdivision
(h) of this section.
(3) Where the
Office of Children and Family Services directs an authorizes agency, as defined
in section
371 (10)(a) or
(c) of the Social Services Law, to deny an
application of a prospective adoptive parent or revoke the approval of an
adoptive parent based on the review and evaluation of a criminal history record
check from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of Children and
Family Services must also notify the prospective adoptive parent, the approved
adoptive parent or other person over the age of 18 who currently resides in the
home of the prospective or approved adoptive parent whose criminal history was
the basis for the denial and must provide such prospective adoptive parent,
approved adoptive parent or other person a copy of the results of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation criminal history check and a written statement setting
forth the reasons for such denial. If the applicant or approved adoptive parent
is disqualified under clause (d)(1)(i)(
b) of this section for
a felony conviction of spousal abuse, then the applicant or approved adoptive
parent may apply to the Office of Children and Family Services through an
administrative hearing held in accordance with section
22 of the
Social Services Law for relief from the disqualification based on the grounds
that the offense was not spousal abuse as that term is defined in subdivision
(h) of this section.
(f)
When a criminal history record of the prospective or approved adoptive parent
or of any other person over the age of 18 who currently resides in the home of
the prospective or approved adoptive parent reveals a charge or conviction of
any crime, the authorized agency must perform a safety assessment of the
conditions in the household. Such assessment must include: whether the subject
of the charge or conviction resides in the household; the extent to which such
person may have contact with foster children or other children residing in the
household; and the status, date and nature of the criminal charge or
conviction. The authorized agency must thereafter take all appropriate steps to
protect the health and safety of such child or children, including, when
appropriate, the removal of any foster child or children from the home and the
revocation of the approval or certification to be a foster parent and/or the
approval to be an adoptive parent, as applicable. The authorized agency must
document the safety assessment and the steps and actions taken by the
authorized agency to protect the health and safety of the child. Where the
authorized agency denies the application or revokes the approval of the
prospective adoptive parent in accordance with the standards set forth in this
section, such authorized agency must remove any foster child or children from
the home of the prospective adoptive parent.
(g) Any criminal history record information
provided by the Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and any summary of the criminal history record provided by the
Office of Children and Family Services to an authorized agency pursuant to this
section, is confidential and is not available for public inspection; provided,
however, nothing herein prevents an authorized agency, the Office of Children
and Family Services or other State agency referenced in paragraph (a) of
subdivision two of section
378-a of
the Social Services Law from disclosing criminal history information to any
administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the denial or revocation of
an approval of an adoptive parent or the removal of the foster child from the
home. Where there is a pending court case, the authorized agency which received
the criminal history record summary from the Office of Children and Family
Services must provide a copy of such summary to the Family Court or the
Surrogate's Court.
(h) For the
purposes of this section spousal abuse is an offense defined
in section
120.05 or
120.10 of the
Penal Law where the victim of such offense was the defendant's spouse;
provided, however, spousal abuse does not include a crime in which the
prospective or approved adoptive parent, who was the defendant, has received
notice pursuant to subdivision (e) of this section and the Office of Children
and Family Services finds after an administrative hearing held pursuant to
section
22 of the
Social Services Law, that he or she was the victim of physical, sexual or
psychological abuse by the victim of such offense and such abuse was a factor
in causing the prospective or approved adoptive parent to commit such
offense.
(i) The authorized agency
must inform the Office of Children and Family Services either through
CONNECTIONS or any other means as prescribed by the Office of Children and
Family Services when an approved adoptive parent has completed the
adoption.
(j) Notwithstanding any
other provision of this Part, for the purpose of this section, an
authorized agency, as defined in section
371 (10)(a) or
(c) of the Social Services Law includes any
agency approved by the Office of Children and Family Services to place out
children for adoption in accordance with article 13 of the Not-for-Profit
Corporation Law.
