NYS Permanency Legislation
In December, 2005, NYS enacted legislation known as the Permanency Bill. This Bill was passed in part to make sure children in foster care have more frequent and continuous judicial and agency reviews of their situation.
Key provisions include:
- Require a permanency hearing once every six months (rather than every 12 months as before). The court must calendar a specific date for the next permanency hearing at each hearing. Stakeholders leave each hearing knowing when they are next expected in court and can plan accordingly.
- Require permanency hearings to be completed within 30 days.
- Have a single judge work on the case throughout the child’s time in the system, and until an adoption is finalized
- Have continuous legal representation for children and parents (i.e., a single attorney works with the child throughout the life of the case)
- Include 18- to 21-year old children voluntarily placed into foster care in the Family Court permanency process; and
- Require submission of a detailed permanency report on the child and the family at least two weeks before each permanency hearing.
