STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 512 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PALUMBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the domestic relations law and the family court act, in relation to orders for child custody The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph 4 of paragraph (a-1) of subdivision 1 of 2 section 240 of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter 295 of 3 the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows: 4 (4) Notifying counsel and issuing orders. Upon consideration of deci- 5 sions pursuant to article ten of the family court act, and registry 6 reports and notifying counsel involved in the proceeding, or in the 7 event of a self-represented party, notifying such party of the results 8 thereof, including any court appointed attorney for children, the court 9 may issue a temporary, successive temporary or final order of custody or 10 visitation; provided, that a final order of custody or visitation shall 11 be issued within six months following the preliminary conference or 12 initial appearance on the petition. 13 § 2. Paragraph 4 of subdivision (e) of section 651 of the family court 14 act, as amended by chapter 295 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read 15 as follows: 16 4. Notifying counsel and issuing orders. Upon consideration of deci- 17 sions pursuant to article ten of this act, and registry reports and 18 notifying counsel involved in the proceeding, or in the event of a self- 19 represented party, notifying such party of the results thereof, includ- 20 ing any court appointed attorney for children, the court may issue a 21 temporary, successive temporary or final order of custody or visitation; 22 provided, that a final order of custody or visitation shall be issued 23 within six months following the preliminary conference or initial 24 appearance on the petition or order to show cause. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02118-01-5
S. 512 2 1 § 3. Subdivision (a) of section 1089 of the family court act, as added 2 by section 27 of part A of chapter 3 of the laws of 2005, paragraph 1 as 3 amended by chapter 342 of the laws of 2010, paragraph 2 as amended by 4 chapter 605 of the laws of 2011 and paragraph 3 as amended by chapter 5 437 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 6 (a) Scheduling, commencement and completion of permanency hearings. 7 (1) Children freed for adoption. (i) At the conclusion of the disposi- 8 tional hearing at which the child was freed for adoption in a proceeding 9 pursuant to section three hundred eighty-three-c, three hundred eighty- 10 four or three hundred eighty-four-b of the social services law, the 11 court shall set a date certain for the initial freed child permanency 12 hearing and advise all parties in court of the date set, except for the 13 respondent or respondents. The permanency hearing shall be commenced no 14 later than thirty days after the hearing at which the child was freed 15 and shall be completed within thirty days, unless the court determines 16 to hold the permanency hearing immediately upon completion of the hear- 17 ing at which the child was freed, provided adequate notice has been 18 given. 19 (ii) At the conclusion of the hearing pursuant to section one thousand 20 ninety-one of this act where the court has granted the motion for a 21 former foster care youth who was discharged from foster care due to a 22 failure to consent to continuation of placement to return to the custody 23 of the local commissioner of social services or other officer, board or 24 department authorized to receive children as public charges, the court 25 shall set a date certain for a permanency hearing and advise all parties 26 in court of the date set. The permanency hearing shall be commenced no 27 later than thirty days after the hearing at which the former foster care 28 youth was returned to foster care. 29 (iii) A final order of custody in a permanency hearing issued under 30 this section shall be issued within six months following the initial 31 permanency hearing. 32 (2) All other permanency hearings. At the conclusion of the hearing 33 pursuant to section one thousand twenty-two, one thousand twenty-seven, 34 one thousand fifty-two, one thousand eighty-nine, one thousand ninety- 35 one, one thousand ninety-four or one thousand ninety-five of this act at 36 which the child was remanded or placed and upon the court's approval of 37 a voluntary placement instrument pursuant to section three hundred 38 fifty-eight-a of the social services law, the court shall set a date 39 certain for an initial permanency hearing, advise all parties in court 40 of the date set and include the date in the order. Orders issued in 41 subsequent court hearings prior to the permanency hearing, including, 42 but not limited to, the order of placement issued pursuant to section 43 one thousand fifty-five of this act, shall include the date certain for 44 the permanency hearing. The final order in the initial permanency hear- 45 ing shall be [commenced] issued no later than six months from the date 46 [which is sixty days after] the child was removed from [his or her] 47 their home[; provided, however, that if a sibling or half-sibling of the 48 child has previously been removed from the home and has a permanency 49 hearing date certain scheduled within the next eight months, the perman- 50 ency hearing for each child subsequently removed from the home shall be 51 scheduled on the same date certain that has been set for the first child 52 removed from the home, unless such sibling or half-sibling has been 53 removed from the home pursuant to article three or seven of this act. 54 The permanency hearing shall be completed within thirty days of the 55 scheduled date certain].
S. 512 3 1 (3) Subsequent permanency hearings for a child who continues in out- 2 of-home placement or who is freed for adoption shall be scheduled for a 3 date certain which shall be no later than six months from the completion 4 of the previous permanency hearing and such subsequent permanency hear- 5 ings shall be completed within thirty days of the date certain set for 6 such hearings. 7 § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 8 have become a law and shall apply to proceedings commenced on and after 9 such date.