New York J 1894: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim April 19-25, 2026, as Abusive Head Trauma/Shaken Baby Syndrome Awareness Week in the State of New York

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
J01894 Summary:

BILL NOJ01894 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORSTEWART-COUSINS

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

&nbsp

Go to top J01894 Actions:

BILL NOJ01894 

&nbsp

04/15/2026REFERRED TO FINANCE

04/21/2026REPORTED TO CALENDAR FOR CONSIDERATION

04/21/2026ADOPTED

Go to topJ01894 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topJ01894 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topJ01894 Text:

Senate Resolution No. 1894

BY: Senator STEWART-COUSINS

 MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
 April 19-25, 2026, as Abusive Head Trauma/Shaken
 Baby Syndrome Awareness Week in the State of New
 York

 WHEREAS, The most recent statistics compiled by the federal
government estimate that 532,228 children were victims of abuse and
neglect in the United States in 2024, of whom 32.1 percent were under
three years of age; and

 WHEREAS, That statistic includes 45,746 children in New York State,
of whom 9,492 (20.7 percent) were under four years of age; and

 WHEREAS, On an average day in the United States, at least five
children will die as a consequence of abuse or neglect by a parent or
other person entrusted with their care; and

 WHEREAS, Children younger than one year of age accounted for 44.5
percent of all child abuse and neglect fatalities in 2024, and children
three years of age or younger accounted for more than two-thirds (65.7
percent) of all child abuse and neglect fatalities in 2024; and

 WHEREAS, The leading cause of death of abused children under age
five is Abusive Head Trauma, including the inflicted trauma commonly
known as Shaken Baby Syndrome; and

 WHEREAS, On average 1,200 to 1,400 children in the United States are
diagnosed with AHT/SBS every year, and medical experts believe many
additional cases are likely misdiagnosed or undetected; and

 WHEREAS, Inflicted head trauma occurs when a caregiver loses control
and shakes a baby or young child, most frequently less than one year of
age but in some cases as old as five years of age, resulting in loss of
vision, brain damage, paralysis, seizures, or death; and

 WHEREAS, Shaken Baby Syndrome often causes permanent, irreparable
brain damage or death to an infant, and may result in more than
$1,000,000 in medical and rehabilitation costs for the care of a single
disabled child during the first years of life; and

 WHEREAS, A growing body of medical evidence indicates that even mild
trauma to the brain caused by AHT/SBS is likely to cause learning
disabilities in children and substantially increase the risk of
substance abuse; and

 WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in
2011 that the average cost of child maltreatment is $210,012 over the
course of a victim's lifetime, including the costs of child welfare,
special education, criminal justice expenses, medical care and lost
productivity as an adult; and

 WHEREAS, It is estimated that the taxpayers of the State of New York
may, though the State Medicaid program, pay as much as 41% of the
medical and rehabilitation costs of inflicted head injuries; and

 WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control estimates child abuse costs
our nation more than $124 billion a year, and the cost of child abuse in
New York State is estimated to exceed $13 billion a year; and

 WHEREAS, The most effective way to end AHT/SBS is by educating
parents and caregivers about the danger of shaking children and
providing the skills needed to cope with frustration and anger, and the
minimal costs of educational and preventative programs may avert
enormous medical and disability costs and untold grief for many
families; and

 WHEREAS, Evidence-based education and awareness programs, such as
the nationally recognized New York SBS Prevention Project, developed by
Dr. Mark Dias with the support of the NYS Children and Families Trust
Fund, and implemented in collaboration with Kaleida Health Women and
Children's Hospital of Buffalo and the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital
of Westchester, are shown to raise awareness and provide critically
important information about SBS to parents, caregivers, daycare workers,
and health care professionals; and

 WHEREAS, The NYS Office of Children and Family Services supports the
work of hospital-based education programs through the efforts of the
Safe Babies New York progra