New York A 6189: Relates to allowing unaccompanied children in custody to petition the family court

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A06189 Summary:

BILL NOA06189A

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SAME ASSAME AS S04260-A

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SPONSORHevesi

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COSPNSRSchiavoni, Lunsford, Davila, Simone

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MLTSPNSR

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Add Art 10-D §§1100 - 1106, amd §249, Fam Ct Act; amd §371, Soc Serv L

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Relates to allowing unaccompanied children in custody petition the family court for orders of dependency to ensure such child receives proper care.

Go to top A06189 Actions:

BILL NOA06189A

&nbsp

02/26/2025referred to children and families

01/07/2026referred to children and families

02/25/2026amend and recommit to children and families

02/25/2026print number 6189a

Go to topA06189 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA06189 Floor&nbspVotes:

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

Go to topA06189 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 6189--A

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 February 26, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI, SCHIAVONI, LUNSFORD, DAVILA, SIMONE --
 read once and referred to the Committee on Children and Families --
 recommitted to the Committee on Children and Families in accordance
 with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended,
 ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

 AN ACT to amend the family court act and the social services law, in
 relation to allowing unaccompanied children in federal placements to
 self-petition the family court for orders of dependency

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. The family court act is amended by adding a new article
 2 10-D to read as follows:
 3 ARTICLE 10-D
 4 ACCESS TO FAMILY COURT ACT
 5 Section 1100. Definitions.
 6 1101. Jurisdiction.
 7 1102. Venue.
 8 1103. Petitions.
 9 1104. Service of process.
 10 1105. Hearings and orders.
 11 1106. Continuing court jurisdiction.
 12 § 1100. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms
 13 shall have the following meanings:
 14 (a) "Dependent child" shall have the same meaning as defined in
 15 section three hundred seventy-one of the social services law.
 16 (b) "Federal placement" means any facility or program providing shel-
 17 ter or foster care services to non-citizen children within New York
 18 state under a federal contract with or other authorization from the
 19 United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee
 20 Resettlement, or any other federal government agency or office. For the
 21 purposes of this article, such federal placements are authorized agen-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD04245-06-5

 A. 6189--A 2

 1 cies and institutions under section three hundred seventy-one of the
 2 social services law.
 3 (c) "Special findings" means findings that reunification with one or
 4 both parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a
 5 similar basis under state law, and a finding that it is not in the
 6 child's best interest to be returned to such child's or such child's
 7 parent's country of nationality or last habitual residence.
 8 § 1101. Jurisdiction. (a) The family court shall have exclusive juris-
 9 diction over all petitions and motions filed pursuant to this article.
 10 (b) In determining the jurisdiction of the family court under this
 11 article, the age of the child at the time the proceedings are initiated
 12 is controlling.
 13 § 1102. Venue. Proceedings commenced under this article may originate
 14 in the county of the child's federal placement or where the child is
 15 domiciled at the time of the filing.
 16 § 1103. Petitions. (a) At any time, a child in a federal placement or
 17 any adult acting on the child's behalf may commence a proceeding to seek
 18 a determination of dependency under this article by filing a petition
 19 with the family court alleging that the child is a dependent child.
 20 (b) Statements in the petition may be made upon information and
 21 belief, and may concern acts, omissions, and events that occurred
 22 outside of the state of New York or outside of the United States.
 23 (c) Facts alleged in a petition under this article relating to past
 24 acts, omissions or events outside the Unit