BPHA LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS HOST THE EIGHTH “CAUCUS CORNER” EPISODE OF THE 2024 LEGISLATIVE SESSION ON BILLS PACKAGE FOR FAMILY CIVIL RIGHTS

Today, Members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus hosted a new episode of “Caucus Corner'' for the 2024 legislative session. Caucus Corner is an audio series initiated by members to discuss and analyze major Caucus priorities from its annual People’s Budget with policy experts and community-based organizations from across the state. Additionally, Caucus members are able to increase support for various initiatives and campaigns. 

Listen to the program here on Spotify or on Youtube

In the newest episode, legislators and advocates confronted a sobering truth: Families of color are being unfairly scrutinized by Child Protective Services at disproportionate rates.  Panelists discussed the ways New Yorkers can empower themselves with knowledge so that they can be their own advocates in the fight for fairness and justice. The three bills highlighted during this conversation were the Miranda Family Rights Bill (S901 / A1980), the Confidential Reporting Bill (S902 / A2479) & the Informed Consent Bill (S320B / A109).

“We see time and time again, the testing that they are doing for cannabis, alcohol, and drugs is disproportionately impacting our community,” said Chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus, Assemblymember Michaelle Solages. “The Attorney General is actually doing an investigation with the American Civil Liberty’s Union because it is common practice for hospitals to do this testing … officials opened up thousands of records of obstetricians, & noticed that it was motivated by political interests. You could see it was Black and Brown folk who were getting tested…. This is the rights of our people being violated.”

“We have a system of anonymous reporting in New York State, where you can make a report on parents and not leave any information on who you are or why you are making the report without any contact information… We have seen this tactic being used as harassment, especially in cases of domestic violence, where the abusers falsely report instances of child endangerment.” said the Chair of the Committee on Children & Families, Senator Jabari Brisport.

When people leave anonymous reports about these cases, 93% of those cases in New York City show that there was no maltreatment to a child… This can be used to manipulate already vulnerable and marginalized families. said the Associate the Director of Policy & Family Defense, Brooklyn Defender Services, Nila Natarajan.

“Nothing is more important than someone making well informed decisions when it comes to their children and keeping their family intact,” Said the Founder & Executive Director of JMACforFamilies, Joyce McMillan. “The Constitution should not be redlined… if a Black or Brown family chooses to exercise their constitutional rights, law enforcement is weaponized against that family, and that should never happen.”