Active Campaigns

Family Miranda Rights

New york Senate Bill s901 / Assembly Bill a1980

New York family policing agents refuse to inform parents of their rights at the start of an investigation. As a result, Black, Latine, and low-income parents are coerced into complying with traumatizing and harmful investigations – all without being informed of their rights, including the right to speak to an attorney.

The Family Miranda Rights Act requires workers to advise parents and caretakers of their rights at the start of an investigation. This legislation does not create new rights; it simply ensures that parents are aware of the rights already guaranteed by New York State law and the Constitution.

A New York Times article publicized a report that ACS commissioned - and later buried - in which the agency’s own staff describe it as a “predatory system that specifically targets Black and brown parents.” ACS workers regularly gain access to homes and conduct searches on Black and Brown families without a court order, violating their 4th Amendment rights.

Watch Joyce McMillan and Chris Gottlieb of PLAN explain why the Family Miranda Rights bill must pass.

Anti-harassment in Reporting

New York Senate Bill s902 / Assembly Bill A2479

This bill requires reporters of suspected child abuse or maltreatment to provide their name and contact information to the statewide central register of child abuse, prohibiting the harmful practice of anonymous reporting. In many instances, false anonymous reports are used as a form of domestic harassment or to settle grievances.

Reporters' safety would still be assured, but replacing anonymous reporting with confidential reporting will deter a significant amount of malicious reporting, allow child welfare agencies to conduct more effective investigations and focus resources on the cases that merit them.

informed consent

New York Senate Bill S320 / Assembly bill a109

New York health care providers’ “test and report” practices threaten the health and well-being of Black and Latine people and their newborns. Pregnant people are routinely drug tested without their informed consent and reported to the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR) – exposing families to the violence of family separation and deterring pregnant people from accessing essential pre- and perinatal health care. The Informed Consent Act requires health care providers to obtain specific and informed consent before drug testing new parents and newborns.

The campaign seeks to create a shared understanding of unconsented drug testing and engage new stakeholders in work to correct this injustice. Recently, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a position statement, unequivocally opposing drug testing without informed consent and criminalization through CPS.