The Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York strongly advocates for the passage of this legislation proposed by State Senator Jabari Brisport and State Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi.  This legislation seeks to END THE HARASSMENT OF anonymous reports AS ALL REPORTS ARE ALREADY confidential BY CURRENT LAW.

The research in the Coalition’s 2021 position paper, “Child Abuse or Maltreatment Reports to the Central Register Must Include the Caller’s Name and Contact Information” makes a compelling case for ending anonymous calls to the New York State Central Registry including:

• Anonymous callers represent a meaningful percentage of calls to central register, yet their reports rarely are substantiated as child abuse or maltreatment.  10,000 ANONYMOUS REPORTS ARE MADE YEAR YEAR AGAINST INNOCENT FAMILIES - WASTING RESOURCES AND CAUSING LASTING HARM.
• Over the five-year period between 2015-2019 in NYS, nearly 30% of all reports were found to be indicated. However, anonymous calls, 7% of all calls, were indicated only 3.48% of the time.

Support the NYS Anti-Harassment in Reporting Bill

We applaud this anti-harassment legislation that will minimize the trauma to both parents and the children in their care. PLEASE SIGN YOUR NAME TO HELP SHOW SUPPORT FOR THIS LEGISLATION IN NEW YORK'S UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE SESSION!

Please see AFFCNY.ORG/SCR/ for a deeper dive into this importation issue.