Comprehensive Legislative Package Will Support All Parents, Caregivers, Relative Caregivers, Kinship Guardians, and Foster Parents

City Hall, NY – In and effort to provide continued support to working parents and caregivers, Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo and Speaker Corey Johnson this week introduced legislation in time for Mother’s Day that will support all parents, caregivers, relative caregivers, kinship guardians, and foster parents. This groundbreaking package of 10 bills will cover a range of topics, including and related to pre- and post-natal care, childbirth, parenting and child rearing, as well as promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child aside from the biological relationship.

These bills will result in the improvement of family life for many, opening new opportunities for policy changes that will greatly impact New Yorkers’ everyday lives for the better.

“They say that it takes a village to raise a child, but sadly we all too often fall short when it comes to supporting parents and caregivers,” said Speaker Johnson. “This groundbreaking ‘Mother’s Day Legislative Package’ will help provide New York City families with the support they need. I want to commend Majority Leader Cumbo for her incredible advocacy in bringing these issues to light and my colleagues for their commitment to improving the lives for families across the city.”

“Every child in this city deserves to live the best life possible, and we as a City Council are working to do everything we can to make that a reality. I am proud of my colleagues – both male and female – who helped make these bills a reality. This is our Mother’s Day gift to all the wonderful moms in this city,” said Majority Leader Cumbo.

Description and summary of the bills are as follows:

  • Bill #1: (Cumbo, Cornegy, Rosenthal, Chin, Rivera, Rose, Ayala, Ampry-Samuel) – A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York in relation to requiring certain New York city employers to provide lactation rooms
    • This bill would require employers in the City with more than 15 employees to provide lactation spaces, as well as refrigerators in reasonable proximity to work areas for the purposes of storing breast milk.
  • Bill #2: (Rivera) – A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring employers to implement a lactation accommodation policy
    • This bill would require employers in the City to establish policies describing lactation accommodations, the process by which an employee can request such accommodation, to be distributed to all new employees. It would also require CCHR to establish and make available a model lactation accommodation policy.
  • Bill #3: (Cornegy, Cumbo) – A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring lactation rooms in certain city spaces
    • This bill would require lactation rooms be made available in Department of Education schools, police precincts, City jail facilities accepting visitors, and City jail facilities housing females.
  • Bill #4: (Rosenthal, Ampry-Samuel, Cumbo, Rivera, Chin) – A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to access to doulas for pregnant women in New York City
    • This bill would require the DOHMH to assess the needs of pregnant people and the availability of free and low-cost doula services to meet such needs. This will be done by assessing demand, the cost of doulas, existing doula programs, current availability of doula services, and the benefits of doula programs. DOHMH will then be required to provide the council with an annual plan for providing access to doulas to more pregnant people who request doula services.
  • Bill #5: (Rosenthal, Cumbo, Rivera, Chin) – A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to expanding DOHMH reporting on maternal mortality
    • This bill would require DOHMH to include additional information in the annual maternal mortality report to the Council, required pursuant to local law 55 of the year 2017; including data at the individual level, anonymized to comply with privacy concerns, related to the total number of births, as well as disaggregated information on maternal mortality numbers. It would also require the department to include information on enhancing cooperation between city agencies in its annual recommendations.
  • Bill #6: (Powers, Cumbo) – Allow campaign funds to be used for child care and babysitting
    • This bill would permit campaign funds, but not public money, to be used for certain childcare costs for children under thirteen years of age for which the candidate is a primary caregiver.
  • Bill #7: (Cumbo) – A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to permitting inmates in city jails to choose the gender of their doctor
    • This bill would require that any inmate in the custody of the Department of Correction be required to be treated by a doctor of the gender of their choosing, absent any substantial safety risk.
  • Bill #8: (Treyger, Ampry-Samuel, Rosenthal, Cumbo, Levin, Reynoso, Brannan, Salamanca, Kallos) – A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the provision of diapers
    • This bill would require DCAS to provide to child subsidized care centers, Family Justice Centers, DOE LYFE programs, domestic violence shelters operated by the HRA, and shelters operated by the DHS and the Department of Youth and Community Development, a supply of diapers that is sufficient to meet the needs of the residents and service recipients of those programs.
  • Bill #9: (Chin, Levine, Ayala, Koslowitz) – Annual reporting on unlicensed child care facilities closed by the department of health and mental hygiene
    • This bill would require annual reporting from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to the Speaker of the Council, or via the Mayor’s Management Report, relating to licensed and unlicensed child care facilities. This reporting would be required to include the number of licensed child care facilities, the number of inspections of these facilities performed, the number of complaints of unlicensed child care facilities, the results of such complaints, and the number of unlicensed facilities that were closed. The Department would also be required to publish the address of child care providers that received cease and desist orders or were otherwise closed due to their unlicensed operation.
  • Bill #10: (The Public Advocate (Ms. James), Ben Kallos, I. Daneek Miller, Stephen T. Levin, Diana Ayala , Alicka Ampry-Samuel) – A Local Law in relation to providing on-site childcare for city employees
    • This bill would require the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to conduct a feasibility study and pilot for offering on-site group childcare options for city employees.

 

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