NYS bans anonymous reporting of child abuse allegations in effort to deter frivolous calls

ALBANY — New York has become the third state to outlaw anonymous calls reporting allegations of child abuse, according to one of dozens of bills signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline.

Supporters of the new child abuse law say too often people involved in custody or divorce battles use anonymous calls to damage another person and that studies show frivolous calls account for more than half of abuse reports.

"Repeated, false CPS reports are a common method of harassment," Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) said in a statement. "This is illegal, but when reports were made anonymously, the state had virtually no way of investigating instances of abuse."

Dale Cecka, director of the Family Violence Litigation Clinic at Albany Law School, said nationally 96% of hotline calls are deemed baseless. And, she noted, while the welfare of some 4,000 children in New York City were investigated as a result of those calls, just 7% of the anonymous reports were substantiated

"I couldn’t believe the number of times the system was weaponized," said Cecka, who has been studying the issue and advocating change for more than a decade.

Under the new law, hotline calls will remain confidential. A court order is needed to reveal an identity and only if a judge deems it pertinent to a case.

"Hopefully, this will lessen the reports. It will allow caseworkers to have more meaningful interactions with people and they no longer will be forced to go on fishing expeditions," Cecka said.

California and Texas have enacted similar laws — without creating a "chilling effect" on legitimate child abuse reports, Cecka said. She also said most legitimate reports are made by "mandated reporters," such as school officials, counselors and health professionals, as opposed to anonymous tipsters.

Among the other bills Hochul acted on:

Securing health data

Hochul vetoed a bill that would have forced electronic applications or websites that collect health data to receive affirmative consent from the user to retain the data and give the user an ability to delete information.

Backers had said apps and websites could track and distribute information about, say, medical purchases related to pregnancy — and that it’s nearly impossible to have an abortion now without leaving a digital trail.

Business and tech groups had lobbied for a veto, saying the bill went way beyond protecting information and would drive up a range of costs, including insurance.

The governor agreed.

"While well-intentioned, the bill's definitions and scope are broad, creating potentially significant uncertainty about the information subject to regulation and compliance challenges for consumers, businesses and nonprofits alike," Hochul said.

Police radio transmissions

Hochul vetoed a bill that would have preserved police radio transmissions.

The State Senate and Assembly had approved the bill in response to a growing trend of police encrypting radio transmissions. Legislators said this "dangerously inhibits" the public from monitoring police actions.

But Hochul said it could trigger the release of sensitive information that could endanger people.

"While transparency is laudable, it should not come at the expense of public safety," the governor said.

Family leave for certain workers

Hochul signed a bill that offers paid family leave for those working in construction, demolition, excavation and similar occupations who aren’t covered by existing family leave laws — largely because they work by contract — and who might work for more than one company.

Dead performers

Lawmakers previously enacted a "right to publicity" which required consent to use an image or likeness of a dead person for commercial uses. But now they say that law didn’t anticipate the newfangled and increasing use of "digital replicas" to effectively get around the law. Hochul signed a new law that closes the loophole.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy