Relates to retention of records relating to certain acts of alleged misconduct

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Shelley Mayer says this is needed

The Child Victims Act (Chapter 11 of the laws of 2019), extended the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse to pursue criminal charges or file a civil lawsuit. Under the new law, prosecutors may initiate criminal proceedings for certain sexual offenses committed against a child until they turn 23. Survivors of child sexual abuse may bring a civil case against an alleged abuser or party whose intentional or negligent acts or omission allegedly allowed such conduct until they turn 55. The changes in the CVA are trauma-informed and will give survivors a meaningful opportunity to pursue justice through civil or criminal cases for abuse they suffered as children. They also necessitate that New York review provisions of law that reflect the prior shorter statute of limi- tations. This bill seeks to update one such provision. Section 1128-A of the education law requires school districts to expunge any records related to allegations of child abuse in a school setting after 5 years. Under the new CVA statute of limitations, these records are likely to be relevant in cases filed after that 5 year time frame expires. This legislation provides an exception to the expungement requirement, allowing districts to retain records related to allegations that could be the subject of either criminal or civil action under the CVA until the statute of limitations expires. These records will be subject to the confidentiality protections in section 1127 of the education law, but will allow,school districts to access relevant information if a CVA-re- lated care arises.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.