New York

N.Y. Soc. Serv. Law § 413 — New York mandatory-reporting statute

Clergy named as mandatory reporter?: No
Confessional exemption?: Yes

Statute: N.Y. Soc. Serv. Law § 413
Clergy named: Not expressly
Pending: —

New York's principal reporting statute, Soc. Serv. Law § 413, names roughly 40 professional categories that must report suspected child abuse: physicians, dentists, nurses, social workers, teachers, day care workers, peace officers, district attorneys, even a Christian Science practitioner. Clergy, ministers, priests, rabbis, and imams are not on the list. Reporting by clergy is voluntary, and a separate evidentiary rule at CPLR 4505 shields confessions and spiritual-advisor confidences from later subpoena. The Child Abuse Reporting Expansion (CARE) Act would add clergy to § 413 with a carveout for confessions or confidences made in a spiritual-advisor capacity. The CARE Act has been reintroduced in every regular session since 2019-20, and the 2025-2026 vehicles S6919, S9899, and A8063A (the active amendment of A8063) all died in the Children and Families committees when the cycle closed on June 10, 2026. UCO is pushing to put clergy on the § 413 list, in New York and in every state still keeping them off.

Section 01What needs to change

What needs to change in New York.

Clergy are absent from the § 413 enumerated list
Soc. Serv. Law § 413(1)(a) lists roughly 40 mandated-reporter categories: physicians, dentists, registered nurses, social workers, school teachers and other school personnel, day care workers, social services workers, peace and police officers, district attorneys, and so on. The list even includes a Christian Science practitioner. Clergy, ministers, priests, rabbis, and imams are not named. New York therefore falls in the not-expressly bucket: the statute neither names clergy nor adopts a universal any-person formulation that would sweep them in.
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The clergy-penitent privilege lives in CPLR 4505, not in § 413
The principal reporting statute is silent on the clergy-penitent privilege. The privilege is independently established by **CPLR 4505**, which bars a clergyman, minister of any religion, or accredited Christian Science practitioner from disclosing a confession or confidence made in their professional spiritual-advisor capacity unless the penitent waives. Because § 413 contains no child-abuse-specific override of CPLR 4505, the privilege posture under the principal statute is silent. Any future reporting duty would have to be resolved by amending § 413 itself, which is exactly what the pending CARE Act attempts.
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Voluntary reporting backstop at § 414
Section 414 separately allows any person to report suspected child abuse or maltreatment on a voluntary basis. The federal Child Welfare Information Gateway 2023 New York summary cites § 414 as the only reporting channel applicable to clergy in current law. Voluntary reporting is the only avenue available to clergy until § 413 is amended.
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Federal cross-check: Child Welfare Information Gateway 2023
The Children's Bureau 50-state catalog (current through May 2023) does not list New York among the approximately 29 states and Guam that enumerate clergy as mandated reporters. It records that privileged communications are not addressed in New York's reporting statutes. The federal catalog is silent on the privilege, which New York locates instead in CPLR 4505. Independent federal corroboration of both the not-expressly and silent classifications.
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The CARE Act is a four-biennium reintroduction pattern
The Child Abuse Reporting Expansion Act has been reintroduced in **every regular session since 2019-20**: A6662/S5711 in 2019-20 (the Assembly version passed that chamber before dying in the Senate), A888/S1399 in 2021-22, A1581/S3158 in 2023-24, and now S6919, S9899, and A8063A (the active amendment of A8063) in 2025-26. The 2025-2026 bills all died in the Children and Families committees when the cycle closed on June 10, 2026. The pattern is multi-biennium, not a one-off recent attempt.
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Section 02What's needed

What it takes to close the gap.

Section 03How you can help

Concrete ways to support reform in New York.

Donate

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Donations fund New York-specific research, coalition outreach, and the long work of pushing clergy onto the § 413 reporter list.

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Section 04Timeline

How New York got here.

2019-2020
First CARE Act bills introduced; Assembly version passes one chamber
A6662 / S5711 introduce clergy as mandated reporters and, as first drafted, override CPLR 4505 for child abuse outright, barring the privilege both as a reason not to report and as a ground to exclude evidence. The confessional carveout appears only by later amendment. A6662-B, carrying that carveout, passes the Assembly before dying in the Senate. The pattern of biennium-after-biennium reintroduction begins here.
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2021-2022
CARE Act reintroduced as A888 / S1399
Second-biennium CARE Act bills with the same amendment structure. S1399 advanced out of the Senate Children and Families Committee and was referred to the Senate Rules Committee, where it died at session end. A888 remained in the Assembly Children and Families Committee.
2023-2024
CARE Act reintroduced as A1581 / S3158
Third-biennium CARE Act bills with the same amendment structure. Did not advance out of committee in either chamber.
2025-03
S6919 introduced in current biennium
Sen. Hoylman-Sigal introduces the current-session Senate CARE Act with co-sponsors Cleare and Walczyk; referred to the Senate Committee on Children and Families on March 26, 2025.
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2025-04
A8063 introduced as Assembly companion
Asm. McMahon and ten co-sponsors introduce the Assembly companion April 22, 2025; referred to the Committee on Children and Families.
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2026-04
S9899 added; A8063A amended and recommitted
Sen. Zellner introduces S9899 (referred April 13, 2026) as a second 2025-26 Senate vehicle. The Assembly bill is amended and recommitted to Children and Families as A8063A on April 23, 2026.
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2026-06
CARE Act bills die at sine die
S6919, A8063A and S9899 were each still in committee when the Legislature adjourned sine die on June 10, 2026. That adjournment closed the 2025-2026 two-year cycle, so all three died. This is the fourth consecutive cycle in which a CARE Act vehicle has been introduced and not enacted, and the reform would have to be reintroduced in the 2027-2028 session.
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Section 05Key cases

Litigation shaping the law.

Matter of Keenan v. Gigante
47 N.Y.2d 160 (1979)1979
Court of Appeals held that the clergy-penitent privilege does not arise simply because statements are made to a clergyman. Only confidential communications made to clergy in a spiritual capacity are protected; there must be reason to believe the information was sought under the cloak of the confessional or was otherwise confidential. Keenan delineates what falls inside versus outside any future CARE Act paragraph-(e) carveout: communications that fail the confidentiality or spiritual-capacity tests would not be privileged even under current law, and would be reportable if clergy are added to § 413.
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Lightman v. Flaum
97 N.Y.2d 128 (2001)2001
Court of Appeals held that CPLR 4505 is a rule of evidence affecting admissibility, and that breach of the clergy-penitent privilege does not give rise to a private cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty. The court distinguished clergy from licensed professionals subject to a comprehensive statutory scheme. Relevant background for why New York's clergy-penitent privilege is structured as a testimonial rule outside § 413, and why the CARE Act has, since its 2019-20 bills were amended, used § 413 rather than CPLR 4505 as its vehicle. As first introduced in 2019 it amended CPLR 4505 directly.
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People v. Carmona
82 N.Y.2d 603 (1993)1993
Court of Appeals construed CPLR 4505 broadly. The privilege is not limited to communications with a particular class of clerics or congregants. The single inquiry is whether the communication was made in confidence and for the purpose of obtaining spiritual guidance, regardless of the religion's specific beliefs or practices. Sets the threshold test any CARE Act paragraph-(e) carveout would have to navigate.
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Section 06Background

Public-record sources UCO is tracking.

Always verify against the underlying statute or filing before quoting.

New York State Senate (NYSenate.gov)· 2026-01-30
N.Y. Social Services Law § 413 — Persons and officials required to report cases of suspected child abuse or maltreatment
Canonical legislature rendering of the principal statute. Subdivision 1(a) enumerates roughly 40 mandated-reporter categories (physicians, dentists, nurses, social workers, school personnel, day care workers, peace and police officers, district attorneys, and a Christian Science practitioner) and does not include clergy, ministers, priests, rabbis, or imams. The section also contains no clergy-penitent override; the privilege itself is addressed elsewhere at CPLR 4505.
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Justia US Law
N.Y. Civil Practice Law and Rules § 4505 — Confidential communication to clergy privileged
The clergy-penitent privilege in New York lives in CPLR 4505 rather than in Soc. Serv. Law § 413, which is the structural reason the privilege posture under the principal statute is silent. CPLR 4505 bars a clergyman, minister of any religion, or accredited Christian Science practitioner from disclosing a confession or confidence made in a professional spiritual-advisor capacity unless waived. The statute contains no child-abuse-specific override.
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Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. HHS Children's Bureau· May 2023
Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect — New York
Federal clergy-specific summary for New York. Cites Soc. Serv. Law § 414 for permissive any-person reporting and states that privileged communications are not addressed in the statutes reviewed. Independent federal corroboration of both the not-expressly and silent classifications.
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New York State Senate (NYSenate.gov)· Introduced March 26, 2025
NY State Senate Bill 2025-S6919 — Child Abuse Reporting Expansion (CARE) Act
Senate version of the CARE Act in the current 2025-2026 session. Section 2 amends § 413 to add clergy members and ministers of any religion to the mandated-reporter list; Section 3 adds paragraphs (e)-(i) preserving a confession-or-confidence carveout while requiring reports from non-privileged information. Sponsor justification memo documents the multi-biennium reintroduction pattern.
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New York State Senate (NYSenate.gov)· Amended April 23, 2026
NY State Assembly Bill 2025-A8063A — Child Abuse Reporting Expansion Act (Assembly companion, active amendment)
Active amended Assembly companion to S9899 (the original A8063 was the companion to S6919). Same amendment structure: adds clergy to § 413 with a confession-or-confidence carveout. Sponsored by Asm. McMahon and co-sponsors; amended and recommitted to the Committee on Children and Families on April 23, 2026.
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New York State Senate (NYSenate.gov)· Referred April 13, 2026
NY State Senate Bill 2025-S9899 — Enacts the child abuse reporting expansion act
Second 2025-2026 Senate CARE Act vehicle, introduced by Sen. Zellner. Same core mechanic as S6919. Confirms the 2025-2026 cycle carried parallel vehicles in both chambers, none of which advanced.
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Last reviewed July 20, 2026 · by Unheard Child Org research teamHow we track this