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 an accredited 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 roughly 28 states that enumerate clergy as mandated reporters. It identifies New York instead as a state where the broader clergy-penitent privilege remains intact outside the reporting statute. 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, A8063, and A8063A in 2025-26. The current-session bills remain pending in the Children and Families committees of both chambers. The pattern is multi-biennium, not a one-off recent attempt.

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What it takes to close the gap.

Bills in motion right now.

• S6919committee

  Child Abuse Reporting Expansion (CARE) Act — Senate version

  Senate bill introduced March 26, 2025 by Sen. Hoylman-Sigal with co-sponsors Cleare and Walczyk. Amends Soc. Serv. Law § 413 to add clergy members and ministers of any religion to the mandated-reporter list. Adds new paragraphs (e) through (i): paragraph (e) preserves the clergy-penitent privilege for confessions or confidences made in a professional spiritual-advisor capacity unless waived; paragraph (f) requires reporting where reasonable cause is based on any information outside that privilege; paragraph (g) clarifies clergy retain duties to prevent additional abuse; paragraph (h) cross-references the Religious Corporations Law § 2 definition of clergyman. Referred to the Senate Committee on Children and Families.

  SponsorsSen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Sen. Cordell Cleare, Sen. Mark Walczyk
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• A8063Acommittee

  Child Abuse Reporting Expansion Act — Assembly companion (active amendment)

  Assembly companion to S6919, originally introduced April 22, 2025 and amended and recommitted to the Committee on Children and Families on April 23, 2026 as A8063A. Same amendment structure: adds clergy to the § 413 mandated-reporter list with a confession-or-confidence carveout and requires reports based on information received outside that privilege. Prior-session companions: A6662 (2019-20, passed Assembly), A888 (2021-22), A1581 (2023-24).

  SponsorsAsm. Karen McMahon, Asm. Jo Anne Simon, Asm. Albert A. Stirpe, Asm. Marianne Buttenschon, Asm. Carrie Woerner, Asm. Deborah Glick
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• S9899committee

  Enacts the child abuse reporting expansion act

  Second 2025-2026 Senate vehicle, introduced by Sen. Zellner and referred to the Children and Families Committee on April 13, 2026. Same core mechanic as S6919: adds clergy members and other ministers of any religion to § 413 while adding paragraphs preserving confessions or confidences in a spiritual-advisor capacity and requiring reports based on non-privileged information.

  SponsorsSen. Jeremy J. Zellner
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How New York got here.

• 2019-2020
  First CARE Act bills introduced; Assembly version passes one chamber

  A6662 / S5711 introduce clergy as mandated reporters under § 413 with a confessional carveout. The Assembly version passes that chamber 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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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 amending § 413, not CPLR 4505, is the legislative vehicle the CARE Act has used across four biennia.

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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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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 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 current-session bill movement is occurring in parallel across both chambers.

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