Recodify the Family Court Act, Temporary State Commission to

The Temporary State Commission to Recodify the Family Court Act was created in 1980 (Chapter 50) to examine and make recommendations concerning the effectiveness of the Family Court in fulfilling its adjudicatory role in the care and protection of the young and the preservation of the family. The commission was authorized to make a comprehensive study of the structure and procedures of the Family Court and the relationships between the various municipal agencies and private social agencies with whom the Family Court is involved; to study the probation system and the various proceedings for child support, paternity, custody, adoption, delinquents, and "persons in need of supervision" (PINS, usually truants or early delinquents); to recommend how a merger of the Family Court into the Supreme Court might be effected; and to examine the "diagnostic resources" available to the court for determining the needs of youthful offenders. The commission consisted of nine members, three appointed by the Governor, three by the Temporary President of the Senate, and three by the Speaker of the Assembly. The Governor designated a chairman and a vice chairman from among its members. The Commission did not draft a new Family Court Act or make comprehensive recommendations on the court's merger into the Supreme Court. It did hold public hearings and prepare background papers on "family offenses" (Article 8 of the law, concerning abuse of wives), child abuse and neglect (Article 10), paternity and child support (Articles 4 and 5), foster care (Social Services Law, Section 384), "persons in need of supervision (PINS), and consolidation of court jurisdictions over family cases. In its final report to Governor Mario M. Cuomo in 1983, the commission proposed legislation to clarify the role of judicial review in voluntary foster care placements. The Commission ceased operations Dec. 31, 1983, after its budgetary appropriation was terminated