New York Assembly Bill A01604

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/10/25
• Refer: 1/10/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Relates to the provision of criminal history background checks free of charge to mentoring programs operated by not-for-profit corporations.

Summary

This bill would make criminal history background checks free of charge for certain mentoring programs. It amends the social services law and the executive law so that mentoring programs operated by qualifying not-for-profit corporations, as well as mentoring programs run by educational institutions or school districts, would not have to pay the fingerprint processing fee or the Division of Criminal Justice Services fee when conducting background checks on prospective employees or mentors. The bill also clarifies the definition of “mentoring program” to include formalized programs operated by not-for-profit corporations, business corporations, educational institutions, or school districts that match youth with adult volunteers to provide positive role models and support youth development. The measure takes effect 60 days after becoming law.

Impact

The bill would amend Social Services Law section 390-e and Executive Law section 837 to exempt specified mentoring programs from criminal history background check fees. In practice, this would reduce the cost of volunteer and staff screening for eligible mentoring organizations and shift the financial burden of those checks away from the programs and onto the state by waiving the applicable processing and search fees. It would affect not-for-profit mentoring providers, educational institutions, school districts, and the Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Sentiment

The available context suggests a generally supportive and noncontroversial measure focused on helping mentoring programs operate more affordably. No committee transcript or recorded votes are provided, so there is no evidence of opposition or debate in the materials supplied. The bill’s framing as a fee waiver for youth mentoring and volunteer screening indicates a positive policy sentiment centered on encouraging mentoring services.

Contention

The main policy issue is fiscal: the bill would forgo state fee revenue for background checks performed for qualifying mentoring programs. Another possible point of discussion is scope—specifically, which mentoring programs qualify for the exemption and how the amended definition of mentoring program applies to not-for-profit corporations, business corporations, educational institutions, and school districts. No specific objections, amendments, or opposing viewpoints are included in the provided materials.