Senator Jeff Klein is applauding the inclusion of two proposals he has long championed in the 30-day New York State budget amendments that were announced last week. The reforms include a ban on Level 2 and 3 sex offenders whose victims were under 13 from living and traveling within 1,000 feet of preschools or kindergartens as well as a restriction on those same sex offenders from residing in family homeless shelters where some of New York’s most vulnerable children call home.
Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled the details of his budget in January but has been adding proposals to the statewide spending plan since then. This latest move shows his commitment to issues that Senator Klein has spearheaded and repeatedly passed in the State Senate for a number of years. Current law does not consider pre-Kindergartens as “schools,” a glaring loophole that Senator Klein has called attention to with numerous investigative reports that found high-level predators living dangerously close to these young students, and even some outright violating the law by living within 1,000 feet of grade schools.
As recently as September of last year, Senator Klein has also issued investigative reports on the growing dangers posed by having sex offenders living in family shelters. The last analysis entitled Unsafe Shelters, found that the number of level 2 and 3 sexual predators living among the city’s nearly 23,000 homeless children has spiked since Senator Klein’s 2007 investigation on the issue. Despite City Hall’s vow to discontinue the practice, there were 21 of these individuals sharing a residence with homeless families in 2017. Senator Klein has shepherded his legislation addressing this situation six times in the past seven years, while the Assembly has consistently failed to follow suit.
Follow Us