A brand new legislation subsequent 12 months would require callers to New York’s little one abuse and neglect hotline to go away their identify and get in touch with info, ending a observe of “anonymous reporting” that advocates mentioned was ripe for harassment.
Although lodging malicious reviews of kid maltreatment had been already unlawful, anonymity has made it just about not possible to carry dangerous actors accountable for abusing the system. However prior efforts to finish the observe hit a snag out of concern it may deter crucial reviews.
The laws, signed by Gov. Hochul within the last days of this 12 months, goals to strike a steadiness: Whereas banning nameless reporting, it additionally prohibits the state from releasing figuring out details about a confidential reporter.
“In my decades working in the field, we see folks abuse this system routinely,” mentioned Christine Gottlieb, an assistant legislation professor at New York College and the director of its household protection clinic. “Sometimes it’s landlords, sometimes it’s neighbors who have some sort of grievance, sometimes it’s an ex-partner of the adult. It really can be anyone, and that was the problem: Anyone could pick up the phone and trigger this.”
“This legislation is a significant change because it will decrease the number of malicious, false reports that lead to extremely invasive investigations that are very distressing to children and parents unnecessarily,” Gottlieb added.
Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks throughout a press convention Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Queens, in New York Metropolis. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
In New York Metropolis, one in 24 little one welfare instances is known as in by an nameless reporter, however such calls are not often discovered credible, in response to the New York Metropolis Household Coverage Venture. Simply 6.7% of instances primarily based on nameless calls had been substantiated in 2023, in comparison with 22.5% of all instances, the suppose tank discovered. These instances usually contain Black and Brown low-income households, and could also be traumatizing — involving residence visits and even strip searches of kids.
The reforms, advocates say, will spare households such an expertise, whereas releasing up sources to concentrate on credible allegations of kid abuse as a substitute of frivolous reviews.
“We support limitations on anonymous reports to curb malicious reporting, with appropriate carve-outs that keep children safe should the [hotline] operator believe a child is in imminent risk or the child is the caller,” mentioned Marisa Kaufman, a spokeswoman for the Administration for Kids’s Companies. “We look forward to seeing the chapter amendments and to a future without anonymous, malicious reports.”
The invoice was sponsored by State Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens), and handed each homes of the state Legislature with a majority of help. It was amended by Gov. Hochul — whose workplace didn’t return a request for remark — to permit for nameless reporting by minors themselves.
With the governor’s signature, New York will change into the third state — after Texas and California — to ban or discourage nameless reporting. The legislation will go into impact subsequent summer time, after hotline operators obtain coaching in methods to reply questions on confidentiality protections and when to switch callers to a supervisor.
Joyce McMillan, a mum or dad advocate who for years has been pushing for an finish to nameless reporting, celebrated the measure’s signing into legislation, which she mentioned will assist “stop the overzealous behavior toward families — that just destroys them.”
“I’m happy the governor saw the importance of this bill at the end of the day,” McMillan mentioned, “and chose to do what was right.”
