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SENATOR NOZZOLIO ANNOUNCES OVER $1.5 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN
FINGER LAKES REGION
Teens Will Receive Jobs and Training Under the Program
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Albany- New York State Senator Michael F. Nozzolio (R-Fayette) today announced that state funding has been released for the 2005 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP).
"This program will help our young people stay active during the summer months while also giving them valuable work experience," said Senator Nozzolio. "Because of this important funding, teenagers in our region will have fulfilling jobs all summer and have a positive working experience."
Funding for the program, which employs approximately 15,000 youth across New York State, comes through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and has been allocated to counties through the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA).
Funding is available to support summer youth employment programs from May 1 to September 30, 2005, with most programs operating during July and August.
Program funds can be used as payment to an employer or third party as a work subsidy for eligible youth, education and training, support services, transportation to and from work or training and counseling and other employment related services. No more than 15 percent of the funds can be used for administration.
Eligible participants include youth aged 14-20 who are members of families in receipt of public assistance, or members of non-public assistance families with an income below 200 % of the federal poverty level. As an example, a 3-person family could have an income of as much as $32,180 and be eligible for the program.
Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Commissioner Robert Doar said, "This program is designed to give localities the flexibility to design a program that best meets the summer youth employment goals for their particular area. For example, localities can target certain age groups or focus on youth residing in a particularly disadvantaged area."
Programs must include an assessment of the employment related needs of each youth, placement in an appropriate job setting and ongoing monitoring; identification of job opportunities in the public, non-profit and for-profit sector that are suitable, and the development of educational opportunities relating to career and higher education exploration as well as workplace readiness.
The funding is being made available to the following counties in the Finger Lakes region:
COUNTIES ALLOCATION
CAYUGA/CORTLAND $208,100
ONTARIO/SENECA/WAYNE/YATES $278,600
MONROE COUNTY $936,525
TOMPKINS COUNTY $172,700
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SENATOR NOZZOLIO ANNOUNCES PASSAGE OF LEGISLATION TO STRENGTHEN MEGAN'S LAW
Public Hearings Explored Tougher Measures on Sexual Predators
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Albany - Ten years after the enactment of legislation creating New York State's Sex Offender Registry, the New York State Senate acted today on the "Tenth Anniversary Omnibus Sex Offender Registration Reform Act." The bill (S.4793-B) would strengthen Megan's Law in 25 ways, including: mandatory notification by police when a registered sex offender moves into a community, lifetime registration of all sex offenders, requiring information about all levels of sex offenders to be posted on the Internet, and GPS monitoring for the worst offenders.
"The public hearings my Committee has held clearly demonstrate the strong public support for increased security and public notification of any sexual offenders living in a community," said Senator Michael Nozzolio (R-C, Fayette), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime, and Correction. "Sexual predators cannot be rehabilitated and the statistics show the highest recidivism rates for these dangerous and depraved criminals. I look forward to continuing to gain the input of community leaders and working to keep our streets safe and our children secure from sexual offenders."
The legislation is the result of three public hearings held by the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee in Albany, Long Island and Manhattan over the past month. Law enforcement officials, teachers, school officials, parents, and advocates participated in the hearings to discuss a variety of issues surrounding sex offenders and Megan's Law.
Maureen Kanka, whose daughter Megan was raped and killed by a sexual predator, championed the passage of the original Megan's Law in 1995 and spoke at the first hearing in Albany last month. Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Mark Lunsford, the father of a nine-year-old Florida girl who was abducted and killed by a known sexual predator in March, were among those testifying yesterday at a hearing held in Manhattan.
According to the most recent statistics, New York State has over 21,000 registered sex offenders.
"Strengthening the notification provisions of Megan's law will help keep our communities safer from individuals who prey on women and children. Enacted in 1995, Megan's law was a historical piece of legislation that must be updated and improved upon. We must use technological advances that were not available ten years ago, such as the internet and global positioning devices, to help protect New York's residents from dangerous sex offenders," added Nozzolio.
"Loopholes in the current law have allowed sex offenders to live undetected and it is critical that we strengthen Megan's Law and help ensure children are kept out of harm's way," continued Nozzolio.
The "Tenth Anniversary Omnibus Sex Offender Registration Reform Act" would require:
> Mandatory community notification to ensure that parents know when a sex offender is living nearby;
> Lifetime registration of sex offenders to prevent convicted predators from going "off the books". Under current law, there is a 10 year limit on registration and 3,200 offenders will come off the list next year;
> Posting of information for all levels of registered sex offenders on the Department of Criminal Justice Services website;
> Global positioning system tracking of Level 3 sexual predators;
> The elimination of legal loopholes in the law that are being exploited by offenders to avoid being placed on the registry.
Since enacting Megan's Law in 1995, the New York State Senate has acted on 68 separate occasions to pass legislation strengthening Megan's Law and 180 times on other legislation dealing with sex offenders.
Since 1997, the Senate has passed legislation that would provide for the civil commitment of sexually violent predators who are likely to engage in repeated acts of sexual violence. Senator Nozzolio sponsored the most recent version of the bill (S.3273), which passed the Senate in April of 2005 and was sent to the Assembly.
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PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT
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In this day and age of computers and the internet, an individual's personal information has become far too easy to access and use for illegal purposes.
Since February of this year, the personal information of nearly 2 million Americans has been potentially compromised as a result of security breaches at major data brokers like ChoicePoint, Lexis Nexis, retail giants Polo Ralph Lauren and DSW Show Warehouse, as well as major universities and financial institutions. Precautions must be taken to ensure that personal information is kept private.
In 2002, I sponsored legislation that was signed into law that made identity theft a crime in New York State. The law provided criminal penalties for the unlawful, unauthorized use of identifying information, including names, addresses, driver's license numbers, social security numbers, credit card numbers, and ATM codes. Because of this law, individuals who commit identity theft are subject to up to seven years in prison.
While this law represented a major step forward in protecting every citizen's fundamental right to privacy, we must do more. That is why as Co-Chairman of the Senate Task Force on Privacy Invasion, I am continuing the fight to ensure more safeguards are put in place to protect individuals' personal information and prevent people from becoming victims of identity theft.
Recently, I participated in a New York State Senate public hearing to address the crime of identity theft and have introduced legislation that would help limit instances of identity theft by restricting the use of individuals' Social Security numbers. Specifically, the measure would prohibit any organization, public or private, to sell, share, lease or trade an individual's Social Security number without the informed written consent of that individual.
The easiest way for a criminal to commit identity theft is to obtain an individual's Social Security number. Unfortunately, it is all too easy for a criminal to acquire this information and use it fraudulently to obtain credit cards, buy cell phones, or access bank accounts of victims. This legislation would limit the use and dissemination of Social Security numbers, and thereby help better protect consumers from having their identity stolen and their financial stability threatened.
Working to prevent identity theft and better protect consumers has been one of my top priorities for a number of years. Following the horrific experience endured by one of my constituents, a former elementary school teacher from Auburn who was a victim of identity theft, I took the lead in fighting this horribly invasive crime.
By simply stealing this individual's Social Security number, criminal impersonators were able to accumulate well over $50,000 in credit card expenses in her name and without her knowledge. This same criminal leased and eventually stole a BMW automobile, again using her stolen Social Security number for identification. In a dangerous incident that would leave any one of us severely shaken, a bounty hunter invaded her home with a gun and threatened her, demanding to know where the BMW automobile was located, a vehicle she had never leased or even seen before.
In my many meetings with constituents and concerned citizens throughout my district, I have told people they have to be extremely vigilant in guarding their personal information, especially their Social Security numbers. Identity thieves themselves have recommended that people buy paper shredders and be careful to destroy things like credit card and bank statements, and other documents that contain personal identifying information.
I have also encouraged people to regularly check their credit reports to verify their accounts and ensure no fraudulent accounts have been opened in their name.
Prohibiting the selling or sharing of Social Security numbers is an important step towards better protecting individual privacy and preventing innocent, hard-working people from becoming victims of identity theft. We must continue the fight to prevent these crimes and ensure that individuals have every protection possible under the law. As Co-Chairman of the Senate Task Force on Privacy Invasion, I will continue to lead this effort.
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