NYSOFA SOGI Progress Report Learn more about NYSOFA SOGI Progress Report

In 2023, NYS passed Executive Law Section 170-g, a law that requires state agencies to capture (to the extent practicable) sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data in all places where the agency currently collects ancestry and ethnic origin data from customers interacting with the agency. As a part of that law, agencies that have not complied must provide the public with periodic updates about the implementation status of adding SOGI fields to data collection tools.

This page provides a brief progress report on NYSOFA’s work toward implementing the collection of SOGI data. Client data collected through the Statewide Client Data System as well as Social Adult Day Services, State Respite, and Caregiver Resource Centers client registration forms are subject to SOGI data collection under this law.

The progress statement will be updated every six months. The next update will be posted November 1, 2026.

At the time of the SOGI data collection compliance deadline of July 1, 2025, NYSOFA believed itself to be compliant with the requirement. Clients served by Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) statewide, who were receiving case management services, had their information captured in the Statewide Client Data System (SCDS) COMPASS. The COMPASS is a comprehensive assessment instrument, which includes extensive demographic and social factors on each client. It captures information on gender identity, transgender identity, and sexual orientation.

NYSOFA has since realized that the requirement was interpreted too narrowly. Understanding now that SOGI information is to be collected wherever race and ethnicity are identified, SOGI data collection must be expanded. SOGI must be added to the SCDS Client Profile, to be collected for all clients that receive any type of services from AAAs, not just case management. SOGI must also be added to the registration forms for clients attending Social Adult Day Services (SADS), State Respite, and Caregiver Resource Centers (CRCs).

To facilitate consistent data collection across these systems, NYSOFA is developing a Universal Demographics Form. This form will be used in settings for clients to self-report their full set of demographic information. It will also be used to inform system requirements for the SCDS, SADS, State Respite, and CRC systems, for either the electronic capturing of information during intakes or for data entering the information captured on the paper forms. In the SCDS, the information collected will be aligned between the Client Profile and the COMPASS. AAA staff will be trained in how to work with clients who request assistance with the form or for whom they are doing an intake over the phone or in person. A process will also be developed for AAA staff to collect updated data for existing clients during reassessment touchpoints.

The Universal Demographics Form is expected to be finalized by July 2026, at which time the SOGI requirements will be provided to the SCDS vendor and to NYS ITS for the other systems. It is anticipated that system changes will be completed by January 2027, at which time statewide data collection can begin.