Opinion: What the Data Says About Child Welfare in New York City

David Hansell was appointed commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) in 2017.

By David Hansell

When I became Commissioner of New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) two years ago, I vowed to ensure that we’re protecting children and supporting families and I committed to use data to measure whether we’re reaching the right outcomes.

New data from 2018 shows that we’re moving in the right direction – and that we must continue investing in work that is helping our city’s most vulnerable children and families.

In 2018, the number of children in foster care in New York City fell another 6 percent, while nationally the number of young people in foster care has steadily increased over the last few years. Today, there are fewer than 8,500 children in foster care in New York City – down from nearly 50,000 in the 1990s and more than 16,000 just a decade ago.

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ACS investigates about 60,000 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect every year. We don’t choose which cases to investigate; we’re required to investigate every report that’s forwarded to us by the State hotline, which fields calls from teachers, doctors, neighbors, and members of the public.

When we start an investigation into alleged abuse or neglect, our first priority is making sure that the child is safe. More children are now able to stay safely at home with their families, thanks in part to evidence-based prevention services we’ve expanded in New York City. On any given day, families with 25,000 children are receiving these services, which include a wide range of services such as intensive family therapy, drug treatment, domestic violence advocacy, assistance with housing, benefits and child care, and coaching for parents. These services are helping parents provide the safe, healthy, happy homes that children need in order to thrive.

However, if we find a child in imminent danger of serious harm, and there is no alternative that will keep that child safe, we must remove the child for his or her own safety. In 2018, removals happened in 2,060 investigations. We carefully balance the need to ensure the child’s safety with the parent’s rights to due process.

In the vast majority of cases, children remain at home while parents take part in prevention services. Most often, parents participate in these services voluntarily. Sometimes, we need to obtain a court order to ensure that they participate, or that an abusive parent or relative is excluded from the home in a domestic violence situation, because that’s how we are able to ensure that a child remains safe. We aim to use court orders only when necessary, and in 2018 the number of children in cases in which ACS filed for and received court-ordered supervision decreased by 20 percent from 2017. Every removal must be reviewed in family court before a child is remanded to foster care. In some cases, we remove a child on an emergency basis and then seek a court order the next business day.

For example, our caseworkers might conduct an emergency removal if a child has serious bruises and cuts that were caused by a parent at home, but the report was received at night or during the weekend when the family court is closed. We will not send that child back into a dangerous home for the night and wait to go to court the next morning. Instead, we will remove the child on an emergency basis, and file with the court first thing the next morning.

In short, we conduct emergency removals only when there’s an imminent risk of harm and it’s impossible to get a court order first. And in 2018, the number of emergency removals declined 14 percent from 2017.

We will always need to seek court-ordered supervision in some cases, and we will always need to conduct some emergency removals. That’s the unfortunate reality of the extremely difficult and important work that ACS’ frontline staff does 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But we have strengthened our decision-making in these cases – making sure that we’re taking action when children’s safety is at stake, and that we’re supporting families appropriately – through a range of reforms we’ve put in place over the last two years, including enhanced training on safety and risk, expanded technology to give caseworkers fuller and faster access to information, and increased oversight and consultation from managers, law enforcement experts, and medical professionals.

Ultimately, the most important data we monitor is whether children are safer as the result of our protective and preventive work. In 2018, fewer than 1.5 percent of families that completed prevention services had a child who was later removed and placed in foster care. We also know that nearly 10 percent of families with an “indicated” case (an investigation that uncovered evidence of abuse or neglect) that were referred but didn’t take part in prevention programs ended up having a repeat indicated investigation of abuse or neglect within six months. That’s why we continue to seek court orders when participation in prevention services is needed.

We are continuing to examine our work critically, identify areas for improvement, and make reforms. The most recent data shows us that we’re on the track – and that we need to keep moving forward.

David A. Hansell is commissioner of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services.

Child welfare changes in Denver to protect children:

All Denver City employees who interact with children and families will be trained to identify and report signs of child abuse and neglect.

That is but one of the recommendations from the Mayor’s “Child Safety-Net Impact Team” to be implemented immediately in an effort to stem the number of deaths and egregious incidents involving children.

Among the other steps to be taken: 

• Denver Human Services (DHS) social workers will be assigned to selected Denver Public Schools. So far, it is unclear how many caseworkers will be involved or which schools.
• Denver Health medical teams will consult with DHS “red teams” that make decisions about whether complaints or “referrals” are accepted for assessment.
• Denver Health will also collaborate with DHS to develop a nurse home wellness program for families that may not qualify for an assessment but need assistance.

These “Impact Team” actions come after an ongoing 7NEWS investigation has uncovered serious errors by DHS in several cases involving the deaths of children.

A third child death in the past year involving the burning and beating of 23-month-old Javion Johnson finally prompted the mayor to take action. The child’s mother and boyfriend are charged with murder.

Now, 7NEWS Investigator John Ferrugia has confirmed that when mandatory reporters called DHS after the child’s mother tested positive for THC, the Denver agency did not perform a state-mandated assessment of the Javion Johnson and his family. 7NEWS also found DHS caseworkers never visited the family.

While DHS deputy director Jeff Holliday would not address specifics of the Johnson case, he explained the state law.

“If a child is born THC-positive it is defined in title 19 as abuse and neglect,” he said, “and that child is found to be dependent and neglected. I think that is pretty clear. We would be required not to open a case, but at least initiate an assessment.”

But the 7NEWS investigation found that never happened.

Now DHS has added a new layer of review of all "red team" decisions.  Sources said that is the result of the Javion Johnson case. Holliday notes that the move comes after a review of all three child death cases investigated by 7NEWS.

The question is: Had DHS properly visited the family, checked on the newborn Javion, and been involved in monitoring the family, would Javion be alive today?

Trinity Mount Ministries Website

Sequestration Puts Children at Risk:

Michael Piraino

CEO, National CASA Association

Sequestration is a scary word. Outside of Washington, D.C., it has the sense of seizing property or isolating juries. But the D.C. definition -- a general cut in funding -- carries a real likelihood of danger. Danger to children.

Many programs that keep children safe, educated and healthy are supported at least in part through federal discretionary spending. An eight percent reduction in those funds may not sound like an overwhelming amount. But it comes on top of already large cutbacks for children. In recent years, 31 federal programs for children have been entirely eliminated, and another 71 saw their funding reduced, affecting everything from child safety to health and education. 

It's not as though these programs aren't sorely needed. One of the programs, cut back by nearly 77 percent, was for violence prevention in schools. It's too bad it takes an awful incident in an elementary school for people to realize how important this funding is. Do children have to die before we think about investing in their safety?

Recent funding cutbacks have already threatened to interfere with core commitments our nation made to children. Among the most vulnerable are children who cannot live safely at home due to abuse and neglect. They are under the care of state child welfare systems -- which are already reeling from previous federal and state cutbacks. Yet funding for the four child abuse programs in the Victims of Child Abuse Act were targeted for elimination in the last two Administration budgets. Congress did step in and preserve funding, though at hugely reduced levels. These levels may be reduced even further through sequestration this Friday.

These federal funding trends would be of less concern if private charitable giving was helping to fill in at least part of the need. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. Charitable giving for human service organizations declined last year. Over the last five years, the number of new donors giving to human services has gone down.

It is downright expensive not to make investments in good programs that help children. For example, a foster youth who is connected to a trusted advocate and mentor is more likely to carry with her a varied set of protective factors. Research shows that this will lead to more positive outcomes. And the consequence of not doing right by a foster youth? Tens of thousands age out of that system every year and are at high risk for homelessness, unemployment and criminal behavior. The median cost of a single incarceration was $31,000 in 2010. We would all save money, and feel safer, if we invested that money in young people rather than wasting it on prison cells.

Politicians are fond of referring to every parent's dream of a better life for their children. If we believe in our children's safety and well-being, then budget decisions need to be based on a real understanding of the connection between funding and those dreams for our children.

Trinity Mount Ministries Website

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