Manhattan

Forty-two out of 59 New York neighborhoods have seen risks to children’s well-being increase overall since the previous year, according to a new report released by the Citizens’ Committee for Children (CCC), a nonprofit advocacy group.

The New York State legislature passed a raft of historic child welfare bills this year. All of them aimed to strengthen birth family ties: one bill would open access to original birth certificates for adoptees; another increases the standard of evidence in child neglect cases, and decreases the consequences of such investigations for parents; four other bills boost support for relatives and family friends who care for someone else’s child.

The Chronicle of Social Change recently sat down with New York State Senator Diane Savino, an outspoken, influential Staten Island Democrat. We mostly discussed pending legislation, but the conversation took a brief detour toward an even more outspoken, infamous New Yorker: Judge Judith Sheindlin AKA Judge Judy from TV.