New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services

A prominent New York City official fired off a scathing letter last week to the Administration of Children’s Services (ACS) Commissioner David Hansell, alleging that his agency had failed to enact urgent reforms.

For New York’s Administration of Children Services (ACS), retired law enforcement officers have been working in-house since 2007 to advise their roughly 1,700 caseworkers. Today, the ACS will announce that these former cops are getting a broader child welfare beat that includes assessing the risk brought on by new adults moving into households served by the agency.

Under David Hansell, New York City’s ACS Banks on Role of Data in Child Safety This March, former Obama administration official David Hansell took the helm of New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), an agency that had found itself again in turmoil after two high-profile child deaths last year.

Celebrities Tina Fey and Jane Krakowski walked the paparazzi-lined red carpet. Lights flashed. Hundreds of well-dressed attendees filled the auditorium. Voices for the Voiceless: Stars For Foster Kids, a 2015 Broadway event created to raise money for the foster youth organization You Gotta Believe, was a star-studded success, light years away from the financial turmoil that had rocked the storied New York City nonprofit only a few months earlier.

The nonprofit You Gotta Believe joined in on LGBTQ pride celebrations last month by hosting an event featuring a panel of LGBTQ current and former foster youth at their monthly Nobody Ages Out meeting in New York City.

In March, the national Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities issued its final report, “Within Our Reach: A National Strategy to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities.” In my opinion, one item in this strategy is of particular note because it represents a step away from traditional (and insufficiently effective) approaches, is especially effective and entails little cost.