ACS Establishes Family Service Team to Assist At-Risk Families through Shelter Eligibility Process - Families with Both Open and Closed Child Welfare Cases to be Assessed and Assisted

November 8, 2004 - Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) Commissioner John B. Mattingly and Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Linda Gibbs today announced two major policy changes designed to better serve homeless families who are applying for temporary shelter through increased coordination between Children’s Services and Homeless Services. These initiatives include: 1) the establishment of a new Family Services Team to consult with families, starting with the shelter application process, and 2) a new policy that gives members of the Family Services Team immediate access to information on any closed indicated child welfare cases from the last 10 years. These two new changes come on the heels of a series of quality improvement measures called for by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg after an inquiry into the May 2004 death of a 3-month-old infant in a homeless shelter, allegedly due to parental abuse and neglect.

“Homelessness is inherently a time of increased stress on a family,” said Commissioner Mattingly. “We also know that families with a child welfare history may have additional needs and ongoing problems, apart from finding shelter. We believe that these policy changes will result in a quicker assessment and identification of families who need our help at the time of their entry into the shelter system, and enhanced, ongoing coordination between the two agencies for shared referrals and casework. The end result will be strengthened families and safer children.”

The Family Services Team, made up of ACS workers, will be stationed at the intake center and assigned to help assess a family’s needs as soon as they enter the system, providing child welfare assessments when possible, and linking families to a network of services, including preventive care, designed to keep children safe. The Family Services Team will interact with families at multiple points throughout the intake and application process, providing child welfare expertise to shelter staff and ongoing guidance and support to families. The Team will also participate in helping to make appropriate referrals to families who aren’t deemed eligible for shelter.

Currently, DHS screens for all open ACS cases when families apply for shelter; when one is found, ACS is immediately alerted. Under the new policy, ACS will screen all families applying for shelter to identify closed indicated cases as well. Trained ACS workers will then be able to look over the family’s history, talk to the parents, and ascertain what additional help the family requires as they apply for shelter. This will ensure that both agencies provide appropriate services in a more comprehensive and specific manner—and ensure that social service providers are aware of each other’s involvement with the family.

“As experts in helping vulnerable families overcome their obstacles, it only makes sense to have Children’s Services available to help families who approach the city for emergency housing,” said Commissioner Gibbs. “In addition, the more we know about a family’s history in both of our systems, the better we can understand the full-picture, identify warning signs, and target our services appropriately.”

These two policy changes are new additions to a list of initiatives announced this past summer - all aimed at increasing interagency coordination among Children’s Services and Homeless Services. Since July, the following measures have been implemented:

• A screen has been introduced for all family shelter applicants for open, active welfare cases. Previously, DHS depended upon self-identification or staff recommendation,
• Routine trainings are now occurring for shelter staff to identify and report abuse and neglect,
• Instructions are continually clarified to child welfare staff on identifying families with active cases who are in the shelter system,
• Information gathered through the EAU application process is now transferred to shelter staff,
• Child safety videos and brochures are being distributed to all DHS shelters, and
• Routine data matches are being conducted to determine which families in the shelter system have current child welfare involvement.

Enhanced cross-agency collaboration is a major focus of Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter, Mayor Bloomberg’s five-year action plan to end chronic homelessness. In addition to the policy enhancements announced today by Children’s Services and Homeless Services, the action plan outlines initiatives designed to coordinate city services and benefits across multiple agencies. For more information on the five-year action plan, visit www.nyc.gov/endinghomelessness.