FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PR- 028-06 January 24, 2006 MAYOR BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY TO STRENGTHEN CITY'S RESPONSE TO AT-RISK AND ABUSED CHILDREN Family Services Coordinator Will Monitor Inter-Agency Performance; $16 Million Investment For New Programs, Worker Training, and Recruitment Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced today a series of new initiatives and investments to strengthen the City's response to child abuse or neglect with a particular focus on enhancing inter-agency coordination to assist children in need. Among the initiatives is the creation of the Family Services Coordinator, a new office under Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs, which will work to enhance inter-agency communication and coordination between agencies serving vulnerable children and families. The Mayor also announced that protocols that guide interactions between Administration for Children's Services (ACS) staff and the Police Department, as well as those related to standards for reporting by the Department of Education of educational neglect, will be revised and reissued within the next 45 days. In addition, $16 million in investments in staff, supervisors, and trainings at ACS is intended to decrease supervisory caseload levels, improve the quality of decision making, and strengthen safety procedures. Mayor Bloomberg was joined by Deputy Mayor Gibbs, ACS Commissioner John Mattingly, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt, Juvenile Justice Commissioner Neil Hernandez, Health and Hospital President Alan Aviles, Human Resources Administration Deputy Commissioner Pat Smith, and Department of Homeless Services Acting Commissioner Fran Winter. The strategies announced today were as result of the 10-day review led by Deputy Mayor Gibbs into the failure of City agencies to respond adequately to instances of abuse and neglect in the case of Nixzmary Brown. "City government failed to meet our most basic responsibility to one of our most vulnerable citizens when 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown died at the hands of her parents," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Nixzmary's mother and stepfather will bear the responsibility for their terrible deeds in a court of law. But the City must be honest about our failings and take steps to address them. Today, we are announcing a series of initiatives to strengthen our ability to protect our children. Our preliminary review has led us to implement several inter-agency measures aimed at tightening the communications and performance of government systems while we increase resources at ACS. Our children are most in need of our protection and we will seal any gaps between agencies so children can't slip through them." The newly-created position of Family Services Coordinator will assist agencies which serve children and families to resolve interagency practice concerns that are beyond the individual agency's ability to resolve and maintain supervision and review of interagency protocols to ensure that they are current, reflect changed realities, and are being effectively implemented. The office will also help the City move forward with initiatives that integrate the practices of service agencies, such as implementation of the Integrated Human Service Project. Other new inter-agency strategies include enhancing the policies and procedures that govern the collaboration of personnel at the Police Department, Department of Education and child welfare officials when investigating cases of reported abuse or neglect. Additionally, there will be a review and clarification of standards by which schools notify parents and child welfare officials about a child's excessive absences during a school year. Improving Practices at ACS and Making Financial Investments Mayor Bloomberg and ACS Commissioner John Mattingly also announced that the administration will invest over $16 million in new initiatives to strengthen the child welfare system and enhance the protection of children. In addition, ACS will redirect $9 million in existing resources to support services in high need communities. "These initiatives will strengthen our ability to keep children safe in three critical ways," said Commissioner John B. Mattingly. "First, we will be able to address the increase we're seeing in the numbers of abuse and neglect reports and the investigations that need to be done. Second, we will enhance our ability to supervise the critical work that happens on the frontlines. Third, it will reinforce Children's Services' overall commitment to safety through the new Intensive Family Services Unit, enhanced preventive services, the new Law Enforcement unit, and the new Ombudsman's Office. All of these initiatives will aid us greatly in the work we do every day throughout Children's Services to keep children safe and strengthen families." Children's Services Budget Initiatives: 1. Reinforcing Child Safety INTENSIFIED OVERSIGHT OF OPEN CASES ENHANCED PREVENTIVE SERVICES NEW INVESTIGATIVE CAPACITY OPENING OF OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE 2. Increase Supervision of Child Welfare Workers INCREASING SUPERVISION OF FRONTLINE WORKERS 3. Decreasing Workers' Caseloads ONGOING HIRING OF CHILD PROTECTIVE STAFF ENHANCED TRAINING FOR WORKERS NEW FAMILY COURT ATTORNEYS ADD FOSTER CARE OVERSIGHT MEDIA CONTACT: Stu Loeser/ Paul Elliott (212) 788-2958 Sharman Stein/ Shelia Stainback (Administration for Children's Services) (212) 341-0999 |
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