ARCHIVES OF THE MAYOR'S WEEKLY COLUMN Archives of Rudolph W. Giuliani

Successfully Reforming Our Child Welfare System

The care and protection of our city's children continues to be a top priority of my administration. When we created the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) five years ago as a separate agency and provided the resources for reform, our child welfare system was in serious trouble.

Previously, the City's Human Resources Administration (HRA) handled child protection, and its guiding philosophy placed family reunification over child protection. In stark contrast, ACS' philosophy puts the protection of children above all else, because sadly, not all families should be reunited; not all families work, and some families put children at tremendous risk. Reuniting families should always be secondary to protecting children.

Since the 1996 ACS Reform Plan was announced and instituted by Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, ACS has made dramatic improvements in how it investigates child abuse and neglect, how it trains child welfare staff, and how it serves the neighborhoods of New York City.

New York City is now a recognized leader in child welfare services. Representatives from cities around the world visit ACS to learn how to more effectively and compassionately run their child welfare agencies.

There are 32,000 New York City children in foster care today, down from more than 42,000 in 1996. This is partly because caseworkers are performing better investigations and offering preventive services that help keep children safe at home - which means that fewer children enter the system.

After two years of reviewing our city's child welfare system, the Special Child Welfare Advisory Panel has issued a far-reaching final report that concluded that ACS has made "remarkable progress" to reform the system.

In its report, the Panel of five nationally-known child welfare experts wrote, "We believe that the Administration for Children's Services has engaged over the past several years in a sustained, intelligent effort to change a complicated and difficult system. The record of accomplishment by ACS should be the public's best evidence that it can demand further change with confidence that it can be accomplished."

This report by highly respected child welfare professionals is a ringing endorsement of the comprehensive reform effort that was undertaken by this administration and by ACS on behalf of the children and families of our city. The report confirms that in just five short years, ACS has made remarkable progress and reform has taken hold. I want to congratulate Commissioner Scoppetta and the entire staff at ACS for their tremendous efforts, and pledge that reform of the system will continue unabated.

Family fun is what First Night is all about, and once again the City is organizing a safe and affordable way for New Yorkers of all ages to ring in the New Year. New York City is the Capital of the World for New Year's Eve celebrations, and First Night festivities are planned throughout all five boroughs, from live music to fireworks, from dancing to arts and crafts.

First Night offers many events as part of a low-cost, non-alcoholic winter festival on New Year's Eve. Tickets are priced at $10 for adults and $5 for children. For more information on First Night New York City 2001 call the First Night Hotline at (212) 676-2000 or visit the NYC 2000 website at www.nycmillennium.org.