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“As a parent that is the scariest thing in the world,” he said. “There’s a power dynamic when is knocking on the door, and they have the legal power, as a potential scenario, to remove your child from your home,” said Councilmember Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn), who spearheaded the package of bills as the chair of the General Welfare Committee. “Particularly with respect to bills like this, I think it’s important to look at the lack of information that parents often have,” he noted, contrasting ACS investigations with the criminal justice system where most people know about the Miranda rights to remain silent and have an attorney.Īllowing an investigator into a home can have wide-ranging consequences, from a child being immediately taken away, to lengthy and disruptive family court cases and years on a damning child welfare registry, child welfare advocates say. “We’re talking about an agency that has the power to remove children from a parent’s care.”Īhmad told THE CITY that, for the NYCLU and the parent-rights groups it works with, it’s important to “recognize the harm that that system has, in many circumstances, caused for families across New York.” “This is a system that often goes overlooked, even though it is a system with a great amount of power,” said Zachary Ahmad, senior policy counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union. Yet 65% of New York City’s child welfare investigations ultimately deemed the allegation of abuse or neglect unfounded, according to records from 2020. In 2019, nearly 45% of families investigated by ACS were Latino, and 41% were Black, according to Commissioner David Hansell. The two bills, sponsored by Councilmembers Margaret Chin and Carlina Rivera, both Manhattan Democrats, stemmed from an upswell of support for advocates seeking to address the racial and economic inequities within the city’s child welfare system.Ĭhild welfare investigations have long been shown to disproportionately affect Black and Latino families. “Who doesn’t want someone to know what their rights are?” The ”City Council is now rubber stamping and signing off on parents’ rights being trampled upon,” she added. We are asking we be advised what they are,” she said.