FCYU-Feature Story

Making The Decision
How investigations work

By La’Quesha

I don’t remember much about how I got put in foster care. I was only 9 years old and I wasn’t told anything about my situation. I remember someone coming to my house and questioning me and my brother, one time separately and then together. But we never really understood what was going on.

I’m still not sure how the process is supposed to work, and I wanted to find out more. So I decided to interview some people who work in the child protection division at New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), which investigates abuse and neglect reports and decides whether kids should go into foster care.

First I talked to Michael Davis, who works for the associate commissioner of child protection at ACS, about what happens when someone calls in an abuse or neglect report. He told me the first step is to try to contact the person who made the report, and find out if they have any additional information.

Then a child protective worker goes to the home and does an investigation to see if what they said is really true. They try to talk to everyone involved, even neighbors. He said that when a child speaks out they listen, but they also talk to others and get a medical opinion if abuse is suspected, to help them figure out whether the child is in danger.

Then we interviewed Marcia Florian, who has worked in child protection at ACS for over 21 years. Marcia started out investigating cases of child abuse and neglect directly. Then she moved on to being a supervisor. Now she’s a child protective manager, which means she supervises child protective specialists and their supervisors. Here’s what she had to say:

Q: What are the things you look for when deciding whether a child should be put in foster care?

A: Basically, in order for a child to be removed they must be in “imminent danger,” meaning their life or health is in immediate danger. We will usually go to court and get an order to remove the child if there’s time; if not, we’ll remove the child from the home first and then go to court the next day.

If the child is at risk but we don’t think they’re in imminent danger, we’ll leave the child at home and put in intensive services (like counseling or other kinds of help). Foster care is the last resort.

Q: How do you tell if a child is in imminent danger and needs to be taken out of the home immediately?

A: We look for signs of physical abuse, for example if the child has a serious injury and the parent has no explanation, or the explanation doesn’t add up, or the parent hasn’t taken steps to insure that the child receives medical care.

We also look at the history of the family, if things like this have happened before. We look at whether the family understands the situation, what they’ve done about it and what they are willing to do.

Q: If a child gets taken for the wrong reason, like if a mistake is made, how long does it take to get the child back home?

A: If a child is removed and the parents don’t agree with the decision, they can appeal it on the first day they go to court. The judge will set another date, usually within 48 hours, to reconsider the placement decision.

In general, when a child comes into care we continue to work with the family. We’re required to have a meeting with the family within 72 hours of the child being removed. Our goal is to create a plan to make sure the family can reunite as soon as possible. After 30 days there’s another meeting to make sure the plan is working. We return the child home as soon as we are safely able to do so.

Q: If a child doesn’t need to be in care, what happens? Do you see them again?

A: If we make a thorough investigation and find that the child is not in immediate danger, we come up with a plan with the family and may refer them to services, like parenting classes or substance abuse counseling.

If the family is not cooperating, and we think those services are necessary to protect the child, we may need to get a court order to monitor them.

For example, if the mother has a history of substance abuse and hasn’t completed programs in the past, that might be a time we’d ask the court to monitor it to make sure she completes the program. Every case is treated individually. Our goal is to do what’s needed to keep the family together.

Q: What was the hardest part of your job as a child protective specialist? What’s it like to be a manager now?

A: The hardest part of my job, and I believe it’s the same for most child protective workers, is removing children. We know that children can be traumatized when they’re removed from their homes, and it’s difficult to make that decision. We only do it when it is in the best interest of the child.

Being a manager is challenging, it’s a lot of responsibility. I have to make sure there are enough staff to do thorough investigations, make sure workers understand any new policies and are able to implement them, and motivate staff so they continue to do a good job. It’s different, but everyone in child protection is working with the same purpose, regardless of their level.

Q: How has the system changed since you started out?

A: ACS has made a lot of changes in the past couple years which have significantly improved the way we do the work (see sidebar). In general there are a lot more resources in the community now that weren’t available to us before, that we can use to help keep families together. There are more preventive agencies and more quality services.

Q: Is there anything you think the system could be doing better when it comes to putting kids in care?

A: This agency is changing a lot, and we’re always looking at ways to improve the system. For instance, we’re now starting to have the same child protective worker stay with the child from removal until they are placed in a foster home. That reduces the trauma the child experiences. We’re looking to be more attentive and consistent.