Administration for Children's Services Archives - The Chronicle of Social Change

Federal Dollars That Are About to Disappear Helped New York City Get Kids Out of Foster Care Much More Quickly

September 3, 2019 Michael Fitzgerald Comments Off

Enter the terms “languish” and “foster care” into Google, and you get more than 40,000 results. It’s one of the most common critiques of the foster care system: Many youth spend too much time within it, […]

New York’s Foster Youth Want Connection to Jobs, Survey Shows

July 4, 2019 Ericka Francois Comments Off

An annual survey of foster youth in New York City found continued demand for connections to the working world, and more teens getting help with job skills. The 2019 ACS Youth Experience Survey, conducted by […]

Cuomo protection register new york reform montgomery

Child Welfare Reform Advocates Achieve Historic Policy Victories in New York

June 24, 2019 Michael Fitzgerald Comments Off

Amid tired lawmakers reportedly flinging rubber bands back and forth, New York’s Senate and Assembly passed a major two-pronged reform to the child welfare system before the end of a frenzied 2019 legislative session last […]

Fair Futures New York City foster youth foster care ron richter oped

New York City Chips In $10 Million to Pair Older Foster Youth with Life Coaches Through Age 26

June 19, 2019 Michael Fitzgerald Comments Off

A foundation-funded advocacy push to provide full-time life coaches to New York City foster youth has secured an initial investment in next year’s budget, City Hall sources have confirmed to The Chronicle of Social Change. […]

Schiraldi Columbia prisons youth Milwaukee Carrion New York Missouri Mertens

How a New Youth Correctional Leadership Group is Helping Milwaukee Close Youth Prisons

May 20, 2019 Michael Fitzgerald Comments Off

After three years on the job, the Milwaukee County official who oversees juvenile justice finds his system at a crossroads. The Wisconsin state legislature passed a bill last March closing two youth prisons after a […]

New York State Court Bars Child Welfare Systems from Pursuing Arrest Warrants for Runaway Foster Kids

May 8, 2019 Michael Fitzgerald Comments Off

A New York State appellate court expressed sympathy for New York City using arrest warrants to bring runaway and possibly unstable foster youth into custody. But ultimately, the court ruled, there is no compelling reason […]

Hearings: Emergency Removals to Foster Care Have Surged in New York. Here’s One Case.

April 24, 2019 Michael Fitzgerald Comments Off

Emergency removals of children from their parents by the child welfare system have increased in New York City. According to Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), New York City’s child welfare agency, nearly half of all cases […]

To Eliminate Racial Bias, Child Welfare Breakthrough Tells us to Try Colorblindness

April 8, 2019 Michael Fitzgerald Comments Off

This story was published in partnership with the magazine Washington Monthly. A few times a month, in an unmarked white office building on Long Island, a group of Nassau County government employees discuss which children […]

Is New York State Responsible for Some Long Stayers at the City’s Temporary Foster Home? City Child Welfare Commissioner Thinks So

March 28, 2019 Michael Fitzgerald Comments Off

New York City Council questioned the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) this week about a teenager who was left living in a broken wheelchair in a short-term home for foster youth for more than a […]

A Broken Wheelchair and Clothes that Don’t Fit: Judge Holds New York City Child Welfare Commissioner in Contempt Over Agency’s Treatment of Disabled Teen

March 7, 2019 Michael Fitzgerald Comments Off

In late 2017, a teen with severe disabilities found himself in New York City’s temporary shelter for foster youth. His doctor soon recommended a new wheelchair to replace his broken one. His school recommended physical […]