Legal Aid Society

New York City’s child welfare agency told certain service providers they should vaccinate 16- and 17-year-olds against COVID-19, even without parental approval.

Following the horrific death of a 16-year-old foster youth in a Michigan residential treatment facility – who died of cardiac arrest after staff pinned him on the ground and constricted his breathing – New York advocates are calling for the state to bar face-down restraints in facilities for the highest-needs children, calling the practice “dangerous” and “barbaric.”  

After advocates pressed Los Angeles County health officials, the Department of Public Health will now inspect juvenile detention facilities administered by the county’s Probation Department. As health concerns for youth in detention mount, advocates in L.A.

New York City Council confronted Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration today on a steady increase in the use of force in two youth detention facilities. “We all agree there’s a problem, the numbers lay that out,” said Manhattan Councilman Keith Powers (D), chair of the Criminal Justice Committee, to a group of administration officials who appeared to testify.

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 within the law for family courts to approve such warrants for youth who have not broken any law.