A new federal class-action lawsuit claims New York City child welfare investigators routinely use “coercive tactics” that violate the constitution and traumatize families under scrutiny.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, alleges caseworkers for the Administration for Children’s Services often pressure parents to enter and search their homes, including when there’s no emergency, with lies and threatening to call the police and take away their children.
The searches can be “invasive,” the lawsuit claims, with ACS staff rifling through private spaces and strip-searching children, and leaving parents and children at risk of developing depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders. And the consequences are disproportionately borne by low-income Black and Latino families, who comprise the overwhelming majority of child welfare investigations, the plaintiffs argue in court papers.
“ACS leaves in their wake real fear, real trauma, and real consequences that need to be accounted for,” said David Shalleck-Klein, an attorney for the nine families bringing the suit and the founder and director of the Family Justice Law Center.
Marisa Kaufman, an agency spokesperson, said in a statement that, “ACS is committed to keeping children safe and respecting parents’ rights,” adding that the agency has worked to increase transparency for parents and reduce the number of unnecessary investigations.
The lawsuit comes amid years-long legislative efforts aiming to reform child welfare investigations. State and local bills to institute “Miranda Rights for Families” would require ACS to inform parents under investigation of their ability to call a lawyer and deny investigators entry into their home, among other rights.
ACS announced a policy last month to provide written notices to parents of their rights during investigations, but parents’ rights advocates have criticized the letters as insufficient and potentially misleading.
Shalleck-Klein, a former public…
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