New York City Administration for Children's Services

In child welfare, ACS contracts with private nonprofit organizations to support and stabilize families at risk of a crisis through preventive services, and provides foster care services for children not able to safely remain at home. On any given day ACS is serving nearly 25,000 children and their families via community-based prevention programs. ACS has reduced the number of NYC children in foster care to the lowest level in decades. At the end of CY 2018, there were approximately 8,200 children in the NYC foster care system, representing a continued decline over the past two years, in the face of foster care increases nationally.[2]

Each year, the agency's Division of Child Protection conducts more than 55,000 investigations of suspected child abuse or neglect.

In juvenile justice, ACS manages and funds services including detention and placement, intensive community-based alternatives for youth, and support services for families.

In early care and education, ACS provides vouchers for children eligible for subsidized care.

In 2017, ACS created an entirely new division within the agency called "Child and Family Well-Being." This division focuses on a primary prevention approach and aims to engage families before they ever reach the child welfare system, with resources and services to help them prosper. As part of the division, ACS launched three Family Enrichment Centers (FEC) in neighborhoods with the highest rate of child welfare involvement. Everything about each FEC—from the name, to the physical layout, to the services offered—was co-developed with families and the community. The FECs are open to all families in their communities and provide a range of services that support healthy child development.[3]

When the agency was first created under Mayor John Lindsay's administration, it was known as the Bureau of Child Welfare (or BCW). In 1969, Lindsay placed it under the Human Resources Administration, and changed its name to Special Services for Children. Mayor Ed Koch later renamed it the Child Welfare Administration in the 1980s, shortly after the death of a 6-year-old in the West Village. In 1995, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani made the agency separate of the Human Resources Administration and renamed it to the Administration for Children's Services.[4]

In 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed David A. Hansell as Commissioner. Immediately following Hansell's appointment, he conducted a top-to-bottom review of the agency to examine every aspect of child protective work.[5]

The agency has been expanded repeatedly, after incidents in which children were killed by their parents. In 1995, after Giuliani had previously refused to expand the agency, he created 200 new jobs in response to Elisa Izquierdo being killed by her mentally ill mother. Mayor Michael Bloomberg eliminated 169 of those jobs in 2003. However, in 2006, Bloomberg increased the size of the agency, in the wake of the murder of Nixzmary Brown by her stepfather. The death of Nixzmary was also followed by a spike in abuse reports, which greatly increased pressure on the agency.[4] In 2014, the agency saw even more expansion after three children died; Mayor Bill de Blasio hired 362 new staff members, which drastically reduced case workers' work load.[6]

As of 2019, Commissioner Hansell hired over 1,100 new child protective specialists. With more frontline staff on board, Commissioner Hansell successfully reduced the average investigative caseload to 10.1 cases per caseworker during the first four months of FY 2019, well below the nationally recommended standard of 12 and lower than almost every other jurisdiction in New York State. As of 2019, all frontline child-protective staff were provided with portable tablets that allow workers to conduct clearances, obtain case history, and access other critical information in real time while out in the field[2]

Safe Medication Campaign: In Fall 2017, ACS launched a citywide Safe Medication campaign to provide families with tools to help ensure that medications and potentially dangerous household items are stored out of children's reach. As part of this campaign, ACS partnered with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to develop informational palm cards and promotional posters to raise awareness of the dangers of unsafe medication storage. In addition, our child protection frontline staff distributes medication lock boxes and bags to families engaged with ACS as needed to help keep medication out of children's reach, and ACS also supplied lock boxes to our provider partners to distribute to other families in need.[2]

Safe Sleep Campaign: A significant proportion of child fatalities in NYC—approximately 50 each year—are attributed to unsafe sleep practices. To help prevent sleep-related injuries, ACS is partnering with NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H) to put Safe Sleep information directly into the hands of new parents. In 2019, ACS announced that parents who give birth in any of H+H's eleven delivering hospitals will receive a toolkit that includes a onesie with safe sleep instructions, a sleep sack (wearable blanket), crib netting to protect from household pests, as well as educational materials about best practices for infant safe sleep, including an informational video entitled, 16 “Breath of Life: The How and Why of Safe Sleep,” which is also accessible on ACS's website.[2]

Foster Care Strategic Blueprint: In 2016, ACS developed and issued the ACS Foster Care Strategic Blueprint (FY 2016-FY 2018). The Blueprint identified key priorities and strategies for improving case practice and results across the foster care continuum—from family reunification to kinship placement to adoption to supporting older youth in care. In 2018, the next phase of this work was in the five-year ACS Foster Care Strategic Blueprint (FY2019-FY2023). The five-year plan builds upon the progress made under the 2016-2018 blueprint, and is informed by the recommendations of the NYC Interagency Foster Care Task Force, the findings from a major review of the cases of 2,200 children, the findings from the ACS Youth Experience Survey of youth ages 13+, an examination of older youth permanency, an intensive analysis of foster care performance data and input from a range of stakeholders including youth, parents, providers, advocates and others.[7]

The NYC Child Tattoo Eradication Project and Network: The NYC Child Tattoo Eradication Project and Network is composed of leaders within the ACS Office of Child Trafficking Prevention and Policy, the ACS Agency Medical Director and its Office of Older Youth, along with medical professionals with prior experience in tattoo removal. The network was first developed when ACS learned of a vulnerable teen whose pimp's initials had been tattooed onto her forehead. Seeking a solution that would provide physical and emotional support to the teen and to others in similar situations, ACS professionals sought the expertise and contributions of medical professionals with prior experience in tattoo removal. The providers who expressed interest in contributing their time and expertise joined the Network. The NYC Child Tattoo Eradication Network is operated by ACS’ Office of Child Trafficking Prevention and Policy, with several goals in mind. First, to ensure that all ACS involved youth have the opportunity to safely remove exploiter or gang brandings. Second, to reduce trauma by connecting medical providers with case planners and youth to provide an opportunity for shared discussion of situational understanding and to provide tattoo removal in a trauma informed, and physically and emotionally safe environment. Third, to provide training to medical providers on trafficking and gang dynamics to enhance their knowledge of, and empathy for branded youth.[8]

Close to Home: The Close to Home program allows young people found to need a period of out-of-home placement by the Family Court to be placed in residential programs closer to their families and communities. Under Close to Home, young people receive therapeutic services at small group homes in or near the five boroughs where they are close to resources that can support their treatment and transition back into their communities.[9]

ACSConnectME: ACSConnectME is a mobile website for youth in foster care, foster parents, adoptive parents, families and child welfare professionals. The site provides users with greater access to information about services and resources across ACS, other government agencies and more. Users can search for the services that are right for them (education, housing, parenting support, etc.) in the location in which they reside. ACSConnectMe is the brainchild of a former foster youth who pitched the idea at a NYC Foster Care Technology & Policy Hackathon sponsored by ACS, after explaining the need to more easily access resources about education, housing and more all in one place.[10]

ACS’ Fiscal 2020 Executive Budget totals $2.66 billion.[11]