Friends,
Elisa W. is a 16 year old girl who has spent the last 12 years in foster care. She has been shuffled through too many foster care placements to count. She has been sexually abused, beaten, denied food, and neglected. Elisa W. has been diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, and PTSD. She would like to go to college and remembers that when she was younger she did well in school, but now has difficulty concentrating. At 16, Elisa is old enough to articular her hopes and feelings but, in her own words, "no one ever asks me what I want."
I joined Elisa W. and nine other foster children in filing a class action
lawsuit against the New York City Administration for Children's Services
(ACS) and the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS)
for causing irreparable harm to children in New York City foster care.
There are currently over 11,000 children in our City's foster care
system, and too many of these children are suffering physical, emotional,
and sexual abuse like Elisa W.
Our suit alleges that ACS and OCFS fail to protect children from maltreatment,
fail to ensure that services provided are effective and of acceptable
quality, and fail to ensure appropriate placements. According to our suit,
the harms and risks that children in ACS custody suffer are a direct result
of ACS and OCFS failing to properly address structural deficiencies in
the New York City child welfare system.
A summary of our case, the stories of all the plaintiffs, and the full
complaint are available online.
This action is one of many that I have taken to demand reform in our New
York City foster care system. In 2014, I introduced Local Law 104 (which
was passed by the City Council), requiring ACS to report information relating
to youth aging out of the foster care system. In Over the past year, I
have issued two reports on the shortcomings of the foster care system,
pointing out how the ACS continues to fail children throughout the City.
My most recent report, released this month, used information from a multilingual hotline established in April to learn
firsthand from children and their advocates about the current barriers
to receiving services while in foster care.
Foster children do not vote. They do not have powerful lobbyists. They
are often left voiceless and defenseless against a bureaucracy that seems
to have no will or incentive to help them. Lives are being ruined during
our children's most formative years. We must act now to fix this broken
system, and hold those who have failed our children accountable.
Sincerely,
Letitia James
New York City Public Advocate