DOI report slams state laws that hinder ability to oversee child welfare system, even in cases of youngsters’ deaths
The city Department of Investigation (DOI) released a report on Tuesday calling for changes to state laws that it said significantly limit its ability to oversee New York City’s child welfare system — including more than a dozen cases in which youngsters had died.
The report said that the current laws block many of the agency’s attempts to access certain City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) records, preventing comprehensive investigations that may reveal systemic and policy failures, corruption or inefficiencies.
At the center of the investigative agency’s frustrations is the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), which oftentimes serves as the gatekeeper to ACS records. Currently, three provisions in the state law require DOI to go to OFCS to get access to ACS records, a burden the agency claimed resulted in being shut out more times than not.
ACS is responsible for investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect in New York City, managing juvenile justice and child care services. But without access to case records, the DOI report claimed that the agency, which directly deals with vulnerable New Yorkers, is not subject to the same oversight as any other city agency.
In some cases, the law blocks all access to records, such as when abuse claims have been deemed “unfounded” or diverted to an alternative program, Collaborative Assessment, Response, Engagement & Support (CARES), which is an alternative to ACS investigation.
But DOI believes that access to these restricted files could make NYC children safer.
Last year, the city watchdog was notified of 18 child deaths in which ACS had had prior contact with the family in the last decade, but was denied access to all but one case’s full history with the agency.
The investigation agency cited several high-profile deaths of children that, the agency says, it can’t investigate fully. The cases include four-year-old Jah’meik Modlin, who starved to death in 2024, and eight-year-old Nazier Millien, who starved to death after his mother died in their home, despite reports of multiple people raising alarms when the mother hadn’t been seen.
In another example, the DOI cited a request for records when it was investigating claims that an ACS case worker had been abusive to children in their personal life and whether that put the youths that the worker had contact with professionally at risk. Apparently, OFCS refused DOI access to the employee’s personal records, citing its response.
“An ACS employee … being investigated in their professional capacity does not establish a need for DOI to review open child protective records pertaining to an individual’s contact with the child welfare system in their personal capacity,” OFCS said in return to the request, according to the report.
DOI Commissioner Nadia I. Shihata said that legislation introduced in Albany by state Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) and Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens) would unlock ACS records and ultimately make New Yorkers safer.
“It provides access to critical records that are essential for DOI to conduct rigorous and independent oversight that helps ensure ACS’s programs are effectively safeguarding the children in this City,” she said. “Without this access, DOI cannot obtain the full picture of ACS’s actions.”
OFCS did not immediately respond to a request from amNewYork for comment.
The report alleged that the trend of favoring confidentiality over transparency has gone on for years, noting similar patterns with a lack of access to case history, even when a child has died.
Because of significant information gaps, the DOI reported being forced to abandon investigations before making meaningful progress. Officials noted that unfounded or diverted cases—those DOI cannot access—may be the very instances where oversight is most needed to identify structural and procedural issues or corruption.
The city’s oversight arm said that it had been negotiating with OCFS leadership for years to find a reasonable solution to no avail. DOI said the authorization process has become more burdensome over time, delaying some cases by months.
If passed, the new legislation would clear the way for DOI to access protected reports more easily.
