Cuny Law Review: Accidents Happen: Exposing Fallacies in Child Protection Abuse Cases and Reuniting Families Through Aggressive Litigation

“In New York City, much needed-critical attention has been paid to the racial disproportionality and overreach of the city’s child welfare system, the Administration for Children’s Services (“ACS”), and its conflation of poverty with neglect. The vast majority of child protection cases brought in New York City allege child neglect rather than abuse. This article explores the proportionally smaller category of cases brought with the most severe physical abuse allegations, cases in which ACS is often seen to be most justified in removing and separating children from their families. As The Bronx Defenders Family Defense Practice has developed and evolved over its ten years in existence, we have found that early litigation exposes the fact that, must like elsewhere in child protective law, these serious physical abuse cases are often based on misperceptions and are susceptible to both mistake and overreach.”

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