DeB: Show me proof
Hedges on ACS blame for Mikey
[S]ometimes those signs are not evident. That’s what we need to know here — were there evident signs that were missed or were they simply not evident? — Mayor de Blasio, on whether the Administration for Children’s Services failed to spot a pattern of abuse
Child-welfare workers found evidence of rampant abuse inside the home of a 5-year-old boy who died over the weekend — but Mayor de Blasio brushed that off Wednesday and insisted there is no proof of a screw-up by the beleaguered city agency that went to the boy’s home.
The Administration for Children’s Services visited Mikey Guzman’s family 13 times before he was found dead in his Jamaica home Sunday and reported abuse or neglect in eight of those cases.
But de Blasio dismissed the bulk of the findings as old news.
“My understanding is, a lot of the ACS focus on that family was many years ago,” the mayor said at an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn.
“There was some recent activity, but I’m not seeing at this point enough to understand if there was a lost opportunity here.”
He insisted that sometimes, it’s not “evident” that a child needs help.
“My view of these things here is, if we’re looking at a family, we need to look for any sign that can tell us about what more we can do,” de Blasio said.
“But sometimes those signs are not evident. That’s what we need to know here: Were there evident signs that were missed, or were they simply not evident?”
But in eight of the 13 ACS cases, which were opened against the family between October 2008 and January 2016, childwelfare workers determined there was credible evidence of abuse or neglect.
In two of the cases, Mikey’s older siblings had visible cuts and bruises on their bodies.
Hizzoner said it’s possible that Mikey, who suffered from epilepsy and frequent seizures, could have died of natural causes.
“I will say, from what I’ve heard so far, which is only preliminary and partial, one, it’s not clear what was the cause of death,” he said.
“But from what we’ve heard so far from the medical examiner, it may be a health situation, not anything related to abuse or neglect. We need to know more though to confirm that.”
On Wednesday, the city Medical Examiner said Mikey’s death is still under investigation.
The boy lived with his parents, Phyllis Reinoso, 29, and Michael Guzman, 34, and five siblings.
Reinoso said her son was having trouble breathing when she and Guzman came home from a visit to a friend’s house at around 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
Mikey walked to his bedroom and went to sleep, but the parents didn’t check on him until 4:15 p.m., when they found him unconscious in his bed with vomit coming out of his mouth.
The building’s landlord, who lives on the first floor, blasted Reinoso and the ACS for not taking him out of the home.
“Everyone could see that coming, but ACS [did] nothing about it,” she said.
“There was poop on the walls. Everything is broken in the house,” she said. “If one person had gone up and seen how these kids were living, they would’ve saved that child.”
The landlord said Mikey’s parents fought constantly, and the children often ran around unsupervised.
“I caught the kids on the street alone,” she said. “The two little ones [were] walking on the street.”
M ayor de Blasio insists the tragedy of little Mikey Guzman may not involve any failures by the city Administration for Children’s Services. In other words, his first instinct is still to deflect any responsibility for anything that goes wrong on his watch. But what is he doing to fix ACS?
The agency is in a holding pattern, even after the horrific deaths of Zymere Perkins, 6, and Jaden Jordan, 3. ACS Commissioner Glayds Carríon “retired” last year — but is still on the job: De Blasio hasn’t replaced her.
The state ordered the city to accept an independent monitor over ACS, but City Hall only just finalized negotiations with Albany on how the monitor will answer to the state Office of Children and Family Services. When will that job be filled?
ACS has yet to act on the problems flagged by city Comptroller Scott Stringer. Instead, the mayor accused Stringer of colluding with The Post to create “fake news.”
All this follows years of ignoring concerns raised by Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James and other critics who are every bit as progressive as the mayor.
It would be nice to see some action before another helpless child dies.