Cases skyrocket at struggling ACS
Caseloads soared by 19 percent at the city’s child-welfare agency over the past six months, even as it was coming under intense scrutiny, according to new city data.
There were 11 cases per child protective worker in the first six months of fiscal 2017 compared to 9.2 per worker over the same period in 2015.
The surge comes as Mayor de Blasio insists that caseloads have declined with the infusion of more than $100 million for the agency.
“We’ve worked to reduce caseloads over the years,” de Blasio said as recently as Dec. 20. “Some of that started in the previous administration; we’ve deepened that.”
In fact, average caseloads at the Administration for Children’s Services have gone up every year under de Blasio, from 8.2 in fiscal year 2013 — including former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s last six months in office — to 10.6 in fiscal 2016, accord- ing to the 2016 Mayor’s Management Report.
The city’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
The latest data, from the mayor’s Office of Operations, show that figure is on pace to grow again in fiscal 2017.
“For years, I have been calling for ACS caseloads to be smaller, and for more training and supervision for caseworkers,” said Public Advocate Letitia James, who has been critical of City Hall’s oversight of the agency. “Our most vulnerable children deserve better, and we must do everything in our power to protect them.”
In response to the new city data, ACS spokeswoman Aja Worth-Davis said, “Average caseloads have risen slightly due to an increase in the number of reports to the State Central Register — a direct and expected result of high-profile cases that resulted in more calls that temporary drive up caseloads.”
City officials have previously noted that the average workload is still below the agency’s target of 12 cases per worker, which aligns with national best practices.
But DOI officials said in a May 2016 report that even when caseload averages are below 12, the actual workload is often much higher.
In fiscal 2015, 28 percent of workers at ACS had more than 12 caseloads, according to the DOI.
Last week, the state’s Office of Children and Family Services appointed an independent monitor for ACSafter several deaths of children who were known to the agency.
Friday is the last day on the job for ACS Commissioner Gladys Carrión, who oversaw an agency that was hit with three scathing reports in the past year — two by the city’s Department of Investigation and another by Comptroller Scott Stringer.