Newsletter
January 2024
January 22, 2024
An Anti-Racist Approach to Shrinking New York City’s Child Welfare System and Promoting Black Child, Family, and Community Wellbeing
Welcome to the Narrowing the Front Door newsletter! Here you’ll hear about events, resources, and information.
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is turning 50 on January 31, 2024– that means 50 years of harm to children and families fueled by CAPTA's funding requirements.
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), originally enacted in 1974, establishes national definitions regarding child abuse and neglect and assigns certain responsibilities to the federal government, particularly relating to data collection and technical assistance. Read more about CAPTA here.
Join the Repeal CAPTA Coalition for a Day of Action in Washington D.C. on January 31, 2024! As part of this Day of Action, Repeal CAPTA will be holding a Congressional briefing from 10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m., immediately followed by a rally.
You can attend the Congressional briefing in-person or online. If you plan to attend in-person, the briefing will be held at the Rayburn House Office Building, 45 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC, Room 2075.
NYC Bus Logistics: JMACforFamilies is chartering a bus to D.C. from NYC that will depart at 5 a.m. on January 31st, 2024 from 163 West 125th Street New York, NY, at the corner of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and W. 125th Street. The Congressional briefing starts at 10:30 a.m., so the bus will leave at exactly 5 a.m.
To attend in-person or online, register here.
Join Graham Windham, Good Shepherd Services, and New York Foundling for a day dedicated to reflecting on the child welfare system and transforming perspectives within the field. This event will delve into the history of the child welfare system, explore the consequences of ACS surveillance, separation, and harm, and discuss strategies to put an end to the challenges faced by Black and Latinx families and children impacted by the system.
The conference will take place on March 14, 2024 9:30-4:30 with a Cocktail hour from 4:30-5:30
At The New School, 66 West 12th Street| New York, NY
· Moderated by Angela Burton, Attorney and Co-Chair of Narrowing the Front Door Workgroup
· Keynote Speaker: Martin Guggenheim, Esq., Attorney and Activist
Panelists:
Register here.
IMPACTS: Driving Systems Change
Rights at the Front Door
Narrowing the Front Door continues to meet regularly with NYC Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom and Jess Danhausser, Commissioner of the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). They committed to working with NTFD to develop a culture of support/mandated reporting reform, ACS providing families and children with their rights at the front door, increasing resources/support for families, acknowledging harm and accountability. A result of this collaboration is stronger language in the written notice now provided by caseworkers that informs families of their rights at the outset of an investigation.
See you in Court
Brooklyn Defender Services, assisted by the law firm of Crowell & Moring, filed a lawsuit against the Administration for Children’s Services in U.S. District Court in November on behalf of one of their clients and her son. The family has been subjected to almost three years of surveillance by the family policing system (ACS), due to anonymous and unfounded State Central Registry reports. The family’s story is featured in a ProPublica article. Read the ProPublica article here. Read BDS press release here.
The Bronx Defenders also won a recent $75,001 settlement against ACS in a case brought on behalf of a mother whose child was separated from her in violation of New York cannabis law.
NYS LEGISLATURE FOCUSES HEARINGS ON RACIAL DISPARITY IN FAMILY COURT AND REPORTS TO THE CENTRAL REGISTRY
Members of The Narrowing the Front Door Work Group offered testimony at two state legislative hearings: A September Assembly Standing Committee on Children and Families hearing on mandated reporting; and a November joint hearing before the NYS Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary and Senate Standing Committee on Children and Families on Family Court.
Assembly Public Hearing: The Child Welfare System and the Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse or Maltreatment in New York State
The Assembly Public Hearing to examine the child welfare system and the mandatory reporting of child abuse or maltreatment was held on September 27, 2023. The hearing focused on the issues of mandated reporting and the impact it has on low-income Black and Latinx families and children. The hearing provided key takeaways from the testimonies of those with lived experience, advocates, doctors, and State and City leaders. Joyce McMillan testified on behalf of JMACforFamilies and Narrowing the Front Door. Watch here
New York State Senate Joint Public Hearing: To conduct oversight of the Family Court throughout the State, including its resources, operations, and outcomes
The NYS Senate Joint Public Hearing focused on the issues and failures of the Family Court system and the impact it has on low-income Black and Latinx families and children. The hearing provided key takeaways from the testimonies of those with lived experience, advocates, and leaders in the field. Angela Burton, co-chair of Narrowing the Front Door Work Group, discussed how to protect and support vulnerable families and children, and the importance of abolishing the system. Watch here.
LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR 2024
The Family Miranda Rights Act requires workers to advise parents and caretakers of their rights at the start of an investigation. This legislation does not create new rights; it simply ensures that parents are aware of the rights already guaranteed by New York State law and the Constitution.
See JMACforFamilies for more information.
This bill requires reporters of suspected child abuse or maltreatment to provide their name and contact information to the statewide central register of child abuse, prohibiting the harmful practice of anonymous reporting. In many instances, false anonymous reports are used as a form of domestic harassment or to settle grievances.
Reporters' safety would still be assured, but replacing anonymous reporting with confidential reporting will deter a significant amount of malicious reporting, allow child welfare agencies to conduct more effective investigations and focus resources on the cases that merit them.
New York health care providers’ “test and report” practices threaten the health and well-being of Black and Latinx people and their newborns. Pregnant people are routinely drug tested without their informed consent and reported to the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR) – exposing families to the violence of family separation and deterring pregnant people from accessing essential pre- and perinatal health care. The Informed Consent Act requires health care providers to obtain specific and informed consent before drug testing new parents and newborns.
The campaign seeks to create a shared understanding of unconsented drug testing and engage new stakeholders in work to correct this injustice. Recently, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a position statement, unequivocally opposing drug testing without informed consent and criminalization through CPS.
Read more about the issue HERE.
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Child and Family Wellbeing Action Network Summit
THANKS FOR JOINING OUR RECENT EVENTS
Narrowing the Front Door hosted authors Alan Dettlaff and Maya Pendleton to discuss their new book, “Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System: The Case for Abolition.”
They spoke on what abolition means, why its proponents say it is necessary, and offered an alternate vision for a society that supports children and families. The group discussed efforts to reform the child welfare system and what support for children and families currently looks like.
Speakers included:
Earth Mama
On November 8, 2023 we held a screening of the film Earth Mama, about a pregnant mother seeking to reunite her family and to keep custody of her new child. Representatives from the Informed Consent Coalition and Joyce McMillan of JMACforFamilies joined us for a discussion on family policing and New York medical providers’ harmful “test and report” practices. Check out the film on most streaming platforms.
Family Policing in New York City
Joyce McMillan of JMACforfamilies along with Dr. Dorothy Roberts from Penn Law School conducted a panel discussion on November 8, 2023 that was sponsored by the Colin Powell School and the Department of Sociology at The City College of New York. McMillan and Roberts shared powerful information about the harm of family policing, the relevancy of this issue affecting the community in Harlem, and the need to abolish the system.
WHAT TO READ: Former system leaders make the case for abolition
Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System: The Case for Abolition by Alan Dettlaff
In this compelling read, Alan Dettlaff acknowledges the racist history of the family policing system, the harms of family separation, and the reasons for abolishing the system. The book is a call for change and discusses dismantling the system. It traces the history of the family policing system, and provides an in-depth look at how the child welfare system harms black children and families.
Read the Urban Matters excerpt here.
Read more about the UpEND movement here.
Purchase the book here.
The End of Family Court: How Abolishing the Court Brings Justice to Children and Families by Jane Spinak
The book explores how family court fails children and families and sparks a crucial conversation on ways to abolish the system and to better support families.
Read the Urban Matters excerpt here.
Read more and purchase here.
Check out the Narrowing the Front Door website
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