This is the ultimate nightmare of any parent. The most frightening thing about the ACS removal process is that it has no rules, boundaries or protocols. The only one who makes the rules is the supervisor that is on the case at that time. Once a child is removed, ACS workers will say and do ANYTHING to keep the child in foster care. As we have discussed, children in foster care are worth tens of thousands of dollars to ACS annually. So when are kids removed?
In our practice we have seen certain cases where kids are removed at a faster rate. The first set of cases is sexual abuse cases. If there is any hint of sexual abuse by anyone in the home, ACS will quickly remove the child. Second, physical abuse cases where there are visible injuries. ACS workers will accuse parents of being responsible for every single injury on a child's body. And if a parent does not know exactly how an injury happened the ACS worker will accuse the parents. Those knee scrapes on your child are all your fault. The third types of cases where children are removed is if there is any evidence of drug use. That means any admissions by the parents of any use of any drugs, even prescription.
This all begins with a parent speaking to ACS workers. Most parents do because of the simple fact that they have nothing to hide. However, ACS workers are skilled at manipulating parents into forcing them into programs and useless classes run by ACS. The mission of ACS is not to protect children, it is to protect their funding which now stands at $3.1 billion. Thus anytime ACS can remove a child, their budget is increased and there is an appearance that the ACS worker is "protecting" the child. In reality, the foster care system in New York City is a dysfunctional puzzle of different agencies all needing the children to fill their quota. In one case, we had a child moved from one foster care agency to another by the judge and the entire leadership of the losing agency came to court. Why? budgets are at stake.
The most disturbing part of all this is that socioeconomic inequities play a huge role and the vast majority of children in foster care in NYC are black and Hispanic. In our 17 years of ACS practice we have seen two white and one asian child in foster care. This is a civil rights atrocity. If you are contacted by ACS, do not speak to them and call an attorney as soon as possible. We can be reached at our hotline at 917-519-8417.
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