NEW YORK CITY ACS DEFENSE LAWYER

With the new school year upon us, ACS workers will be looking for parents to accuse of educational neglect. This comes in two forms. One form is pretty simple. The child misses too much school. How much is too much? Well to an ACS worker a few days will have them demanding that parents take parenting classes. Another type of neglect is when ACS accuses parents of not getting their child the services that are needed in the School. Often, the ACS worker an the DOE will gang up on the parents to attack them and absolve the DOE of responsibility. Here are some cases. If you have been accused of educational neglect by ACS, contact us at 917-519-8417 and lets us fight for you. The Law Offices of Michael S. Discioarro, LLC. Matter of Shelly Renee K., 99 AD2d 1072, 436 NYS2d 99 (3 rd  Dept. 1981) Was not  ed neglect that child was absent 13 times without excuse and tardy multiple times where no evidence that this had an adverse impact on child’s education Matter of Jovann B.,...

This is a shocking story, even for ACS. ACS kept a child in a broken urine soaked wheelchair, despite court orders to obtain a new one. This is an agency that has a $3.1 billion budget. This case clearly shows the incompetence of ACS. While they attack parents for allegedly abusing their children, a judge has ruled after a hearing that they are the ones actually abusing and neglecting a child. Now if you are the parents of this child, how would you feel? The scathing ruling was issued in late January but was not known of publicly until the I-Team obtained a copy this week. Judge Emily Olshansky held nothing back, finding that ACS had demonstrated a “failure to comply with virtually every order of this Court.” She held the Commissioner of Social Services in civil contempt and ordered the commissioner to buy a $17,150 bond in the child’s name, maturing when he turns 21. Yo you can view the details and the video here.  It is shocking that a news station has to investigate and unc...

 The vast majority of parents are simply shocked when they see what ACS workers try and accuse them of. The ACS worker pays a two-sided game. When she first contacts the parents she advises them that this is a routine investigation and that they should comply to make things easier and that there is no reason to hire an attorney because the case " is not in court". Meanwhile, at every step, the ACS worker and her supervisor is preparing the case for court and to present to a judge and accuse the parents of neglect or abuse. The most shocking moment for a parent is when they arrive at court and are presented with a copy of the charges that have been filed with the court. Blatant lies will suddenly appear in what is called the petition and this is what is presented to a judge as the truth. It is this two-sided game tat allows ACS workers to operate. The biggest lies they tell is to claim that the parents made certain statements that prove they are abusing their children. And ...

As every organization, ACS has its bureaucratic needs. The most important thing to ACS is to keep and expand its budget. They receive millions and millions of dollars from state and federal sources. In order to keep up the appearance that they are trying to "help" the children of NYC, they must show annual reports that show how many families they have " helped." Let us be clear, to actually help a struggling family requires expertise and a commitment that ACS workers do not posses. Thus, they are left with the way easier option of making pretend to help, already functioning families. This is the reason why parents are bullied into "programs. ACS knows that if they can throw a family into a year long program, they can then claim that they have "fixed" the parents and continue to receive their funding. It is the equivalent of washing a car that is already clean. This is the root of all of the ACS tactics and pressure to get parents into these programs....

In the words of one ACS workers " There is no penalty for wrongfully removing a child from the home". If you are an ACS worker and receive a complaint about a child being abused you have two options. First, you could conduct a full investigation and actually determine if a child is being abused or you can speak to the parent for 10 minutes, determine that the child is abused and demand that the parent enter parenting classes. The second option is obviously easier. It is much easier for an ACS worker to explain to their supervisors that they have found an abused child than it is to document and explain why the child is not abused. It is also less risky. If an ACS worker reports that a child is not abused, they are essentially stating that the family is a healthy unit. This simply takes too much work. Thus, the vast majority of ACS investigations are quick interviews of the parent that are not recorded in any way, and are done in a way for the ACS worker to try and find...

Because it is so easy to file charges against anyone, and because ACS is so dysfunctional, many people are faced with false charges again and again. These may come from an angry ex-spouse or a school official trying to cover up their own wrong doing. We are often asked what can be done about this. We advise clients to document every single instance and let the ACS officials know exactly who is doing this to them. The ACS worker will often be indifferent. The goal of an ACS worker is to file charges against parents and get them into programs. You can also file charges at your local district attorney's office. Filing a false claim is a crime and can be prosecuted. You can learn more here.

The right to an attorney is embedded in our constitution both state and federal. In fact, New York law protects this right even more strongly than federal law. Federal law only sets a floor for constitutional rights, states can give more rights if they want to. Thus, a person represented by an attorney may not be questioned by anyone without his attorney present. ACS workers believe that this does not apply to them. Countless times our office is told by ACS workers that the client must speak to them and it does not matter that they have an attorney. We do not know where this thinking comes from but it is wrong and cannot be allowed to cintinue. You will hear from an ACS worker that "we don't talk to lawyers." This is correct, acs workers do not speak to attorneys. So why should a client represented by an attorney speak to an ACS worker? The reason is that ACS workers want to try and find something negative about the parents that they can then turn around and use again...

If ACS files a case agains you in Family Court, the judge will assign you a free lawyer called an 18b lawyer. These are lawyers that are paid by the city to represent parents in ACS cases. They will appear in court with you and defend you against the charges. Many of them are excellent. The main complain from many of their clients is that they do not have enough time to prepare their case. There attorneys often carry high caseloads and are doing the best they can.