By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-13 01:24:05 | Updated at 2024-12-23 16:58:53
1 week ago
The city’s troubled child services agency tried to slap down claims its woke ideology is “putting kids at risk” — after a Post exposé revealed the shocking allegations from a whistleblower.
The whistleblower warned that the Administration for Children’s Services Commissioner Jess Dannhauser had employed policies that had left kids to die in homes with unfit guardians, while untrained child protective specialists (CPS) felt disempowered to help.
Dannhauser vehemently denied the claims on Thursday while giving testimony to city lawmakers on the services’ programs.
“There is very extensive CPS training. It’s about a nine-month ramp-up process for folks who volunteer to be care specialists,” he said.
The whistleblower claimed that ACS and city leadership have “deprioritized investigations into child welfare” and instead acted out of a false sense of compassion through social justice.
Meanwhile, child protective specialists are often left dealing with dozens of harrowing caseloads that range from neglect to severe abuse, according to the anonymous tipster.
Dannhauser didn’t acknowledge the claims but instead pointed the finger at ACS staff who opted into the role saying, “no one has to be a care specialist.”
Lawmakers also questioned the organization’s controversial Collaborative Assessment, Response, Engagement & Support (CARES) program — which “encourage[s] families to develop their own solutions to their challenges, and identify supportive resources to help care for and protect their children” rather than launch official investigations.
“The state makes the first screen. [Then] we have dedicated staff that are there to screen cases and send them down, the investigation track or the CARES track,” Dannhauser said.
He admitted the process still had hurdles.
“We’ve been denied access to the children — about 2% of cases. We have a process with the family court where we can get an order to produce the child for an assessment,” he said but added that a “great majority” of guardians engage.
Under current guidelines, even cases “involving drug addiction or abuse” reportedly qualify for CARES while CPS workers who “deliver referrals and resources” said there’s “no mandate to enforce their use.”
Despite the allegations, the agency has doubled the percentage of its CARES cases and plans on increasing that number further.
Dannhauser’s testimony comes just months after the horrific death of 4-year-old Jahmeik Modlin in his family’s Harlem apartment.
The child was found with signs of malnutrition and hypothermia as well as burns on his skin.
Little Modlin was the latest in a long list of children who have died in their parents’ care despite their guardians having been investigated by the ACS.
