NYC childrens-protective-services chief defends his record in the wake of Post exposs

I want to set the record straight.Recent tragedies have drawn scrutiny of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, and rightly so.Accountability and responsibility are part of the job that we accept and embrace.

There is no greater mission than keeping children safe. At ACS, our team lays it on the line in communities every day to do just that. We have to make tough judgment calls.We do this in good faith, always putting protection of children first. New Yorkers entrust us with a profound responsibility, and with that comes an obligation to listen and respond to criticism. Let me be crystal clear: The loss of any child is an unacceptable tragedy. We are constantly working to improve and will not stop until we get it right every time.We will not be distracted from that mission by press reports that ignore the achievements we have made to protect children and the contributions of many dedicated frontline public servants. Nothing is more important than protecting children. And anyone who truly cares for children wants them protected in every way; from harm in their homes and from unnecessary separation from loved ones.It is a complex endeavor with the highest stakes for children and families.

We endeavor to get it right every time.Here’s how:First, we have added more frontline child protective specialists so that we can reduce caseloads, provide more individual oversight and promptly respond. Because of these investments, we have dropped caseloads from an average of 9.7 in March 2022 to 7.5 in March 2025 — well below the national standard of 12 families per case worker. Our frontline workers come into contact with over 100,000 children per year. That is 100,000 children who we check in on and protect each year.Second, our specialists are trained to take immediate action.If an investigation determines that a child is not safe, we respond with urgency 24/7 — working closely with law enforcement, medical pr...