Among of small number of Republicans who voted on Tuesday was Queens resident Andrew Schiefer. Schiefer brought along his five-year-old daughter to experience democracy—and got a taste of bureaucracy when a NYC Board of Elections worker noticed little Elizabeth's rather bad case of eczema and decided to call the Administration for Children's Services. more ›

The woman who kidnapped her eight children from foster care last week, sparking a NYPD manhunt, said that she had her reasons. Shanel Nadal, who was arrested on Monday night in Pennsylvania, leveled a damning accusation, "Any mother who’s going through this—do what you got to do to protect your kids. I love y’all so much. You know what mommy doing. Mommy did this for y’all," and said, "Make sure you don’t abuse them no more," later explaining that "foster care" was abusing them "and I’m tired of it." more ›

A week after being kidnapped from a children's service agency, eight siblings—seven boys named Nephra Payne and a baby girl named Nefertiti Payne—were found in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania yesterday. The children had been taken by their biological parents, Shanel Nadal and Nephra Payne, during Nadal's supervised visit with the kids. A tip led the NYPD to Pennsylvania. more ›

The FBI is now involved in the search for the seven brothers and one sister who were abducted by their parents during a supervised visit at a Queens children's agency earlier this week. The children, ages 11 months to 11 years, had been split up between three homes, and their mother Shanel Nadal allegedly texted one of the foster mothers, "I cannot live without my children. I cannot breathe without my children." more ›

The father of a severely malnourished 4-year-old girl who died in her Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment last year, weighing a scant 18 pounds, is planning to sue the city for $150 million. Tyrone Pierce claims that the city and the Administration of Children's Services (ACS) failed to act on behalf of Marchella Brett-Pierce despite "knowledge of the threats of physical, mental and emotional abuse being waged on [the child]." But the lawyer for one of the ACS supervisors who have been indicted for criminally negligent homicide says that the father is just as responsible as others who neglected the little girl: "He's one more person who has seen this child and never noticed anything or reported any neglect or abuse." more ›

Yesterday, Administration for Children's Services Commissioner John Mattingly turned in his resignation. While there have been numerous high-profile cases of children dying while their families were under ACS scrutiny, sources tell the Daily News that he was not pushed. Mayor Bloomberg said, "New York City has been extraordinarily lucky to have a nationally-renowned expert, John Mattingly, ably and tirelessly leading our Administration for Children's Services. When John came to us and said he wanted to return to his foundation work in Baltimore and have more time for his family, I asked him to reconsider." more ›

Next week, Mayor Bloomberg will have to present the final numbers of his austere $65.6 billion budget that features thousands of layoffs, and he told reporters it will not be pretty. But Bloomberg made the point, "New York City has to balance its budget by law. We will go ahead and do that, you can rest assured. And it will be very painful because we have a lot less money, which means a lot fewer people... What we have to do is decide will it be fewer cops, fewer firefighters, fewer teachers, fewer this, fewer that." more ›

The former Administration for Children's Services supervisor who was charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of 4-year-old Marchella Brett-Pierce is speaking out about the troubled agency. Chereece Bell claims that, before the child died from malnourishment, she told her supervisors to move social worker Damon Adams out of her unit, noting that he couldn't handle his caseload. The Wall Street Journal reports, "She said every time she spoke with Mr. Adams about the Brett-Pierce family, he told her, 'The children are fine.'" more ›

This week, prosecutors charged three more people, including two Administration for Children's Services case workers, with contributing to the death of Marchella Pierce, the malnourished four-year-old who died last fall, weighing a scant 18 pounds and showing signs of other traumas. It's believed to be the first time in the city’s history that child welfare workers had been charged with homicide in a child’s death. But despite the bad press, Mayor Bloomberg defended the head of the ACS yesterday: "I don't know if the charges are true but I have 100 percent confidence in John Mattingly." more ›

Where to begin with this one: a lawyer and deputy director of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) was arrested this week and charged with impersonating a Staten Island woman online in order to meet women on a lesbian dating website. As if that wasn't bonkers enough, lawyer James O’Hare, 51, was also a high-ranking former military JAG lawyer singled out for criticism for his role overseeing the detention facilities at Abu Ghraib. more ›

In early September, police found four-year-old Marchella Pierce dead in her squalid Brooklyn apartment, weighing just 18 pounds. An inquiry into the abuse of the girl ensued, and yesterday Administrative Children's Services (ACS) admitted "critical" missteps in handling Pierce's case, even as they shuffled the blame between several parties. more ›

Slumlord-hater and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has begun an official inquiry into the death of Marchella Pierce, the 4-year-old malnourished girl who was found dead last week, and whether the city could have prevented her death. more ›

A blame war has started to emerge in the wake of the death of a severely malnourished 4-year-old girl last week. Administrative Children's Services (ACS) has accused nonprofit organization Child Development Support Corporation (CDSC) of not adequately monitoring the case. But a two year old audit of the CDSC that essentially documents the groups total incompetence raises questions about ACS's decision to use them in the first place. more ›

Police are still investigating whether the death of a severely malnourished 4-year-old girl yesterday was the result of parental neglect or severe health problems. Marchella Pierce was pronounced dead on the scene by police yesterday morning in her Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment. She weighed just 15 pounds, and had bruises and marks on her ankles that appeared consistent with twine that was found tied to the foot railing of a small bed in her mother’s bedroom. Medical examiners are currently working to determine the cause of death. more ›

The NY Times reports that Mayor Bloomberg's big budget cuts will severely effect an Administration for Children's Services program focused on preventing abuse and helping families in trouble. Bloomberg wants to cut $12 million "and because the state matches city money for the agency, by nearly 2 to 1, the total reduction would amount to more than $35 million." more ›

Earlier this week, the body of a three-year-old girl was found on a Brooklyn sidewalk. It was later determined that Kyrah Martin had somehow gotten onto her new apartment building's roof and fell four stories to her death. Now the Administration for Children's Service has taken Kyrah's three siblings away from her mother. more ›

Disturbing details surrounding the death of an 11-month-old Brooklyn baby: According to the Daily News, the parents put "their 8-year-old son in charge of four younger siblings"—ages 6, 3, 2 and the baby, Major Gonzalez—while they went shopping 11 miles away at the Target in Queens. more ›

Last week, 8-year-old Destiny Antonio survived a seven-story fall from her family's Bronx apartment window at the Castle Hill Houses. Though her window had a guard, her mother Robin Antonio believed the top part of the window might have been faulty, an issue she allegedly complained about to the NYC Housing Authority on a previous occasion. Now the Post reports that the Administration for Children's Service "served Antonio with a court order to produce for interviews the four other children and two grandchildren who live with her. An ACS spokesman said the move is routine procedure whenever there's been a serious accident involving a child." However, Antonio says, "They should be looking at the Housing Authority and their negligence." And little Destiny is still in the hospital in serious condition—she has a broken pelvis, hip and leg. more ›

Yesterday, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that a former Administration for Children's Services worker was arrested for "falsifying public records in order to cover up her failure to perform required home visits." Stephanie Sabouni, 27, of Brooklyn, was supposed to visited children with chronic school truancy within 48 hours of being assigned cases. However, the AG's office says, "Sabouni allegedly failed to make the required visits in several of her assigned cases. To cover her tracks she made false entries into the ACS computer system reflecting that she had made home visits to several families with whom she never actually met." more ›

The discovery of a dead 11-year-old girl in a Brooklyn apartment led to the girl's mother to admit to killing her, according to police. WABC 7 reports that Florenzia Vazquez told police she beat daughter Alejandra "with a mop handle so hard, it broke in two." Vazquez is being held at the 75th precinct. more ›

A toddler, who ACS had returned to his family in Queens just one month ago, was declared dead yesterday by authorities. It's unclear how Jaysha Brown died, but he was found with cuts, bruises, and bite marks as well as external injuries that appeared days old. The Daily News reports, "Investigators were trying to determine if the child was murdered - the victim of his mother, her boyfriend or, stunningly, his 5-year-old brother." more ›

A Brooklyn three-year-old's death has led to the police to charge her father with murder and her mother with endangering the welfare of a child. Little Ginelis Jiminez, who weighed only 24 pounds, was allegedly punched in the chest by her father Michael Jimenez, who later grabbed her causing her to fall against the side of a tub. He later beat her in a chair until she passed out. Her mother Kimberly Cantos, according to WNBC, "is alleged to have heard her daughter’s arm snap and then her scream," but did nothing (Cantos apparently didn't take the girl to the hospital after previous beatings). The child died at Interfaith Hospital. Their 1-year-old son, who was once thrown against a toilet, is now in ACS custody. It's unclear if ACS had previous contact with the family. more ›

Yesterday, a funeral was held for three-year-old Kyle Smith, who died under the care and apparent abuse of family friends. Family members, friends and neighbors shed tears and voiced regrets over the child's death. more ›

After a 3-year-old boy died, battered and sexually abused by his caretakers, fingers have pointed at his abusers, his parents, his neighbors and the Administration of Children's Services. Now lawmakers hope to new law can stop similar tragedies. more ›

Family members mourning the death of a 3-year-old child at the hands of a family friend who was caring for him are speaking out, including the child's mother. more ›

The godmother of a 3-year-old boy and her boyfriend reportedly admitted to prosecutors that they beat the child, who died on Friday. However, Nymeem Cheatham and Lemar Martin, who are being held without bail, did not confess to killing Kyle Smith, who was found with cigarette burns, bruises all over his body, a torn tongue, a broken pelvis, and signs of sexual abuse. more ›

The terrible death of a 3-year-old child while under the case of his godmother and her boyfriend has Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbors reeling. Kyle Smith was declared dead on Friday, after an attempt by EMS to save him. The ME's office found he had a broken leg, a broken pelvis, bruises, signs of being sodomized with a wooden stick, and cigarette burns all over his body. more ›

Never mind the kids who are being murdered by violent parents or drugged to death by foster mothers, the Administration for Children's Services is busy checking up on the home environments of kids who skip gym class too many times, even though that's not technically a violation worthy of an ACS home visit. more ›