Results tagged “theacs”

More than a year and a half after the death of Nixzmary Brown, the Administration for Children's Services has hired 20 retired NYPD detectives to work as trained investigators consulting with ACS caseworkers. The ACS plans on eventually fielding 120 such investigators.

Of all the places of business that should be shredding documents, the Administration for Children's Services, which deals with very sensitive material about children and their families, should be shredding them. And yet the Daily News found 200 case files dumped on a streetcorner in Manhattan - totally in tact and in a "ripped, clear plastic garbage bag." The Daily News called one of the parents whose file was in the trash, and the mother said, "You found it on the street? You're kidding me! They just put it on the street and anybody could have come? Those people need to be sued for doing what they're doing." And here are some other cases that were left out on the street:

- An 11-year-old girl is quoted in explicit detail describing the sexual abuse she endured from her stepfather over the course of a year as her mother turned a blind eye.

Continue reading "How Hard Is It To Shred Documents?"

Sigh. More news about how Administration of Children's Services caseworkers had a lot of contact with the parents of a 4 month old baby boy whose brain damage may be caused by shaken baby syndrome. In 2000, Antonio Patterson and Tamira Hertzog's baby daughter died, possibly by wounds inflicted by Patterson; the incident caused their children to be placed in foster care, but they were returned to their parents a few years later. A daughter with cerebral palsy was kept in foster care and the couple had recent supervised visits with her at the ACS offices as well as court appearances with ACS while the agency investigated claims that the parents. When ACS workers asked Hertzog if she was pregnant, she denied it.

involved with the family of now brain-damaged 4 month old Preston Hertzog. Authorities suspect Preston is the victim of shaken baby syndrome; the baby remains in a hospital, being kept alive by a respirator. In 2000, Antonio Patterson and Tamirra Hertzog's 2 month old baby Mia died; the ACS put their other children into temporary foster care during the investigation which found that Mia died of blunt force trauma. Even though her skull was cracked in three places and her death ruled a homicide, there was not enough evidence to charge Patterson and Hertzog.

Egypt. The ACS is investigating what happened and may cancel its contract with St. Vincent's as a result.

The death of 2 year old Sharllene Morillo was already tragic enough, as it had come from the hands of her stepfather (she was dropped on her head, which led to a brain hemorrhage last week), but now it turns out that her day care provider had contacted the Administration for Children's Services about abuse weeks ago. Gertrudis Acevedo, who took care of Morillo in May, said that the child seemed withdrawn and saw scratches, bite marks, and bruises on the child. While there's some question as to who made the call to ACS (an anonymous tip came in mid-June, but day care providers are supposed to give their names), the ACS did visit Morillo's family, but saw "no solid evidence of abuse." Still, after the ACS visit, Acevedo said that Morillo's stepfather, Paul Jimenez (who was charged with little Sharllene's death), and his family called her cellphone and threatened her.

- Check out the on-the-scene photographs of the grilled cheese sandwich eating contest from yesterday in Times Square

This refrain has become sickeningly familiar : A child died in the Bronx, and his family was being investigated by the Administration for Children's Services. Authorities believe that little Quachon Brown was "thrown like a rag doll" by his mother's boyfriend for knocking over a TV set. and he was found with a smashed skull in his Norwood apartment. Alicia Brown (called Aleishia Smith in the Daily News) and Jose Calderon were questioned about the boy's death - and the squalor Quachon and Brown's other children lived in, a rat and roach infested apartment with a broken window and no food. Last summer, Quachon and five other chlidren were removed from the house by ACS when neighbors realized the chlidren were alone; Brown had gone to Atlantic City. Brown claims the TV fell on her son, but with his body covered in bruises, the authorities are suspicious. The ME's office is performing an autopsy. And today would have been his fifth birthday.

Yesterday, New Yorkers flocked to the East Village to pay their respects to Nixzmary Brown, whose small 7 year old body was shown in an open casket wake at the First Avenue Ortiz Funeral Home. Brown, who was killed in an abusive fit by her stepfather Cesar Rodriguez as her mother Nixzaliz Santiago stood by, has become the symbol for everything that could be wrong with the city's protective services for children. Brown's relatives described Nixzmary as looking like "an angel" in her casket, but there were sparks when Rodriguez's sister appeared. Mourners derided the system for letting the child down, and Mayor Bloomberg said that the city will conduct a full investigation to understand "exactly how this breakdown occured. People will be held accountable for their actions." Hmm, we wonder if the Mayor will go to the wake or funeral. The Post says that many Administration for Children's Service workers will be suspended as a result of this tragedy, while the Daily News reports the NYPD claims they never spoke to Nixzmary when detective accompanied ACS caseworkers to her apartment, which may have implications about whether or not the NYPD did everything it could have.

The story about the Queens fire just gets sadder: Along with an elderly neighbor, three of Jennifer Gaston's children died in a dramatic Queens house fire. And Gaston's 8 year old son admitted starting the fire with a butane lighter. The Admistration for Children's Services asked Gaston to leave her two other children in temporary custody, but Gaston became hysterical. The ACS had received earlier, though unfounded, reports about Gaston, and neighbors are saying that Gaston didn't save her two surviving chlidren, as one was apparently at a friend's house.