Children And Families In The Courts Of New York City PDF Download

New York City has for far too long tolerated a severe imbalance in the delivery of legal services in child welfare cases. Although the Administration for Children's Services (ACS), the Legal Aid Society and Lawyers for Children all are given a significant annual budget which allows these agencies to represent petitioners and children in Family Court, parents have never had an institutional legal provider. This unacceptable imbalance has unfairly served vulnerable families. Parents are deprived of attorneys who have supportive resources, such as investigators, social workers, paralegals and professional development programs. As the articles in this issue of "Child Welfare Watch" describe, the city's troubled Family Court has been in the midst of a reform process for several years climaxing in the new Permanency Law signed by Governor George Pataki last year. While the Permanency Law streamlines the case process and provides for better sharing of information with parents and their attorneys, it does not solve the far more difficult problem of inadequate government investment in the operations of Family Court, all of which is documented in theme and first article of this issue, "A Matter of Judgement: Deciding the Future of Family Court in NYC" (Andrew White). Other articles contained in this issue include: (1) Recommendations and Solutions (proposed by Child Welfare Watch); (2) Failing Children: How Schools Can Intervene (Daliz Perez with Andrew White); (3) Before the Crisis: A Snapshot of the NYC System; (4) Juvenile Arrests Soar: Delinquents Flood Courts (Alyssa Katz); (5) Order in the Court: Reforms Move Families Forward (Alyssa Katz); (6) Meet the New Law; (7) How a Case Proceeds; (8) Prosecutors "New" Case: ACS Reinvents Its Legal Team (Cassi Feldman); (9) Remembering Julius C.C. Edelstein (David Tobis); (10) Poor Parents' Counsel: Are There Alternatives? (Traci McMillan); (11) The Court V. Good Sense: How to End Needless Delays (Chris Gottlieb and Martin Guggenheim); and (12) Watching the Numbers: A Six-Year Statistical Survey. (Contains 2 color enhanced graphs.) [This issue of "Child Welfare Watch" was funded by the Child Welfare Fund and the Ira W. DeCamp Foundation. "Child Welfare Watch" is a project of the Center for an Urban Future and the Center for New York City Affairs at Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy.].