The head of New York City’s child welfare agency resisted calls Thursday to divulge personal details about child fatalities following the horrific death of malnourished 4-year-old Jah’Meik Modlin.
During a City Council committee oversight hearing, Administration for Children’s Services Commissioner Jess Dannhauser suggested that while he understood the need for transparency, he was also mindful of surviving siblings in the agency’s care.
“We want to make sure we’re protecting children who don’t need to read more in the [news]paper about what the ACS commissioner said about their particular family,” Dannhauser told the Committee on Children and Youth.
“I do want to make sure that we maintain a culture at ACS about learning rather than blame, because blame has led us down a path in the past where we make decisions based on fear. That is not good for children; that is not good for families.”
In the wake of the recent deaths of Modlin in October and Joseph Heben Jr., a 1-month-old child who died of malnutrition over the summer on Staten Island, experts warned against fueling a foster-care panic where the agency overcorrects and separates families who could have been supported with food and resources. Modlin’s family in Harlem was known to the system, having previously been under ACS investigation.
ACS will continue releasing annual reports on child fatality trends, as well as working with the Office of Children and Family Services, a state oversight agency, Dannhauser said. The commissioner is also in the process of reconvening a group of experts — community advocates, parents and child-abuse pediatricians — who will have “deeper access” to information.
Lawmakers acknowledged the challenge of striking the right balance, yet also insisted there was more ACS could do.
“Some of the reports that ACS refused to put out after a child did die might be helpful in moving us in the right direction,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, “and I hope ACS reconsiders not releasing those reports for the public to take a look at.
“I know that privacy is one of the issues, but I feel like [materials] can be redacted in a way that can help us all try to find the balance that we’re trying to find.”
Councilwoman Althea Stevens (D-Bronx), the committee chair, said she is “a person who truly believes that we have to protect children.”
“Some of that is keeping certain things confidential, and also not having all of their grueling details being exposed for everyone to read,” Stevens said. “But we do have to have a balance of what does transparency look like and how do we make sure that we’re able to hold not only ACS accountable, but all parties accountable.”
Originally Published:
