Relates to requiring child protective services to document home visits with photographs

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of the bill provides that this bill shall be known and cited as "Marchella Pierce's Law."

Section 2 of the bill amends section 421(3) of the Social Services Law, which relates to the regulations that the Department of Social Services is required to promulgate concerning the investigation of child abuse or maltreatment. This section of the bill requires the Department of Social Services to promulgate additional regulations to require caseworkers to perform certain tasks in connection with their visitation of children under a plan of treatment or supervision and monitoring. Specifically, the regulations must require that each caseworker to document each such with a photograph of the front door of the residence where the child is domiciled at the time of the visit. Additionally, the regulations must require that each caseworker document visits using technology that provides geographic documentation of the visit. Section 2 of the bill further provides that if the child's parent or guardian objects to either the pictorial or geographic documentation, the parent or guardian must sign a form stating the objection, that the visit was conducted and that the child's well-being was verified.

Section 3 of the bill adds a new subdivision 4-c to section 372 of the Social Services Law to provide that the documentation described in section 2 of this bill shall also be kept and filed by caseworkers involved in the treatment plan or supervision and monitoring of foster children.

Section 4 of the bill provides that this bill shall take effect immediately.

Existing law

Current law requires the Commissioner to issue regulations concerning the supervision and monitoring of abused children. Additionally, the Office of Children and Family Services is required to issue guidelines to address situations when children must undergo medical examination and when visibly injured children must be photographed. Current law, however, does not require that caseworkers document every contact they have with a child. Nor does it require that the regulations contain safeguards to ensure that the documentation contained in case records is safe from manipulation.

Justification

Our child protective services system was designed to afford protection through monitoring of abused or neglected children or children at risk from abuse and neglect. Trained caseworkers are required to make routine visits to such children in their homes or in the foster care system to ensure their protection. Sadly, even under the watch of Child Protective Services, children "fall through the cracks," resulting in substantial harm and sometimes death.

In 2012, a case involving the death of Marchella Pierce, a medically fragile child in Brooklyn, highlighted the lack of adequate safeguards in the supervision of at risk children. Prosecutors charged the Administration of Children's Services ("ACS") caseworker in Marchella's death, alleging that he should have noticed the child's injuries and malnourishment and that he changed records after her death to make it seem like he visited her family when he did not make the visits for months leading up to her death - months in which she was starved and abused by her mother. In many ways, Marchella's case resembles the tragedy of Nixmary Brown, a seven year-old Brooklyn girl who was killed by her mother and stepfather in 2006 while she was being monitored by ACS.

In January 2014, 4-year old Myls Dobson was tortured for three weeks prior to his death at the hands of the caregiver who had custody of Myls while his father was in jail. Until August 2013, Myls was monitored by ACS pursuant to a Court order granting his father custody in the wake of abuse charges leveled against his then-custodian mother. An investigation into Myls' death found that ACS did not know that Myls' father was in jail while under ACS supervision. This failure to recognize that Myls was at risk allowed Myls to be cared for by the woman who tortured and ultimately killed him.

In February 2014, Kevasia Edwards was found unresponsive and unconscious at her home in Far Rockaway. The two-year old, along with her four siblings, had previously been removed from her mother's care. On January 23, 2014, the Queens Family Court allowed Kevasia and her siblings to remain in their mother's care because she had shown improvement during the court-ordered therapy and parenting classes that were required due to abuse and neglect charges. Eleven days and one ACS visit after the Court ruling, Kevasia was dead. Kevasia suffered, among other things, burns and broken ribs, which led to her death.

These cases highlight the need for legislation to provide closer oversight of child protective caseworkers. Specifically, legislation is needed to ensure that the very small minority of caseworkers who fail to live up to the high professional standards of child protective agencies do not allow neglected and abused children to suffer. This bill achieves that goal by requiring the Department of Social Services to issue additional regulations requiring caseworkers to document every contact they have with a child under agency supervision. Such documentation shall consist of a description of the child's apparent physical and emotional condition. This bill also requires regulations to be promulgated requiring the timely and accurate filing of such documentation in case files, as well as safeguards to prevent the manipulation of case files, such as was alleged to have occurred in Marchella Pierce's case.

Legislative history

2014: S.4441-B - Referred to Children and Families 2013: S.4441-A - Referred to Children and Families

Fiscal implications

None to the State

Effective date

This bill shall apply immediately and shall take effect immediately.