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

4 Co-sponsors

• Tony Avella
• Neil D. Breslin
• Martin Malavé Dilan
• Adriano Espaillat

BILL NUMBER:S753

Title of bill

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to requiring child protective services to document home visits with photographs

Purpose or general idea of bill

To provide greater accountability and safety regarding caseworker visits to children in the child protective services and foster care system.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 states that this act shall be known and may be cited as "Marchella Pierce's Law".

Section 2 amends subdivision 3 of section 421 of the social services law to require that every caseworker and child protective services employee who has contact with a child as part of a treatment plan or supervision and monitoring, document each such contact with a photograph taken of the child during such visit or contact. Such photograph shall be part of the confidential case record for such child and shall be subject to periodic review by the supervisor of the case.

Section 3 amends Section 372 of the social services law by adding a new subdivision 4-c making the same provisions as in section 2 of this act.

Section 4 provides for the effective date.

Justification

Our child protective services (CPS) system was designed to afford protection by way of monitoring, for children at risk of abuse and neglect. Trained caseworkers are required to make routine visits to children in their homes or in the foster care system to ensure that they are not continuing to be abused or neglected.

Sadly, even under the watch of CPS, children "fall through the cracks" resulting in substantial harm and sometimes death. A recent case involving the death of Marchella Pierce, a medically fragile child in Brooklyn, highlighted a situation where an immediate safeguard is absent. In many ways, this tragic case resembles the tragedy of Nixmary Brown, a 7-year-old Brooklyn girl killed by her mother and stepfather four years ago while she was being monitored by ACS.

Prosecutors are charging the Administration of Children's Services (ACS) caseworker in Marchelle's death, contending 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 death-months in which she was starved and abused by her mother who is being charged in connection with her death.

In order to prevent caseworkers from being delinquent with regard to the important responsibilities they are entrusted with and to assist caseworker supervisors with monitoring the visits of caseworkers, this legislation takes a common-sense approach toward providing a much needed safeguard in child protection by increasing oversight and accountability.

Requiring that a simple photograph of the child under supervision be taken at each visit and that photograph be included as part of the caseworker's record for that visit will help ascertain if visits were actually made in the event of a tragedy. This action was taken by the State of Florida last year in response to an audit that discovered that more than 70 caseworkers fraudulently filed records that they had visited children in the child protective system when in fact they had not.

Prior legislative history

2013-14: S.5943 Referred to Children and Families

Fiscal implications

None to the State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.