ACS Admits Failures

'Missed Chances' In Abused Girl's Death

By HOWARD MEGDAL

CHARLES ENSLEY: Don't put it all on workers.

Administration for Children's Services Commissioner John B. Mattingly cited "two - at least two" instances in which failures by ACS caseworkers cost 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown her life, including a scrapped plan to visit Nixzmary's home the night she died, during a Jan. 30 City Council hearing.

"Clearly, there is no question that we had missed opportunities," Mr. Mattingly said at the 4-1/2-hour hearing.

Numerous Failings

Concurrent with his testimony, ACS released the findings of its preliminary accountability review panel, which detailed the numerous times the agency could have acted to save Nixzmary but didn't.

The first instance Mr. Mattingly spoke of was in May 2005, when ACS first received a report that Nixzmary had missed 46 days of school. The report was filed by her school guidance counselor following "two unsuccessful home visits" by the school official.

The Child Protective Specialist assigned to the case found numerous inconsistencies in the interviews conducted with Nixzmary, her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, and her mother, Nixzaliz Santiago. Both Ms. Santiago and Mr. Rodriguez now face murder charges stemming from Nixzmary's death Jan. 11.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow ON THE HOT SEAT: Administration for Children's Services Commissioner John Mattingly faced a steady stream of criticism from City Council Members as he explained where his agency had failed to protect Nixzmary Brown, the 7-year-old girl allegedly murdered by her stepfather.

From determining how Nixzmary had received burns on her hand, to injuries on her head and foot, each of the interviewees had a different account. Yet not only was Nixzmary not taken from the home, but the Caseworker did not even conclude there had been educational neglect.

Want Automatic Triggers

Council Members reacted with outrage that an educational neglect finding is not mandatory if a child misses 46 days of school.

"It sounds like educational neglect is so subjective that there is no automatic trigger," said Council General Welfare Committee Chairman Bill De Blasio. "Do we have a policy problem?"

Mr. Mattingly stressed that absolutes can create more problems than they solve. "The more you try to put hard rules into place, the more trouble they will cause," he said.

The decision-making process that took place the night of Jan. 10 was less clearcut. The report stated that an agency supervisor instructed Caseworkers to go to Nixzmary's home that night, but one employee decided to go the following morning instead, and found a crime scene instead of a case.

The delay in taking action, in light of the revelation that a Caseworker was denied entry into Nixzmary's home by Mr. Rodriguez on Dec. 8, has opened the agency up to blistering criticism for not getting the police involved. But in the report, ACS claims that a Detective spoke to Mr. Rodriguez for 15 minutes.

A Joint Decision

The preliminary ACS decision to form an instant response team, which combines ACS workers and police, "was later contradicted in an interview where she clarified that the discussion with Detective F. concluded the case not to be an I.R.T.," according to the report.

"There's no question in my mind that our team and police decided jointly not to make it into a formal I.R.T. case," Mr. Mattingly said.

The report acknowledges that those involved in the case "failed to seek a legal consult regarding securing an entry order into the Rodriguez residence, from at least 12/22/05 through 1/10/06."

The Council pressed Mr. Mattingly to put specific benchmarks in place to trigger automatic action.

'Recipe for Inaction'

"If we had more automaticness, it seems to me we'd have more direct action," Mr. De Blasio said. "The decision-making seems like a recipe for inaction."

Mr. Mattingly reiterated that the agency's ability to respond to crises is "excellent."

"But it should improve, it needs to improve, and it will improve," Mr. Mattingly added.

Following the Commissioner's testimony, the Council heard from District Council 37 Social Service Employees Union Local 371 President Charles Ensley, who represents ACS Caseworkers and Supervisors.

A Different View

"The realities as viewed from the top of the agency do not correspond to what the view is on the ground," Mr. Ensley remarked, citing differences with Mr. Mattingly on the issue of Caseworker load, among other issues.

Mr. Ensley questioned the wisdom of blaming Caseworkers for errors he said were made by those higher up in the chain of command.

"It's easy to blame the Caseworkers," Mr. Ensley said. "But the Caseworkers do not make those decisions."

The SSEU leader also described criticism of ACS's Bedford-Stuyvesant office as unfair.

"I am not one to suggest that the Bed-Stuy office is working at any less than peak efficiency," Mr. Ensley said. "You can take a snapshot of any place at any time. It can be Brooklyn today, the Bronx tomorrow."

And indeed, the Bronx was at the center of a storm that had just started brewing as the hearings began: the death reported that morning of 4-year-old Quachaun Brown. Mr. Mattingly admitted that Quachaun's case was "known to the agency." Subsequent news reports have stated that ACS staffers visited the boy's home four times since November 2005.