Bill Allows For State Inquiries On Child Deaths

By HOWARD MEGDAL

The leader of the union representing Administration for Children's Services workers praised a bill signed into law last month allowing for confidential state investigations of any death of a child under the age of 18.

"I've always felt that this service needed scrutiny and attention," District Council 37 Local 371 President Charles Ensley said in an Aug. 31 phone interview. "Hopefully, with that will come additional resources for a service clearly in need of it."

'A Powerful Tool'

The bill's sponsor, State Sen. Nick Spano of Yonkers, described the Fatality Review team put into place by the measure as "a powerful tool for defining underlying causes and scope of fatalities from child abuse and neglect, identifying gaps and breakdowns in agencies and systems designed to protect children and determining strategies for preventing child deaths in the future, as well as uncovering patterns and trends in child deaths."

The team will consist of representatives from local District Attorneys' Offices, police, Emergency Medical Service personnel and pediatricians with expertise in the area of child abuse. It may also include local members of social service organizations, domestic violence agencies, substance abuse programs, local schools and family courts.

ACS responded in a statement that the agency "already has in place an Accountability Review Panel, an independent oversight body that reviews child fatalities in NYC families that are known to the child welfare system. This approach to reviewing child fatalities has been in place for more than two decades. With the passage of [the bill], Children's Services looks forward to working with the State as we review the implication of the law on our work."

But in an implicit criticism of the current system, Mr. Spano wrote in his bill justification that "by requiring local and regional fatality review teams as well as the office of children and family services to review the deaths of children for whom there is an open child-protective services case or a child-preventive services case, we will be better able to identify deficiencies in the child welfare system so that preventive measures may be developed and implemented."