230 Graduated: ACS Caseworkers Fortified by Task

230 Graduated
ACS Caseworkers Fortified by Task


The Administration for Children's Services added 230 new Caseworkers to its rolls last week, bringing the number of frontline child-welfare workers and investigators to 1,310.

A Diverse Group

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood James STANDING UP FOR KIDS: Child Protective Specialist Angela Guyton-Cyril tells fellow graduates at the Feb. 27 ceremony at John Jay College for Criminal Justice that they have the power to 'give children a voice.' Graduates of the six-week intensive program at the city's James Satterwhite Academy included ex-Wall Street brokers, a former foster child and an Army Reservist. The latest class marks a 44-percent increase in the number of caseworkers on staff since the brutal death of seven-year-old Nixzmary Brown - allegedly at the hands of her stepfather - last January.

"As Child Protective Specialists, we have been entrusted with the city's most valuable assets - its children," said David Alter, who worked on Wall Street for more than a decade. "The future of the city is our responsibility. The Academy has helped us. It has made us the heart of New York."

Mr. Alter, who is based in the Staten Island Field Office, said that his experience on 9/11, and the loss of a good friend that day who was a firefighter, changed his outlook on life. When the CPS posting came up, he applied. "I wanted to do something really meaningful," he said. "I figured I could do some good."

ACS Commissioner John B. Mattingly told the graduates that children who are abused and neglected often feel like they are not worth anything. "A good Caseworker can make a child feel like, well, maybe I am," he said. "You have the opportunity to redirect hundreds of lives."

'Let Me Hear You'

He gave out his cell phone number to the new employees. "When you feel the agency is getting in the way of doing what we need to accomplish our goals, I want to hear about it," he told the slightly bemused crowd, many of whom whipped out pens and paper and scribbled down his number. He noted that he might not always be the one to answer his phone, but that he would get back to them.

ACS has the authority to hire a total of 1,375 CPS workers. Their starting salary is $38,046 and increases to $41,319 after six months.

Mayor Bloomberg, who also spoke at the Feb. 27 graduation ceremony, told the several hundred people assembled at John Jay College of Criminal Justice that he would lobby for a state bill that would allow Caseworkers to check the criminal records of adults in a home where an allegation has been made. "No one would ever ask a police officer to investigate a crime without being able to see a suspect's history," he said. "Yet this is exactly what our ACS workers are forced to do. They're out there with one hand tied behind their backs."

Can't Go Into the Past

Currently, an ACS worker can only investigate the specific crime being alleged, but cannot check to see if the relevant adults committed past crimes, such as assault, or have a history of domestic violence. Bills granting ACS workers this right are currently making their way through the State Senate and Assembly.

The Mayor also announced that he would lobby Albany to make assaulting a social worker a felony - a protection already granted to Teachers, Police Officers and Transit workers.

Angela Guyton-Cyril was in the U.S. Army Reserves for 10 years and is now a CPS in the Bronx Field Office. She has four kids of her own, ages 17, 11, 7 and four months. Citing both the 1995 murder of 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo and Nixzmary's death, she said she wanted to do something to give children a voice.

'I've Seen Both Sides'

"I know what it's like on both sides," she said. "I've had ACS knock on my door and ask, 'Why hasn't your son been to school in the last 45 days?"' She said the Academy taught her to put the child's safety first, but also to empathize with a parent who may be in need of services.

"Commissioner Mattingly, thank you for giving those of us who don't have a [Masters in Social Work] in our pockets a chance to make a difference," she said.

The other graduates were: Abeyllez Maxie, Albania Abreu, Damon Adams, Marlene Adams-Ennis, Hakeem Adekoya, Mary Ademola, Diane Allen, Rhonda Allen, Crystal Alston, David Alter, Fidelis Amoako, Michelle Attonis, Guerdine Augustin, Sagnia Balbuena, Jo-Vanne Baskerville, Athena Bass, Lydia Bastien, Dijana Behremovic-Durmic;

Terrice Bell, Melly Bello, Danielle Bembury, Wendy Biscobing, Eric Blackwood, Sheresa Blount, Tracey Braithwaite, Ernisha Brown, Melissa Browne, Tilissa Bryant-Nathaniel, Samantha Bulgin, Jennifer Burgos, Chaquana Burnett, Kevin Byers, Nicole Byfield-Ricks, Latoya Carthen, Micheline Cassagnol, Linda Cato, Bertholet Cayard, Tonilyn Cerrito;

Tiffany Chapman, Anika Clarke, Althea Cochran, Shaquana Cole, Candace Coleman, Karen Collins, Charmaine Cort, Kim Crocker, Silva Chenelle Da, Anjeannette Daniels, Kellyann Dash, Alanna Davis, Latasha Davis, Latoya Davis, Sasha Dawson, Kimberly Daza, Lavinia Deabreu-Quesnel, Dayna Decker, Yury Delacruz, Sherril Didder, Daniel Didio, Diane Dillon, Talisa Dinkins;

Geeraldine Dorsaint, Emmanuela Dorvilus, Tamara Douglas, Delarno Duncan, Steven Duran, Agha Eason, Blessing Egwu, Kathyann Eillis, Alexander Elias, Lorenzo Ellis, Rayshawn Ellison, Aida Elshorbagi, Frenel Elysee, Chinedun Adaobi Emenike, Ani Emenogu, Pamela Fairclough, Richard Favors Jr., Jacqueline Fernandez, Lydia Ferrer, Lori Ferretti, Jose Figueroa;

Stacey Ann Francis, Tatiana Francis, Lareicha Frazier, Jonathan Fried, Delores Furman, Julisse Garcia, Jude George, Vanessa George, Laura Gold, Jason Goldberg, Taina Grey, Adrianne Grimes, Angela Guyton-Cyric, Brian Hall, Melissa Hamm, Samuel Hargress, Robin Harper, Tarkisa Hazzard, Jodikay Henry, Michelle Hepburn, Stacy Hibbert, Roseann Hinds, Vivian Ho;

Michele Hodge, Akilah Holder-Cupid, Masum Hossain, Tonya Howard, Lacey Humpherys, Corinne Innis, Arlene Jackson, Jefferson Jean, Cindy Jean-Pierre, Melissa John, Duayne John, Jacqueline Johnson, Annie Johnson, Natalie Johnson, Marcia Johnson-McLeod, Gale H. Jones, Denise Jones, Marie Joseph, Karen Joseph-Bonadie, Kevin King, Massiel Knight;

Keisha Lane, Erica Laporte, Name First Name Last, Lasonta Lewis, Tina Lewis, Laura Liotta, Latisha Logan, Roderick Lopera, Christina Maldonado, Carl Malkiewicz, Tamika Manifold, Elizabeth Manuel, Emmanuel Marcelino, Michelle Martin, Coelette Martindale, Jennifer Martinez, Rakell Mason, Shanay Mason, Sajan Matthew, Brenda Mayo, Evita McCall, Catherine McLeod;

Shauna McPartland, Tasha Millner, Janine Monroe, Amar Moody, Belinda Moore, William Morgan, Maleka Morrison, Erica Moseley, Kymbrel Mosley, Denato Norman, Teri Occhiogrosso, Carlotta Ofield, Nicole Ortiz, Shiri Osbourne-Oreilly, Candice Overton, Aja Paniagua, Magdalonie Paris, Joyce Parks, Johan Peguero, Tanya Perry, Rae Phillips, Patricia Phillips, Jean Pierre;

Noldine Poitevien, Natalia Powell, Taisha Pratts, Iydes Ramirez, Tiffany Ramos, Gina Marie Ramos, Chivonne Reid-Whittingham, Denise Relf, Arelis Reyes, Brenda Ricketts, Charles Rios Jr., Nataki Robinson, Diana Rogers, Vivian Romero, Tahira Rowe, Rosella Rowe, Aime Flore Saint, Victorina Salvador, Zulena Sanchez, Linda Saninocencio, Nancy Santana, Hammad Sartaj;

Angela Schiavone, Aisha Scott, Cynthia Serrano, Nafeesa Simmons, Tara Simpson, Jewel Skeete, Patma Skervin, Lashanna Smith, Denise Solorzano, Dawn Sparman, Taniqua Springer, Melissa Stagg, Jamesa Staten, Laverne Steele, Sharon Stembridge, Shaquanna Sterling, Alicia Stewart, Donna Stewart, Faith Strachan, Shannon Sullivan;

Shavonne Taylor, Tyrone Taylor, Lois Thompson, Heather Trought, Sarah Tyson, Estephania Urena, Josefina Urena-Diaz, Trisha Van De Cruize, Janeth Vasquez-Cruz, Marilyn Vega, Lorena Velasquez, Lori Walker, Desiree Warner, Lisa Warren, Aliki Watson, Paula Watson, Sharon Welch, Shellon Williams, Desterneen Williams, Catasia Williams, Francica Williams, Chamell Wilson, Ryan Wilson, and Shariyfa Yokum.