Kids' Advocates Say
Boost Family Court To Remedy Abuse

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

On the one-year anniversary of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown's brutal death, legislators and child advocacy groups called on the city to maintain funding for preventive services and hire more Family Court Judges.

BILL de BLASIO: 'Fund preventive services.'

Advocates and city officials testified before the City Council's General Welfare Committee at a hearing held Jan. 11 to examine child welfare and the increased demands on Family Courts.

Focus on Prevention

Committee Chairman Bill de Blasio urged the Bloomberg administration to make permanent the $4.2 million in funding for preventive services.

"You can't talk about child welfare without looking at Family Court," he said at a press conference before the hearing. "By fully funding preventive services and providing additional resources to Family Court, we have the opportunity to better the lives of thousands of children and families going through the child welfare system every year."

The number of reported abuse cases increased by 30 percent following the death of Nixzmary Brown, who was beaten and tortured to death, allegedly by her step-father in the presence of her mother.

The New York City Family Court estimates that neglect filings for 2006 will be 163 percent higher than 2005 and that abuse filings will rise by 63 percent. The number of Family Court Judges has not increased from its state-mandated limit of 47 since 1991.

Spending Pays Off

Administration for Children Services Commissioner John B. Mattingly said that the increased funding had improved the agency's effectiveness.

"The City has made a nearly unprecedented commitment of resources and support to ensure that we have what we need to do the best possible job," he said in a statement. "This has allowed Children's Services to increase staff, lower caseloads, and improve child welfare practice."

City officials said that more improvements were needed. "It is clear that the Family Court is under-resourced," John Feinblatt, the city's Criminal Justice Coordinator, said in testimony before the welfare committee. "Simply put, Family Court could use more judges."

Mr. Feinblatt emphasized that there were other changes required, including consolidating and streamlining the court system.

Tamara Steckler, the Legal Aid Society's Juvenile Rights Practice lead attorney, said that Family Court lawyers were significantly overburdened. "Most of our lawyers represent 200-300 children at a time," she said at the press conference.

Advocates stressed the need for early intervention. "Prevention services can help divert many families from court," said Sue Jacobs, the executive director of the Center for Family Representation, "while allowing the judges and court staff to have more time for the cases which are deemed in need of the supervision of the court."