Judge Rules Lawsuit to Put City's Child Welfare System in Receivership Should Move Forward; Will Con

PRESS RELEASE

Marisol v. Guiliani certified as class-action for children in foster care and those reported abused and neglected; city and state motions to dismiss case denied.

Judge Robert J. Ward of the U.S. District Court ruled today that the lawsuit Marisol v. Giuliani, which seeks to put New York City's entire child welfare system under the control of a court-appointed receiver, should move forward. The federal civil rights lawsuit, filed in December 1995 by Children's Rights, Inc. and Lawyers for Children, Inc., was certified today as a class action on behalf of an estimated 100,000 New York City children who are either in the City's foster care system or reported as abused and neglected.

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Judge Ward's ruling affirms the lawsuit's contention that these children - approximately 43,000 children in the City's custody and tens of thousands of additional children reported to be in danger of abuse or neglect - have important legal rights, and may turn to the courts for protection when their lives and well-being are endangered by the persistent failure of the Administration of Child Services (ACS) to protect and care for them.

Ward's decision states that "the factual allegations of the complaint portray a child welfare program in crisis and collectively suggest systemic deficiencies of gross proportions. The eleven children who seek to represent the proposed class have endured a wide range of abuses and all reflect the dire situation facing children in the system." The decision goes on to state that "the Court finds...that New York's Child Protective Services laws are more than mere procedural guidelines and, in fact, give plaintiffs an entitlement to protective services of which they may not be deprived without due process of law."

"Judge Ward breaks new legal ground in this Circuit by extending constitutional protection to children who have been reported abused and neglected" stated Marcia Robinson Lowry, Executive Director for Children's Rights, Inc., a national organization dedicated to improving the lives of children dependent upon foster care, mental health and juvenile justice systems. "Before this ruling, courts in this circuit had recognized the right to protection for children already in state custody, but had not extended that right to children in danger but still living at home. Judge Ward is making it clear that all children in New York City have a right to care and protection. He acknowledges how dependent these children are on a child welfare system that sets up rules about how these children should be protected, but then violates its own rules."

Ward denied motions by New York City and New York State to dismiss or delay the action that claims both the city and the state have proven to be incapable of running the child welfare system and calls for the entire system to be removed immediately from the city's control and placed into the hands of a court-appointed receiver.

"This decision gives hope to the children who rely on the city and state for their protection and well being," stated Craig Levine, attorney for CRI. "Defendants tried to silence the children by having their claims dismissed or delayed, but Judge Ward rejected their arguments and held that when a child welfare system is as rampantly dysfunctional as New York City's -- where child abuse hotline calls go answered and caseworkers fail to investigate complaints of neglect -- these children need a place to go for help. The judge is recognizing that the court, as these children's last resort and refuge, has a responsibility to make sure their rights are upheld."

Karen Freedman and Gayle Lerner, Executive Directors of Lawyers for Children, Inc. (LFC), which provides free legal and social work services to New York City children, stated, "Judge Ward's decision to move this litigation forward as a class action is a victory for all children in foster care in this city. The Court's decision is especially gratifying because it means that one of our young clients, Lawrence B., will live on despite his untimely death from AIDS in March. Lawrence was one of the original named plaintiffs in this case. Before he died he told us that he wanted to help prevent other children from suffering needlessly the way he did in foster care. "

Lawyers for Children and CRI filed Marisol v. Giuliani on December 13, 1995 on behalf of eleven named plaintiffs -- children who have all experienced serious physical and psychological harm while in the care of the city's child welfare system or who have been put in danger because of the city's failure to investigate complaints of abuse and nelgect. These eleven children now serve as representatives for all the children who rely on the New York City child welfare system for protection. Defendants in the suit include Mayor Giuliani, Governor Pataki, and those appointed officials responsible for child welfare.

Since the case was filed, Cahill Gordon & Reindel, a major law firm in New York City, has joined Marisol v. Giuliani in support of the plaintiffs. Thomas Curnin, a partner at Cahill Gordon, stated "The city's child welfare system is clearly in violation of federal law and directly harming children in foster care. We felt we could do no less than join the case and contribute our resources in the effort to persuade the federal court that these children need its protection under the law."

If the district court orders the system into receivership, it would effectively remove child protection and foster care from the control of the City of New York. Only one other child welfare system in the United States, that of Washington, D.C., has ever been placed in full receivership by a court order, as a result of a Children's Rights lawsuit, LaShawn v. Barry.

CRI and LFC will proceed vigorously as a result of today's ruling to complete the detailed fact-gathering process now under way. Due to the irreparable harm New York City's children are suffering every day as a result of the continuing failure of ACS to protect them, plaintiffs are hoping to have the judge set the earliest possible trial date.

Lawyers for Children, Inc. founded in 1984, provides free legal and social work services to children who are before the courts in foster care, abuse and neglect, termination of parental rights, and custody proceedings. Because so many of the vulnerable children it represents are adrift in the foster care system and are victims of physical and sexual abuse, LFC provides an attorney and a social worker to advocate for each of its young clients both in and out of the courtroom. LFC's experience in providing direct services to over 15,000 children has led to a commitment to impact litigation and innovative projects which enhance LFC's ability to advocate for and protect children in foster care.

Children's Rights works throughout the United States in partnership with national and local experts, advocates and government officials to document the needs of children in the care of child welfare systems. Children's Rights helps develop realistic solutions and, where necessary, uses the power of litigation to ensure that reform takes place.