Crowell & Moring LLP, in collaboration with Brooklyn Defender Services, filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Brooklyn mother and her son against the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York over ACS’s numerous violations of the family’s constitutional rights in its ruthless investigations of baseless reports of abuse and neglect at their home and school.
As reported in ProPublica, Plaintiffs Ms. L.B.* and her young son Kyle* (*pseudonyms to protect the family’s privacy) bring the lawsuit after nearly three years of invasive ACS investigations that all stemmed from anonymous reports of demonstrably false allegations. Despite finding the allegations to be unfounded in each investigation, ACS continues to invade Ms. B and Kyle’s private life without their consent through repetitive home searches, interrogations of Kyle at his school, and examinations of Kyle’s body, causing them severe and ongoing harm, distress, and anxiety.
“Because of ACS, I lost so much. Their relentless investigations made me feel like I couldn’t protect my son like I promised him I would. I’m filing this lawsuit to ensure that other parents know that they have rights and that no other families go through this,” said Ms. B.
Without action from the court, ACS will continue to harass and terrorize Ms. B and her son, in violation of their constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Crowell & Moring Counsel Robert Mantel: “Despite finding early reports to be baseless, ACS investigators repeatedly demanded to enter and search Ms. B’s home and to question and physically examine her child. When Ms. B learned that she had the right to deny ACS entry to her home and tried to exercise her rights, ACS instead went to her child’s school, took him out of class and interrogated him against his will and without Ms. B’s consent. We are proud to join Ms. B and her son, along with Brooklyn Defender Services, in bringing this federal lawsuit to ensure that ACS stops violating Ms. B’s and her son’s constitutional rights, and other families are not similarly traumatized by ACS.”
Ms. B’s experience is emblematic of the experience of many NYC parents–predominately Black and Latine New Yorkers—who are subject to invasive ACS investigations of their home without a warrant or entry order. Out of more than 56,000 searches conducted annually, ACS requests fewer than 100 warrants on average. In 2022, more than seventy percent of all ACS investigations, and more than ninety percent of investigations resulting from anonymous reports, were unfounded. Less than ten percent resulted in court involvement, and less than three percent resulted in children being placed in the foster system.
This lawsuit comes as families and advocates push for “Family Miranda” legislation in New York State (S901/A1980), which would require ACS agents to inform parents of their rights orally and in writing at the beginning of an investigation. In addition to this critical legislation, family advocates are also calling for the enactment of the Anti-Harassment in Reporting Act, which would reduce the number of anonymous false calls by requiring that every caller confidentially provide their name and contact information when making a report to the SCR hotline.
About Crowell & Moring LLP
Crowell & Moring is an international law firm with operations in the United States, Europe, MENA, and Asia. Drawing on significant government, business, industry and legal experience, the firm helps clients capitalize on opportunities and provides creative solutions to complex litigation and arbitration, regulatory and policy, and corporate and transactional issues. The firm is consistently recognized for its commitment to pro bono service, as well as its programs and initiatives to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.
