Q&A
Review mechanisms for case closure involving families with prior ACS involvement
1:11:21
·
150 sec
Council Member Rita C. Joseph questions ACS Commissioner Jess Dannhauser about the mechanisms in place to review and oversee decisions when closing cases involving families with prior ACS involvement. The discussion covers the timeline and process for these decisions.
- Dannhauser explains that ACS reviews prior involvement to aid in assessment and uses various consultants for substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health, and investigations.
- ACS has implemented coaching systems and expanded leadership roles to ensure proper review of high-risk cases.
- The focus is on getting decisions right during the active 60-day investigation period rather than after case closure.
Rita C. Joseph
1:11:21
Just have a couple of questions around, so what mechanisms do you have in place, right, to review, oversee decisions when you close a case involving families with prior ACS involvement?
1:11:32
What's the time line look like, and what does that involve when you decide that?
Jess Dannhauser
1:11:36
So, we use prior involvement to understand the there's a practice at ACS that we review prior involvement, to help us in the assessment.
1:11:48
As you know, council member, we have consultants around substance abuse, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, mental health, and we have investigative consultants that are, most often formative entities and NYPD.
1:12:00
We have to get the assessment right in that period.
1:12:03
Right?
1:12:03
The, ACS involvement, unless court mandated, ends, and typically it ends within that 60 day period.
1:12:11
And so that is our opportunity to make sure we're getting it right.
1:12:16
We have a lot of mechanisms in place to to make sure that we're getting it right.
1:12:21
We have, expert, experienced CPS who are coaches.
1:12:25
They take cases that have been flagged as high risk.
1:12:29
They reach out to the child protective teams, and they coach them through the investigation while it's active.
1:12:35
We just also expanded that approach by having our highest level we've redeployed all of our child protective team leadership out into the boroughs.
1:12:45
They don't need to be, in central, and they are doing additional reviews of those highest risk cases across boroughs to make sure that there's some, level of reliability and some and
Rita C. Joseph
1:12:58
some process.
1:12:59
Communicate with each other if They do.
1:13:00
There's a red flag?
Jess Dannhauser
1:13:02
They do.
1:13:02
They do.
1:13:02
And so, especially, you know, having that those consultants, having the investigative consultant, and having, our CPS come back for supervision.
1:13:13
So we are making serious investments in leadership.
1:13:17
Decision making is difficult.
1:13:19
Right?
1:13:19
There's, it's something that we have to make sure we're getting it right each and every time and finding ways our job is to mitigate the risks to children to, as best we can, eliminate those risks.
1:13:31
Most often, that's by supporting the family.
1:13:33
And so coming up with creative ideas with the family, coming up with good decisions to say, do is this something we do need to bring to court?
1:13:41
Because the behavior or circumstances is creating serious risks to children.
1:13:45
So, it's really not about after the case.
1:13:49
It's about getting it right during that that moment.
