Mari Moss
2:44:19
My name is Mari Moss.
2:44:21
I am a regional rep for the Community Action Board for Region 9, which is East Harlem in Harlem, which gives federal funding to nonprofit organizations, such as ACS and the programs that provide their services.
2:44:36
I also serve on the Mayor's Task Force For Ending Gender and Domestic based violence.
2:44:40
Thank you, Chair, for having this.
2:44:42
7 years ago, my life was irrevocably altered, and the trauma of that time continues to echo, not only in my life, but also in the lives of my 3 daughters, whom I affectionately call my 3 little Harlem girls.
2:44:56
They were just 2, 4, and 6 years old when I became a victim of domestic violence at the hands of my then husband.
2:45:03
At the time, I was pursuing my master's degree in public administration at at MCNY, working in city government and developing an economic theory to reduce poverty in Harlem.
2:45:13
My trajectory was promising, but it came to a halt when the court system failed me.
2:45:18
After enduring multiple instances of physical, verbal, and mental abuse, abuse, I called the police during a particularly violent episode where my husband threw me on the ground while I was already in a cast.
2:45:29
Instead of protection, I was met with systematic failure.
2:45:32
The court sided with my abuser, leaving me homeless, alienated from my children, and forced to endure unimaginable grief.
2:45:40
My experience with ACS only deepened this pain.
2:45:42
I was limited to seeing my daughters under their supervision, which exasperated the trauma.
2:45:48
And one particularly egregious incident, an ACS worker, Beatrice Bennon, assaulted me in front of my children.
2:45:55
I was documenting the abuse on my video, and my youngest daughter, just 2 at the time, clung to my leg and pleaded with the ACS workers, I'm going to roar at you like a dinosaur and put you in jail.
2:46:08
Even at that tender age, she recognized the injustice.
2:46:12
As I reassured her that I loved her and promised to protect her, ACS staff forcibly pried her away.
2:46:18
Despite her cries and desperate reach for me, that moment, my daughter's terror and helplessness remained etched in my memory.
2:46:25
I'm just gonna fast forward and then submit the rest to testimony.
2:46:29
I am urgently calling for a joint committee investigation involving the women's committee, judiciary, ACS oversight, public safety and investigations to examine the systematic failures within ACS.
2:46:42
We need to fact check commissioners when they are coming before these testimony hearings.
2:46:48
Some of them do not know what's really happening.
2:46:50
CRM tracking services and in involvement can help provide understanding this regard.
2:46:56
Independent oversight to ensure proper vetting of staff, consultants, and implementation of safeguards to protect children and families, as well as trainings for sensitive matters of domestic violence and other forms of abuse within families, and then number 3, reparations and accountability for survivors of parental alienation and abuse at the hands of ACS and the court systems.
2:47:17
Corrective actions are needed to make for these mistakes that are made by the agencies.
