PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Nila Natarajan, Associate Director of Policy and Family Defense at Brooklyn Defender Services, on ACS Preventive Services
2:31:56
·
153 sec
Nila Natarajan from Brooklyn Defender Services criticizes ACS's preventive services model, emphasizing that poverty is often mischaracterized as child neglect. She advocates for addressing poverty directly through measures like universal basic income and expanded public benefits to reduce child maltreatment cases.
- Highlights studies showing that increased access to benefits like SNAP can significantly reduce family policing system cases
- Argues that ACS, as a policing agency, is not well-suited to support families
- Stresses the need for investment in creating thriving communities without involvement of the family policing system
Nila Natarajan
2:31:56
Good afternoon.
2:31:56
My name is Nila Natarajan, and I'm the associate director of policy and family defense at Brooklyn Defender Services.
2:32:01
Thank you to this committee and chair Stevens for taking the time to look at ACS's so called, preventive services model and for the opportunity to testify.
2:32:10
Brooklyn defender services family defense practice is the primary provider of representation to parents charged with abuse or neglect in Brooklyn's family's court.
2:32:18
Every year we represent about 2 or 3000 parents and over the last 2 decades have represented 14,000 parents and worked with more than 30,000 children, either to remain safely at home or leave the foster system.
2:32:30
Our early defense practice specifically provides support, guidance, and legal counsel to families during the course of an ACS or CARES investigation.
2:32:39
I cannot emphasize enough my colleague's points here today that the notion that ACS as a policing agency is well situated to support fam families is fundamentally flawed.
2:32:50
Instead, successful prevention of harm to children must be rooted in an investment in creating thriving and safe communities which requires a real investment in families.
2:32:58
We must look quote unquote upstream and and ensure that every family's fundamental needs are met without any contact with the family policing system.
2:33:06
Poverty is a driving force behind what is often reported as child maltreatment or neglect.
2:33:11
But a lack of resources or access to affordable services should not be should not subject anyone to traumatic investigation and family separation.
2:33:19
All of the thousands of families we serve live in poverty which is often characterized as neglect by agents of the family policing system.
2:33:27
Not only are families living in poverty disproportionately reported for child maltreatment, but reports are more likely to be substantiated.
2:33:34
Any effort to eliminate harm to children and support families must include measures that address poverty head on.
2:33:41
New York State, New York City should pursue universal basic income, universal child allowance, and expansions to public benefits to effectively reduce child poverty and any risk of maltreatment.
2:33:47
Several recent studies have maltreatment.
2:33:52
Several recent studies have confirmed that increasing income and benefits to families leads to decrease in child maltreatment and abuse reports.
2:33:59
One study found that 5 a 5% increase, just 5% in the number of families receiving SNAP led to a reduction between 7 or 8 and 14% of family policing system cases.
2:34:10
Objection.
2:34:12
Another study found that spending an additional $1,000 of benefit programs per person living in poverty reduced family policing reporting by 4%, substantiations by 4%, and placements in the foster system by 2%, and fatalities by 7%.
2:34:27
And I'll leave I'll leave it there.
