PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Fernando Canteli de Castro, Member of the Public
2:09:11
ยท
147 sec
Fernando Canteli de Castro shares his experience as a foster parent, highlighting systemic failures in the NYC foster care system. He describes challenges faced while caring for two foster children, including agency mismanagement, failure to protect children's safety, and lack of support for foster parents.
- Detailed an incident where their foster daughter was forced to interact with an aggressor during a supervised visit, contrary to a restraining order
- Criticized ACS, SCO Family of Services for various failures including not approving vouchers, not providing insurance cards, and not ensuring children's school attendance
- Expressed frustration with the lack of response to reports of mismanagement and homophobia, being told to "just give the kids back" if they were unhappy
Fernando Canteli de Castro
2:09:11
Good afternoon.
2:09:12
My name is Fernando Cantelida Castro, and my story highlights how fails to support foster children and families.
2:09:18
For almost three years, my husband and I put all of our energy into caring for two small children, but we want to tell their story protecting their privacy because privacy cannot be used as an excuse to cover up a systemic failure that continues unchecked.
2:09:31
We were fully committed to kids returning to their parents.
2:09:34
See this picture.
2:09:36
It's us with our mother and our foster daughter's graduation fifteen months after the kids came into care and they were pleased with us.
2:09:43
On that days, we were hopeful for reunification but just four hours after this picture was taken, the kids came home terrorized.
2:09:50
Our foster daughter told us that during a supervised visit at the foster care agency, she was forced to talk to the aggressor, the person who had a restraining order from her.
2:09:58
She had nightmares and we told the case worker but she strongly denied it ever happened and told us to not report it to the kid's lawyer.
2:10:06
She even said our foster daughter was lying.
2:10:08
Weeks after this picture, was proven that the scolds had happened.
2:10:12
On January 17, after kids had been in care for thirty three months, we spoke with Anhauser and Denise and he suggested that the problem for, in our case, was ineffective communication and co parenting and that the focus should be instead be on listening to birth parents' voices and understanding that they believe in the best interest of the children.
2:10:34
By that, does he mean watching us, the kids get re victimized over and over again without saying anything about it?
2:10:41
And let me be clear about who is failing in our case.
2:10:44
It is a SCO, Family of Services, ACS.
2:10:47
They would not approve the kids' vouchers.
2:10:49
They did not follow restraining orders.
2:10:51
They did not provide insurance cards for the kids for five months and they did not have a medical team for a year.
2:10:56
And now they're not making sure the kids go to school every day.
2:11:00
On multiple occasions, we try to report mismanagement, homophobia to this office that the commissioner mentioned advocacy, but their response was always the same.
2:11:07
If we didn't like it, just give the kids back and change the agency.
2:11:11
We committed to we're committed to this beautiful, smart, creative, beautiful children and ACS commissioner Dan Houser can try to humiliate us with more and more investigations but our commitment goes far beyond his tenure.
2:11:25
I'm about to finish.
2:11:26
Many people usually tell us, oh my god, these kids are so lucky to have you because you are fighting for them.
2:11:31
No.
2:11:32
I'm very lucky to have taken care of them, but no child safety in this city should depend on luck.
2:11:37
Thank you.