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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Piyali Basak, Managing Director of Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
6:36:32
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Piyali Basak, Managing Director of Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, testified about their organization's work in providing legal representation to parents in family policing cases. She highlighted the disproportionate impact of the system on Black and brown families and the harm it causes to children.
- The organization has represented over 50,000 parents and 100,000 children since 2007
- Basak emphasized the need to address systemic barriers that drive families into the system, such as lack of access to healthcare and mental health treatment
- She expressed concern about the federal administration's targeting of immigrant communities and its impact on their defense resources
Piyali Basak
6:36:32
Okay great.
6:36:34
Thank you Chair Stevens and the members of the committee for this opportunity to testify with my colleagues here from amongst offenders, BDS and CFR.
6:36:42
And I know youth representatives here as well.
6:36:44
My name is Piali Basak.
6:36:46
I'm the managing director for the Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem.
6:36:49
Our offices are the primary providers of mandated legal representation to eligible parents in Article 10 proceedings, or what we call family policing cases filed in Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, and Queens.
6:37:03
Since 02/2007 when we first received the first contracts, we have represented more than 50,000 parents in family court, close to 11 1,100 Over 100,000 children, the vast majority of whom are black and brown and live in the most marginalized low income communities.
6:37:22
I say family policing because we have followed the leadership of directly impacted parents who replaced the term child welfare system.
6:37:30
I know you support us because our work goes beyond litigating in the courtroom.
6:37:34
Through our interdisciplinary model we work closely together to address the underlying systemic barriers that drive families into this system such as lack of access to healthcare, mental health treatment, and appropriate educational services for children with disabilities.
6:37:50
And we are also addressing the collateral consequences from criminal charges to housing to educational issues and inability to adjust immigration status.
6:37:59
You've read the research, listened to our testimony, you know that black and brown children are separated from their parents by ACS and placed in the foster care system at rates hugely disproportionate to their presence in the total population of New York City.
6:38:14
Ultimately the system harms children, even noted by the US Commission of Human Rights, a harm that can last through life.
6:38:20
We're especially concerned by this federal administration's targeting of immigrant communities which is additionally placing strain on our early defense resources in the way that the immigration in the way that non citizen parents are targeted.
6:38:36
And so we thank the council for your support, and my colleagues will elaborate what our ask is.
6:38:42
Thank you.
Althea V. Stevens
6:38:43
Thank you.