Caseworkers from the Administration for Children’s Services (which is usually called “ACS”) get involved with families when someone reports that there might be problems with the care the children are getting from their parents or guardians. The caseworker’s job is to investigate whether the report is true. If the caseworker thinks the report is true, it’s the caseworker’s job to offer the parents services to help them solve the problem.
Sometimes, when the caseworker thinks a family’s problems are very serious or that the children aren’t safe, or in cases where the parents don’t accept services, the caseworker will go to Family Court to file an abuse or neglect petition. The caseworker does this so a Family Court judge will have the power to make orders the caseworker thinks will help the family. If the caseworker thinks the children aren’t safe at home, her lawyer will ask the judge to order that the children be removed from their parents’ home and go stay with a foster parent or relative while the case is going on.
The judge assigns lawyers for the parents and guardians on each case, and for the children, too. The children’s lawyers are called law guardians.
No, being assigned a lawyer because there is a neglect or abuse case filed against your parents, or because you’re in foster care on a voluntary placement, or because someone is asking for custody of you, does not mean that you are in trouble.
The judge appoints a lawyer for a child – probably a lawyer from the Legal Aid Society or Lawyers for Children – to make sure that his rights are protected in the case in court. The lawyer’s job is to let the judge know what the child wants to have happen in the case and to try and make that happen, and to ask the judge to make orders for things that he wants or needs, such as more visits with his family, living with a different caretaker, or getting services that he needs. The law guardian can also deal with the child’s foster care agency on his behalf if the child is having difficulty with an agency caseworker or foster parent.
No – there are many cases where children stay home with their parents or guardians while their case is going on in court.
Sometimes an ACS caseworker files a case because she thinks there are problems with the way the parents are caring for the children, but doesn’t think the children are in danger if they stay at home. In a case like that, the caseworker’s lawyer would ask the judge to order that the children can stay home while the case is going on if there parents follow certain conditions, such as making sure to send the children to school every day, and letting the caseworker visit the home on a regular basis.
In some other cases, the ACS caseworker may believe that the children aren’t safe at home and the caseworker’s lawyer may convince the judge on the first day of the case that the children are at very serious risk of harm and need to be removed from their home. Even if the judge decides that, and orders that the children be removed, the parents’ lawyers and the child’s law guardian have a right to have a hearing in three days to present the judge with more information so she will change her mind and send the children home. Sometimes the judge does change her mind and send the children home. The neglect case still goes on, but the children are at home during it.
Another thing that sometimes happens is that a judge may decide that the children aren’t safe at home at the beginning of the case, but weeks or months later the parents may have been involved in services and gotten some help. Sometimes the parent’s lawyer or the law guardian may ask the judge to reconsider and send the children home based on the improvement in how things are going, and sometimes the judge may just decide on her own that things have changed enough for it to be safe for the children to go home on certain conditions (like the parents continuing to go to their programs). The Family Court case still goes on, but the children get to be at home while it does.
Foster parents are not allowed to hit foster children in their care. If your foster mother is hitting you, you should tell your law guardian or another adult you trust, like a teacher, a guidance counselor, or a school nurse about it.
If you and your sister were moved out of this foster parent’s home, it is almost certain that you would placed in a new foster home together. The law requires that brothers and sisters in foster care must be placed in the same home unless it would harm them to be together. In your case, if you and your sister were moved from your current foster home, ACS would have a duty to find another foster home where the two of you could be together, and your law guardian could ask the Family Court judge to order ACS to do that, and to report back to the court about you and your sister’s new foster home placement. If you did get separated when you were moved, ACS would have to get you back in a foster home together within 30 days.
If you haven’t already, you should let your caseworker know that you want to have visits with your brother, and you should keep on asking about them. In addition to that, however, you should call your law guardian and let her know that you haven’t been seeing your brother and that you want to. If you don’t have your law guardian’s phone number, and your foster parent doesn’t have it, you can usually reach her by calling one of these numbers:
Legal Aid Juvenile Rights Practice offices (call the JRP office in the borough where you lived when you first went into foster care):
Your law guardian will work on getting you more visits with your brother by working with the agency and with ACS’ Office of Family Visiting and, if that does not work, by asking the court to order your agency and your brother’s agency to arrange visits for you on a regular basis.
If you cannot reach your law guardian, you can also try calling ACS’ Family Visiting Unit yourself (212-487-8630) and telling the people there about the problem you’re having seeing your brother. That office was set up to work out problems families with children in foster care were having with visiting, and the staff there should be able to help you.
While it is true that a young person can choose to leave foster care once he is over 18 years old, it is very important that you discuss this decision with your law guardian before signing any papers or leaving care. If your main reason for wanting to sign yourself out of care is that you are unhappy in your current placement, your law guardian may be able to assist you in getting moved to a placement that you like better.
Even if you are positive about wanting to leave foster care, your law guardian can advise you about the steps you need to take to ensure that you get all the benefits you are entitled to, such as a discharge grant, and housing subsidies and preferences, and avoid problems such as a break in your Medicaid coverage. She, or a representative from her office, such as a social worker, can also attend your discharge conference at the agency with you.
I am going to be 18 next month, and my caseworker’s been pressuring me to sign myself out of care because I dropped out of school and haven’t gotten into a GED program yet. I do want to get a GED, but I don’t know where to sign up, and I’m scared top leave care without a place to live. What should I do?
You do not have to leave care because you are not in a GED program yet, and you should not sign any papers or take any other steps toward leaving care. It is very important that you call your law guardian to let her know that you are being pressured so that she can take action in court if your caseworker keeps doing it.
Although your caseworker has a duty to help you locate and enroll in a GED program, your law guardian will also be able to help you find a GED program.
As the foster parent of a child in care, you have a right to receive notice of permanency proceedings regarding the child as well as the Permanency Hearing Report that is prepared for the hearing, and to appear at the hearing. The plan regarding your foster child will be discussed at each permanency hearing regarding his case, and these hearings occur every six months. If you have concerns about the appropriateness of the permanency plan for your foster child, you can tell the judge.
It can be very useful to speak with your foster child’s law guardian before court to discuss your concerns about the plan for the child. If you don’t have the law guardian’s contact information, you can call the Legal Aid Society Juvenile Rights Practice office in the borough where your foster child’s court case is:
You should remember that the law guardian is your foster child’s lawyer, not yours, and that he may not be in agreement with you as to the appropriate plan. However, if the law guardian is in agreement with you, he can be very helpful in bringing your concerns to the court’s attention, since he speaks for the child.