The Administration for Children’s Services known as “ACS” is a social service agency in the five boroughs of the City of New York that is primarily responsible for investigating allegations and reports of child mistreatment, child abuse and child neglect. In the rest of the Country child neglect and child abuse agency is called Child Protective Services and is known as “CPS”. They are charged with making decisions as to whether children should be removed from their home. They also deal with providing services for families related to child abuse and child neglect situations.
False Complaints to ACS
A significant portion of the complaints filed against individuals by ACS and CPS are false. However, they investigate the large majority of complaints even in cases where the allegations made by the individuals filing the complaint are untrue.
CPS or ACS Investigator Comes to Your Door
The first thing you should do when an investigator from ACS or CPS shows up at your door is to ask him or her what the allegations against you are. If they refuse to tell you what the allegations are, I suggest you do not cooperate with the investigation and do not invite them into your home.
Avoid ACS and CPS
It is in a family’s best interest to avoid any interaction with ACS and CPS. Even if your children are not removed from your home and placed into foster care, their reports against you may prevent you from getting certain types of employment where you would work with or around children. This can have a negative impact on your employment for as long as 28 years.
Investigations by ACS and CPS into your family’s situation can have a negative impact on your ability to act as decision maker and the power to control your children can be undermined. This is because they can go in to Court and obtain an Order of Protection against parents or guardians of children.
The law firm of Schlissel DeCorpo LLP has been helping families deal with ACS and CPS for more than 30 years. We can be reached at 718-350- 2802, 516-561-6645 or 631-319-8262 or by e-mail at INFO@SDNYLAW. COM.
