By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the merger of the Administration for Children Services and the Department of Juvenile Justice at his State of the City address in Queens on Wednesday afternoon.
The announcement comes four years after the brutal murder of seven-year-old Nixzmary Brown by her abusive family led to sweeping reforms at ACS, and follows major criticism of the juvenile detention system.
“By merging the two, and by employing risk-based strategies, we can make our city safer by providing services for those who should be detained and providing stronger supervision for those who may be at risk of being sent upstate,” the mayor said, standing in front of a backdrop made up of the faces of 120 New Yorkers he had personally met in the past year.
The proposal was one of several outlined in the speech at Queens’ Frank Sinatra High School that drew the approval of local officials.
“I strongly support the Mayor’s move to focus the juvenile justice system more on prevention and less on detention,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio in a statement.
“I also applaud his initiatives to help New Yorkers reduce personal debt and cut the red tape that stands between government and small businesses.”
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said that she was pleased that ACS and the Dept. of Juvenile Justice would be merged, saying “I think the goal is to do a better job serving youth.”
Quinn was also very excited about the small business initiatives the mayor announced in the address and said she had worked "hand and hand" with his office on those programs.
The speech, however, was not entirely without its critics.
"I didn't hear some of the bigger picture ideas I would have liked to hear, like on homelessness," de Blasio said in an interview after the speech. "It was a little bit optimistic."
But the public advocate said that by and large, he was pleased with the content of this year's State of the City.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer sent a tweet after the speech that read, "Many initiatives are on target, but there was no mention of charter reform."
