By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — A foster care provider responsible for 1,400 of the city’s foster kids is suing the Administration of Children’s Services for ending its contract, court papers filed Monday said.
The lawsuit filed by Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York said the termination of its contract was the result of a “deeply flawed procurement process” and claimed that the city would be hurting the children in its care if it went ahead with plans to end the contract.
“The 1,400 foster children whom Little Flower currently serves, and who are some of New York City's most emotionally fragile children, will have to be transferred out of the institutionally predictable, stable and loving care of Little Flower,” the agency said in the complaint, adding that the move would likely extend the time the children were in foster care and cause them "grievous harm."
But Little Flower has troubles of its own, reportedly getting an extremely low rating for the quality of its service from ACS in 2005. And in 2009, Little Flower received unwanted notoriety when two of its foster children died in a car driven by the drug-addled daughter of one of their foster parents. In January, the parent of 15-year-old Catherine Willis, one of the deceased foster children, threatened to sue Little Flower over the incident.
Since ending its contract with Little Flower, ACS has issued a request for proposals from new foster care agencies.
Little Flower asked the court to stop ACS from issuing any contracts to new providers, and demanded that the city stop removing children from their care, the complaint said.
A lawyer for the city issued a statement that said the city was reviewing the “lengthy legal papers.”
“While ACS appreciates the services provided by Little Flower over the years, ACS followed the City’s procurement process, which is fair and objective,” the lawyer said. "ACS will continue working with its community partners to provide its children with appropriate care and services.”
