KIPS BAY — The remaining teens 14 years old and up are expected to be moved out of the Children's Center on First Avenue and into a new proposed facility on Staten Island, officials said.
The Administration for Children's Services will hold a public hearing regarding a plan to move the teens out of the center and into a facility in Grymes Hill, Staten Island, which would be run by HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services, according to a copy of the proposal.
The agency began moving older teens out of the temporary shelter at 492 First Ave. — a 55-bed intake facility for children who are taken away from their homes due to abuse, neglect or because their parents were arrested — shortly after DNAinfo New York published a story exposing that children went missing from the center nearly 1,600 times within a 13-month period from 2013 to 2014, amid complaints from parents and children of crowded conditions, bullying and theft.
DNAinfo also later revealed that the center, a converted office building, did not have the necessary permit to operate as a shelter for children.
Once the last of the teens are moved out, the Kips Bay facility, also known as the Nicholas Scopetta Children’s Center and previously the only center of its kind in the five boroughs, will exclusively serve children ages 14 and younger, according to ACS spokesman Chris McKniff.
Up until recently, the facility served as an emergency intake center for children from birth to 21 years old.
“While the Children's Center will continue to serve those under the age of 14, we are developing older youth reception centers with services specifically tailored to teens and their developmental needs,” McKniff said.
“HeartShare St. Vincent's Services, who has been recommended to operate this site is one of our most experienced foster care providers," Mckniff continued. "As we move through the procurement process and finalize a site location, we look forward to a productive partnership with that community."
►Kids went missing 1,600 times from one city-run children's facility
►Troubled youth center operated without a permit
In 2014, ACS began moving the first of the older teens out of the center and into a 12-bed facility in Long Island, run by MercyFirst, and in June the agency contracted the same organization to run another 12-bed shelter in Park Slope.
If St. Vincent’s gets final approval, the nonprofit's contract with ACS is expected to start on April 1, according to the proposal's draft of contract, which will be subject to a public hearing next week.
The contract will need to be approved by the city Law Department, the mayor's office of contract services, the deputy mayor and then the comptrollers office in order to move forward.
The proposed site in Staten Island is currently unoccupied, but St. Vincent’s had previously used the building as a group home for adolescent juvenile delinquent girls, according to the group’s proposal for the facility.
Representatives of St. Vincent’s did not return requests for comment regarding its plans.
The Children's Center at 492 First Ave. operated as an emergency shelter, where children were only meant to stay for a few days before they're moved to foster homes or group homes. But older teens ended up staying for sometimes months at a time because it was harder to find foster homes for them, ACS officials previously told DNAinfo.
Staff at the new Staten Island facility will work closely with children upon their arrival to screen for maltreatment, develop treatment and support, and to find longer-term placement, according to St. Vincent's proposal for the contract.
The staff is expected to include eight youth counselors, a recreation liaison, a program supervisor, and a residential manager, all of whom will be trained in de-escalation tactics and will deter kids from running away as they had done at the Kips Bay center, the proposal said.
Parents, children, and lawyers who spoke with DNAInfo last year painted a disturbing picture of the Kips Bay intake center, including lights that were kept on for 24 hours making it hard for children to fall asleep, and indifferent staff who encouraged kids to leave if they weren't happy with the conditions.
The children who left, were then immediately reported to police, and often a warrant was put out for their arrest, a protocol that critics said criminalizes kids who've already been through trauma.
Since 2014, ACS has amended its policy to wait 24 hours before reporting a child missing to the NYPD.
