HARLEM — At least 10 children under the watch of the Administration for Children's Services died during a three month period last summer, according to the initial findings of an audit by Comptroller Scott Stringer.
The 10 were among 38 deaths that ACS investigated between July 1 and Sept. 25, just one day before the fatal beating of 6-year-old Harlem boy Zymere Perkins, which prompted Stringer to review if ACS was complying with the findings of a June 2016 audit.
That audit found that ACS conducted “shoddy, inconsistent, and incomplete investigations" of child abuse allegations.
"Unfortunately, the review revealed that disturbingly little progress had been made towards improving ACS' oversight of child abuse and neglect investigations," Stringer wrote in a Dec. 21 letter to now outgoing ACS Commissioner Gladys Carrión who announced her retirement earlier this month.
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The review found that out of 3,700 high priority cases — those involving the death of a child or at least four prior complaints of abuse — ACS managers failed to review 73 percent of the cases five times, as required. Almost a third of the cases, 32 percent, did not receive the proper number of supervisor reviews.
Fifty-three of the cases were closed without ACS investigators ever meeting the child who was allegedly being abused. In 22 percent of the cases, ACS workers did not meet with the child within 24 hours of the abuse allegation, as required.
In 68 percent, or 2,516, of the cases, a risk assessment was not completed within 40 days. And in 26 percent of the cases, ACS investigators failed to meet with the child the required number of times.
The review found a "persistent lack of progress" from ACS "in meeting its own targets," said Stringer.
“Behind these percentages are vulnerable children who desperately need help," said Stringer. "Regulations are in place to save lives, but ACS is failing because it’s not following its own protocols."
ACS and city officials strongly disagreed with Stringer's findings.
They said there were 33 cases involving a child's death, not 38, which were investigated during the three month period in question. ACS had no prior contact with 15 of the cases.
ACS officials said six of the deaths were related to unsafe sleeping conditions and three were related to illness. One death was accidental and the other occurred in a fire. In one case, it's questionable whether a death occurred and the cause of death is still pending in two cases.
Of the 10 deaths Stringer highlights, City Hall and ACS officials said four occurred between 2008 and 2013 before the current administration took office, two were related to a fire and another two were the result of unsafe sleeping situations. One of the deaths was counted twice.
“It’s no surprise that ACS data was cherry-picked to support a simplified and largely inaccurate conclusion," said Aja Worthy-Davis, a spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The mayor's Press Secretary Eric Phillips also lashed out at Stringer.
"Whether it’s blaming our administration for tragedies under the prior administration, double counting tragedies, or blaming the agency for fatalities entirely unrelated to its care of the children involved, the report does more to intentionally mislead the public than it does to help protect children," said Phillips.
Stringer spokesman Tyrone Stevens said the findings, though preliminary, are still deeply "alarming" enough that ACS needed to be alerted. The city has been "shockingly silent" about the failure of ACS officials to follow their own protocols in examining the most at-risk cases.
“The response from City Hall is disappointing—especially since this is ACS’s own data provided by the agency to our office," said Stevens. "Their focus should be on embracing these preliminary findings and coming up with a management plan to tackle these critical issues."
A report from ACS found that the agency failed to protect Zymere, who had five previous interactions with ACS due to abuse allegations, three of which were substantiated.
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In spite of the repeated evidence of abuse, ACS closed Zymere's case in May, months before his mother's boyfriend allegedly beat him to death with a broomstick and his fists.
An autopsy found that Zymere suffered months of abuse. But during the abuse investigations, Zymere told ACS that his mother's boyfriend placed him naked under a cold shower as punishment.
Zymere said his mother slapped him in the face and yelled at him. He said he was also forced to do pushups and was beaten with a belt as punishment.
ACS also failed to investigate inconsistent explanations of Zymere's injuries or follow up with doctors. Even when the boy had been absent from school 24 times and was in danger of being held back, ACS did not add that to its investigation.
De Blasio has said that the city failed Zymere and failed to exercise even basic common sense in handling the case.
Another high-profile child death was that of Jaden Jordan. The 3-year-old died earlier this month at Coney Island Hospital, six days after he was found with a fractured skull and lying in feces in the home he shared with his mom and her boyfriend.
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ACS officials received a call on Nov. 26 about a boy being held in a dog cage, but the caller gave the address of the apartment next door. ACS workers rang the wrong doorbell and left after finding no leads. By the time someone alerted investigators of the proper address, it was too late.
"We need to see real, long-term change at this agency," said Stringer.
ACS officials said the agency is making strides in reforms. There have been improvements in training and the agency plans to hire another 350 child protective specialists in the next six months, bringing the total number of new positions hired to 600 during the 2017 fiscal year.
"Our focus remains on aggressive reform meant to protect every child that we interact with," said Worthy-Davis.
