ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDRENâS SERVICES | Page 187
WHAT WE DO
The Administration for Childrenâs
Services (ACS) is responsible for
protecting the safety and promoting
the well-being of New York Cityâs
children and strengthening their
families by providing child welfare,
juvenile justice, child care and early
education services. In child welfare,
ACS contracts with nonprofit
organizations to support and
stabilize families at risk of a crisis
through prevention services and with
foster care agencies for children not
able to remain safely at home. Each
year, the agencyâs Division of Child
Protection conducts over 45,000
investigations of suspected child
abuse or neglect. In youth and family
justice, ACS manages and funds
services including detention and
Close to Home placement, intensive
community-based alternatives for
youth, and support services for
families. In the Division of Child
and Family Well-Being, created in
September 2017, ACS issues child
care vouchers for more than 64,000
children eligible for subsidized child
care, and promotes a two-generation
approach to child and family
wellbeing, family stability, and equity
through public education campaigns
and a place-based approach
including Family Enrichment Centers
and the Community Partnership
Program.
FOCUS ON EQUITY
ACS seeks to establish child welfare and juvenile justice systems in which a child or
familyâs race, gender, or sexual orientation does not predict how they fare. Within
New York City and nationally, Black and Latinx families are overrepresented at
key points along child welfare and juvenile justice pathways. To address the racial
disproportionality within these systems, ACS has implemented programs such as
Family Assessment Response, which diverts families from the traditional child welfare
investigation and instead connects them directly with resources that will help them
thrive. In 2020, ACS restructured its prevention and family support system through
new contracts that improve availability of and access to the most appropriate
services; reduce reliance wherever possible on intrusive court-ordered interventions
and prevent the need for foster care placements among families of color whenever
children can remain safely at home. In addition to community focused initiatives, ACS
is building the capacity of Childrenâs Services staff at all levels to respond effectively
to structural racism and individual bias and promote culturally competent policy and
practice. ACS also routinely produces reports on major system indicators by race and
ethnicity to track disparities in child welfare and juvenile justice.
OUR SERVICES AND GOALS
SERVICE 1 Protect children from child abuse.
Goal 1a Respond quickly to every allegation of abuse and neglect and
perform thorough assessments of safety and risk.
Goal 1b Reduce the risk of child maltreatment occurring in at-risk families
through the provision of high-quality prevention services.
Goal 1c Provide safe and stable foster care placements for children who
cannot remain safely at home.
Goal 1d Encourage and support family-based foster care.
Goal 1e Reduce time to reunification, kinship guardianship and/or adoption
and maintain strong family connections for children.
SERVICE 2 Ensure access to quality early child care and education
services in all communities.
Goal 2a Ensure access to quality early child care services in communities of
need and achieve maximum capacity enrollment at all participating
centers.
SERVICE 3 Provide custody and care of youth in secure and safe
detention and placement facilities while providing
casework services.
Goal 3a Assure that detention facilities are safe and secure.
Goal 3b Provide youth in detention and placement with appropriate health
and mental health services.
Goal 3c Provide services to prevent youth from returning to the juvenile
justice system.
Page 188 | MAYORâS MANAGEMENT REPORT
HOW WE PERFORMED IN FISCAL 2020
SERVICE 1 Protect children from child abuse.
Goal 1a Respond quickly to every allegation of abuse and neglect and perform thorough assessments of safety
and risk.
The number of investigations conducted in response to reports of suspected child abuse and/or neglect continued the
downward trend that began in Fiscal 2018. During the last quarter of Fiscal 2020, this decline accelerated as a result of
the COVID-19 pandemic largely due to reductions in reports from schools and other mandated reporters such as social
service, mental health and health care service providers. The number of investigations in Fiscal 2020 declined 17 percent
compared to Fiscal 2019 from 56,284 to 46,467. The percentage of investigations where child protective caseworkers
found some credible evidence of abuse or neglect fell 1.3 percentage points from 37.7 to 36.4 percent. The percentage of
children in investigations that found some credible evidence of abuse or neglect with repeat investigations that also found
some credible evidence within a year declined from 17.9 to 17.2 percent. While this continues improvement from the
prior year, the rate remains above the Fiscal 2020 target of 16 percent. To address this, ACS has implemented additional
quality assurance oversight to strengthen investigative practice on high-risk cases and support provision of appropriate
interventions and services for families and children.
The average child protective caseload declined to 7.5 cases per caseworker in Fiscal 2020 from 10.5 in Fiscal 2019. This
reduction can be attributed to the decline in new reports during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as
ongoing hiring in advance of attrition throughout the year to reduce vacancies. In addition, ACS has improved retention
of child protective caseworkers by implementing new technological resources, increasing training, promoting a coaching
culture in supervision, and supporting the timely and appropriate closing of cases.
Performance Indicators
Actual Target Trend
FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
Desired
Direction
« Number of State Central Register consolidated investigations 55,337 59,329 59,166 56,284 46,467 * * Down *
« Abuse and/or neglect reports responded to within 24 hours of
receipt from the State Central Register (%) 98.6% 98.2% 97.5% 97.8% 98.5% 100.0% 100.0% Neutral Up
Investigations that found credible evidence of abuse or neglect
(%) 36.1% 40.0% 38.0% 37.7% 36.4% * * Neutral *
Children in complete investigations with repeat investigations
within a year (%) 23.8% 23.9% 25.5% 25.3% 25.2% * * Neutral Down
« Children in investigations that found credible evidence of
abuse or neglect with repeat investigations that also found credible evidence within a year (%)(preliminary) 17.1% 18.5% 18.5% 17.9% 17.2% 14.0% 14.0% Neutral Down
« Average child protective specialist caseload 10.6 12.4 12.5 10.5 7.5 12.0 12.0 Down Down
« Critical Indicator âNAâ Not Available ñĂČ Directional Target * None
Goal 1b Reduce the risk of child maltreatment occurring in at-risk families through the provision of high-quality
prevention services.
The number of children and families receiving child welfare prevention services declined in Fiscal 2020, largely as a result
of the extensive restructuring of the citywide prevention service system during January through June 2020, as well as the
decline in reports leading to investigations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of families entering child welfare
prevention services fell 23 percent from 9,965 in Fiscal 2019 to 7,699 in Fiscal 2020. The daily average number of children
receiving child welfare prevention services decreased ten percent from 25,296 to 22,860 and the number of children who
received services during the year fell nine percent 45,468 to 41,176. Additionally, there was a 24 percent decline in the
number of families entering specialized teen child welfare prevention services from 1,099 to 838.
Through the re-procurement of the entire child welfare prevention services system, ACS is broadly expanding the availability
of therapeutic and treatment programs, including those that specialize in serving families with teens, so that they are
available in all communities. New prevention services contracts began on July 1, 2020, at the start of Fiscal 2021. To prepare
the system for the transition, ACS steadily reduced the capacity of its prevention system during the latter months of Fiscal
These reductions were implemented carefully and in phases to ensure continuous high-quality support for children
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDRENâS SERVICES | Page 189
and families in need of and receiving services ACS and its contract agencies focused intensively on providing services for
the highest-need families during the last months of Fiscal 2020, the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Performance Indicators
Actual Target Trend
FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
Desired
Direction
« Families entering child welfare prevention services 10,540 9,240 9,608 9,965 7,699 10,000 10,000 Down Up
Families entering child welfare specialized teen prevention
services 1,463 1,136 1,175 1,099 838 * * Down Up
Children receiving child welfare prevention services (daily average) 23,986 23,870 24,481 25,296 22,860 * * Neutral Up
Children who received child welfare prevention services during
the year (annual total) 46,207 43,157 43,874 45,468 41,176 * * Neutral Up
« Critical Indicator âNAâ Not Available ñĂČ Directional Target * None
Goal 1c Provide safe and stable foster care placements for children who cannot remain safely at home.
The number of children entering foster care continued to decline in Fiscal 2020. Foster care placements fell by 19 percent
from 3,798 in Fiscal 2019 to 3,094 in Fiscal 2020. Similarly, the average number of children in foster care declined six percent
from 8,341 to 7,827. In addition, the number of days all children spent in foster care declined four percent. ACS has achieved
these reductions through continued investment in prevention services,
which successfully keeps children safely out of foster care and through
continuing implementation of focused strategies outlined in the ACS
Foster Care Strategic Blueprint to improve permanency outcomes for
children and youth in foster care.
The percent of children placed in foster homes in their communities
increased from 28.7 percent in Fiscal 2019 to 29.7 percent in Fiscal
ACS works with foster care providers to make foster care
placements in the same communities where the children entering care
live. Additionally, through ACSâ Home Away from Home initiative, foster
care providers increased the number of new foster homes certified by
50 percent, increasing the availability of homes throughout New York
City.
ACS prioritizes foster care placements with kin. The proportion of all
children in foster care who are living in kinship care increased from
38 percent in Fiscal 2019 to 40 percent in Fiscal 2020. The number of
children moved from one foster care placement to another per 100 care
days declined 18 percent from 1.7 in Fiscal 2019 to 1.4 in Fiscal 2020.
Childrenâs safety is ACSâ top priority. ACS works aggressively to prevent and reduce maltreatment in care through focused
efforts such as the Home Away from Home foster parent recruitment and support initiative. The number of children for
whom a child protective investigation found some credible evidence that maltreatment by foster parents may have occurred
decreased from 9.7 incidents per 100,000 care days in Fiscal 2019 to 7.3 in Fiscal 2020.
0
4000
8000
12000
16000
20000
FY 16 FY 17 FY 18 FY 19 FY 20
Children in Foster Care
8,341 8,921 8,732
9,906
847 823 821 764
3,230 2,761 2,883 3,177
4,400
7,827
711
3,115
4,001 5,027 5,337 5,829
Non-relative Foster
Boarding Homes
Residential Care Kinship Homes
Page 190 | MAYORâS MANAGEMENT REPORT
Performance Indicators
Actual Target Trend
FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
Desired
Direction
All children entering foster care (preliminary) 3,657 4,088 4,196 3,798 3,094 * * Down *
« Children placed in foster care in their community 36.3% 36.6% 36.2% 28.7% 29.7% 36.0% 36.0% Down Up
« Children in foster care (average) 9,906 8,921 8,732 8,341 7,827 ĂČ ĂČ Down Down
â Children in foster kinship homes (average) 3,230 2,761 2,883 3,177 3,115 * * Neutral *
â Children in nonrelative foster boarding homes (average) 5,829 5,337 5,027 4,400 4,001 * * Down Down
â Children in residential care (average) 847 823 821 764 711 * * Down Down
« Children who re-enter foster care within a year of
discharge to family (%)(preliminary) 7.8% 6.2% 9.1% 9.8% 8.0% 6.0% 6.0% Up Down
School Attendance Rate - Children in Foster Care (%) 82.5% 82.2% 81.4% 81.9% 82.4% * * Neutral Up
Total days all children spent in foster care 4,379,682 4,062,642 3,923,854 3,686,234 3,543,160 * * Down Down
« Number of moves in foster care per 1,000 care days 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.4 1.4 1.4 Neutral Down
« Children maltreated during family foster care placement per 100,000 care days 5.2 6.7 7.5 9.7 7.3 5.0 5.0 Up Down
« Critical Indicator âNAâ Not Available ñĂČ Directional Target * None
Goal 1d Encourage and support family-based foster care.
The proportion of siblings who enter care at the same time and are placed together in the same foster home declined
modestly from 93.8 percent in Fiscal 2019 to 93.4 percent in Fiscal 2020. The proportion of children entering foster care
who ACS immediately placed with kin remains well above historical levels, at 40.7 percent, as a result of strong efforts
by the ACS Division of Child Protection to identify kin when children must enter foster care. ACS continues to have more
than 90 percent of foster children and youth in family-based rather than congregate placements. The average number of
children in congregate, residential care dropped by 6.9 percent from 764 in Fiscal 2019 to 711 in Fiscal 2020 and comprises
only nine percent of the children in care.
Performance Indicators
Actual Target Trend
FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
Desired
Direction
Siblings placed simultaneously in the same foster home (%)
(preliminary) 91.4% 93.0% 94.1% 93.8% 93.4% * * Neutral Up
« Children entering foster care who are placed with relatives (%)
(preliminary) 27.4% 30.1% 34.1% 40.8% 40.7% 44.0% 44.0% Up Up
« Critical Indicator âNAâ Not Available ñĂČ Directional Target * None
Goal 1e Reduce time to reunification, kinship guardianship and/or adoption and maintain strong family
connections for children.
ACS continues to work aggressively to improve permanency outcomes
for children in care through our Foster Care Strategic Blueprint.
Overall, discharges from foster care declined during Fiscal Year 2020,
reflecting factors including the falling number of children in care and
the reduced capacity of the Family Court to hear anything other than
emergency applications from March through June of Fiscal 2020
during the COVID-19 emergency. During this period, Family Court
did not hold hearings on most permanency matters. In response,
ACS collaborated with all parties involved in permanency decisions
to reach mutual agreements on decisions to reunify children with
their families, when appropriate; these agreements facilitated court
approvals and achieved permanency for many children absent a
court hearing. In Fiscal 2020, the percent of children who reunified
within a year of entering foster care declined from 32.5 percent to
29.6 percent. The percent of children in care 12-23 months at the
beginning of the fiscal year who were discharged to permanency
FY 16 FY 17 FY 18 FY 19 FY 20
32.0% 31.8% 32.5%
29.9% 29.6%
Children discharged to permanency
within a year of placement (%)
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDRENâS SERVICES | Page 191
decreased from 24.7 percent to 20.4. Among children who had been in care for 24 or more months at the beginning
of the fiscal year, the percentage discharged to permanency fell from 25.3 to 18.6 percent.
The same factors caused a decrease in all the permanency numbers including the number of children reunified with their
families, which dropped by 21 percent. The number of children exiting foster care to KinGAP decreased by 30 percent
from 379 children during Fiscal 2019 to 264 children during Fiscal 2020. There was an 18 percent drop in the number
of children eligible for adoption and a 46 percent decrease in the number of adoptions from 748 in Fiscal 2019 to 404
in Fiscal 2020.
The percent of children who achieved permanency through reunification or KinGAP but who later re-entered foster
care improved from 9.8 percent in Fiscal Year 2019 to 8.0 percent in Fiscal Year 2020 reflecting the results of several
investments of resources to support safe reunification and trial discharges.
Performance Indicators
Actual Target Trend
FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
Desired
Direction
« Children discharged to permanency within a year of placement (%) 32.0% 31.8% 29.9% 32.5% 29.6% 35.0% 35.0% Neutral Up
« Children in care 12-23 months discharged to permanency (%) 24.4% 24.9% 24.4% 24.7% 20.4% 27.0% 27.0% Down Up
« Children in care 24 or more months discharged to permanency
(%) 24.9% 24.8% 25.8% 25.3% 18.6% 27.0% 27.0% Down Up
Children adopted 1,061 899 900 748 404 * * Down *
Children eligible for adoption (average) 1,479 1,277 1,096 973 800 * * Down *
Kinship Guardianship Assistance discharges 343 384 305 379 264 * * Down Up
Children returned to parents (reunifications) 2,676 2,289 2,563 2,309 1,828 * * Down *
« Critical Indicator âNAâ Not Available ñĂČ Directional Target * None
SERVICE 2 Ensure access to quality early child care and education services in all communities.
Goal 2a Ensure access to quality early child care services in communities of need and achieve maximum capacity
enrollment at all participating centers.
Child care voucher enrollment declined two percent from 65,607 in Fiscal 2019 to 64,324 in Fiscal 2020. Voucher enrollment
for center-based care rose five percent to 31,045, but vouchers for family-based child care went down two percent to 26,065
and vouchers for informal (home-based) child care fell 23 percent to 7,215. Mandated voucher enrollment declined 14
percent to 39,039. Vouchers for other eligible children increased 26 percent to 25,286. The decline in mandated enrollment
was driven by a decrease in the cash assistance population since Fiscal 2018. The increase in other eligible children voucher
enrollment resulted from an increase in Special Child Care Fund and receipt of an Expansion Grant from the New York State
Office of Children and Family Services.
The number of reports of suspected abuse and/or neglect for children in child care programs declined 38 percent from
709 in Fiscal 2019 to 442 in Fiscal 2020. Child Care investigations include alleged abuse or maltreatment of children
perpetrated by someone who cares for children in a setting that is not the childâs familial home and that requires state or
local government approval and is subject to state laws, regulations and oversight. This includes, but is not limited to, NYC
Early Care and Education programs. During this period, the percent of investigations for children in child care that found
some credible evidence of abuse or neglect rose 3.1 percentage points to 19.5 percent.
Page 192 | MAYORâS MANAGEMENT REPORT
Performance Indicators
Actual Target Trend
FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
Desired
Direction
Average child care voucher enrollment 67,527 66,968 66,682 65,607 64,324 * * Neutral *
« Average mandated children voucher enrollment 54,761 53,723 50,937 45,569 39,039 * * Down *
« Average other eligible children voucher enrollment 12,659 13,245 15,745 20,038 25,286 * * Up *
« Average center-based child care voucher enrollment 27,132 27,864 28,932 29,576 31,045 * * Up *
« Average family child care voucher enrollment 24,119 24,786 25,916 26,607 26,065 * * Neutral *
« Average informal (home-based) child care voucher enrollment 15,976 14,318 11,834 9,424 7,215 * * Down *
Fiscal year spending per child - Center-based child care vouchers $9,280 $9,149 $8,646 $8,726 $8,997 * * Neutral *
Fiscal year spending per child - Family child care vouchers $7,659 $8,322 $7,740 $7,823 $7,860 * * Neutral *
Fiscal year spending per child - Legally exempt (informal child
Capital commitments ($000,000) $10.2 $10.0 $111.7 $33.4 $27.5 $63.1 $105.2 Up
Human services contract budget ($000,000) $1,710.3 $1,742.9 $1,729.6 $1,832.7 $1,413.8 $1,397.6 $1,356.3 Down
1
Actual financial amounts for the current fiscal year are not yet final. Final fiscal year actuals, from the Comptroller's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, will be reported in
the next PMMR. Refer to the âIndicator Definitionsâ at nyc.gov/mmr for details. 2
Authorized Budget Level 3Expenditures include all funds 4
FY2020 actual value
for Overtime paid is as provided by ACS. âNAâ - Not Available * None
ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDRENâS SERVICES | Page 195
SPENDING AND BUDGET INFORMATION
Where possible, the relationship between an agencyâs goals and its expenditures and planned resources, by budgetary unit
of appropriation (UA), is shown in the âApplicable MMR Goalsâ column. Each relationship is not necessarily exhaustive or
exclusive. Any one goal may be connected to multiple UAs, and any UA may be connected to multiple goals.