A Brooklyn grand jury slammed the Administration of Child Services for ignoring repeated recommendations to improve its practices – and letting children die – in a report released Friday at a pretrial hearing for two ACS workers charged with criminally-negligent homicide in the death of a tortured four-year-old girl.
"ACS and its Division of Child Protection will continue to underperform, and children will as a result continue to be injured and to die unnecessarily unless and until ACS sets aside its aversion to incorporating the proven, professional investigation standards and techniques recommended by DOI," states the report, which cites the 2006 murder of Nixzmary Brown and the 2010 murder of Marchella Pierce as glaring examples of ACS failures.
Caseworker Damon Adams, 39, is charged with failing to make all of the mandated biweekly visits to the home before the little girl's horrific death and then doctoring his reports afterward to make it appear as if he had while supervisor Chereece Bell, 37, is charged with failing to monitor his work.
The duo's lawyers and supporters hope the damning report will show the two were overloaded with work and performed their duties as best they could.
"I'm hopeful it shows there is no reason for these two to be here," said Anthony Wells, president of the union that represents Adams and Bell.
"We are all hopeful that the information in this report will somehow allow us to facilitate a resolution of this matter, maybe without a trial," said Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Patricia DiMango.
Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes convened the grand jury investigation in 2011 in order to investigate the ACS failures.
ACS criticized the Grand Jury report for examining a small number of the 60,000 cases ACS handles every year and for ignoring reforms ACS has made.
"Not only did the Grand Jury review limited cases between 2007 and 2010, it wholly disregards key steps ACS has taken over the past seven years, including the addition of more preventive services for children with special medical needs, hiring additional investigative consultants, and reducing our caseloads to among the lowest in the country," ACS said in a statement.
The toothless report also made recommendations like limiting the amount of overtime
ACS workers worked and mandating two workers to conduct initial home visits.
The case against Adams and Bell is historic in that it is the first time ACS workers were charged with the death of a child.
Pierce was starved, force-fed cold-medication pills, bound and beaten to death by her mother, Carlotta Brett-Pierce, in the family's Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment.
Carlotta was convicted of murder and sentenced to 32 years to life behind bars.
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