New Report Reveals the Targeting of Black and Brown Women in NYC’s Child Welfare Investigations, Continuing Cycles of Poverty 

New York, NY – A new report from Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) exposes how NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services’ (ACS) investigations disproportionately target Black and Hispanic women, many of whom are low-income care workers, and create lasting barriers to employment that deepen cycles of poverty. Based on new FOIL data, LSNYC’s report finds that ACS overwhelmingly investigates families in high-poverty communities and investigates survivors of domestic violence at alarming rates. 

“This report makes clear what we see every day: over-policing families creates real and lasting barriers to economic stability, especially for women of color and survivors of domestic violence,” said  Washcarina Martinez Alonzo, a senior staff attorney at Legal Services NYC. “When an ACS investigation results in an indicated report, it can prevent someone from finding work for years—especially in care jobs, where many survivors turn to rebuild their lives. If we stop over-policing poverty and start focusing on actual indicators abuse, we can create a system that truly protects children instead of trapping families in a cycle of poverty and violence.” 

The report, The Far-Reaching Impact of ACS’s Discriminatory Investigations on Women of Color and Survivors of Gender-Based Violence, reveals that not only are Black and Hispanic women disproportionately impacted by ACS investigations—often stemming from poverty-related allegations—but they are more likely to face barriers to employment as a result. These investigations don’t just over-police families; they push already vulnerable women of color further into economic instability. 

Key findings include: 

• Despite Black and Hispanic individuals making up only 48% of NYC’s population, they account for 81% of ACS investigations and 83% of indicated reports. 

• ACS disproportionately investigates communities with high poverty rates, with areas like Brownsville and East Harlem experiencing ACS investigation rates more than twice the city average. 

• 28% of ACS investigations were flagged for domestic violence, demonstrating the over-policing of survivors who seek help. 

• Indicated reports create employment barriers, preventing many women from securing or maintaining jobs in critical care sectors, deepening economic hardship. 

These investigations have far-reaching economic consequences. Individuals who are “indicated” in ACS reports—many for poverty-related reasons—can be barred from entire sectors of work, particularly in care jobs like home health aides, childcare, and social services. These are positions that not only provide critical income for families but are also overwhelmingly filled by Black and Hispanic women. Even when not legally disqualified, many employers use indicated reports as a reason to deny employment. This effectively traps women of color in poverty, stripping them of the means to provide for their families and, for survivors of domestic violence, undermining their ability to escape abuse and rebuild stable, independent lives. 

“For an agency that’s supposed to protect children to instead be causing such enormous harm to low-income women of color and their kids is disturbingly cruel,” said State Senator Jabari Brisport, chair of the Committee on Children And Families and sponsor of a bill that would end anonymous reporting of child neglect and abuse. “It’s time to change ACS.”  

“The threat of catching an ACS case prevents parents from asking for necessary supports, as most of the people they would ask are mandated to report them,” said Joyce McMillan, parent advocate and Executive Director of JMacforFamilies. “Catching a case is terrifying it means risking the family being separated and/or being placed on a registry which is a sentence to poverty as it blocks people from employment, resembling a felony conviction.” 

“Survivors of domestic violence have been through some of the worst experiences of their lives, and yet, ACS disproportionately investigates them, causing further economic harm that makes economic stability, and their ability to leave, even harder,” said Lenina Trinidad, a senior staff attorney at Legal Services NYC. “We must do more to protect survivors and stop penalizing them simply for being victims of abuse.” 

The report highlights measures advocates are taking to increase transparency and accountability in child welfare investigations, including legislative reforms to end anonymous reporting of alleged child maltreatment and to require child protective services workers to inform parents of their rights at the onset of an investigation.