Posts Tagged: Handling An Investigation

How Early Legal Representation Can Protect Families

April 16, 2020 by

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NYC parents at risk of child protective involvement or facing an investigation can now access legal representation through family defense organizations in their communities. In October, NYC’s City Council also introduced a bill t would ensure that all parents being investigated by ACS have information about how to access a lawyer and the opportunity to do so, although it hasn’t yet passed. Here, Emma Ketteringham, managing director of The Bronx Defenders’ Family Defense Project, explains the importance of early legal representation and systemic reform to reduce child welfare involvement. The Bronx Defenders has been providing early legal representation to parents facing ACS investigations for 15 years.

Advice from a Parent Advocate: Communicating With Your Caseworker

August 14, 2016 by

Interview with Toni Miner, Family Support Partner

When the child welfare system first came into Toni Miner’s life, she felt shamed and blamed and not supported. For many years, Miner hid her problems—and that led child welfare to come back into her life.

Today, as a family support partner in Jefferson County, Colorado, and a member of the Birth Parent National Network, Miner believes it’s still too hard for parents to be open about their struggles, but … Read More

‘It’s OK to Need Support’ – I found the help I needed to fight for my dreams.

August 20, 2015 by

Q: How can therapy help families reconnect?

A: When I started to come to the Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, a preventive services agency, my main objective was to get help talking to my son’s father.

Since I was a child I had dreamed about meeting a good man who wanted to share my dreams to marry and form my own family. Unfortunately, I met the father of my child and a little while later … Read More

What to Expect from Your Lawyer

August 20, 2015 by

When I first met my lawyer, she was just straightforward. She told me, “Stay with your rehab program, don’t use any drugs, don’t miss court or your visits,” and that was it. But as she saw that I was working to get my daughter home, she began to fight for me. She asked that I be granted weekend visits and told the judge, “I trust my client.”

The day the judge announced that my daughter could … Read More

A Knock on the Door – My family needed support, not separation.

August 20, 2015 by

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About 7 p.m. there was a knock on the door. I was afraid I already knew who it was and that my family was in trouble.

The problems started when my son was 10 years old and his grandfather died. His grandfather was more like a father to him than his own father. Many times when my son would visit their house, his father wouldn’t be there, but his grandfather was, and they’d sit and talk … Read More

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