A so-called Parental Rights package of legislation is scheduled to be voted on by the City Council on Thursday, seeking to “empower families in the [child welfare] system… to know their rights.” But two key bills will be conspicuously absent from the vote. Both would require city Administration for Children’s Services workers to advise parents […]
Family Court
Posted inJuvenile Justice
A Brooklyn Teen Refused to Waive his Miranda Rights. But the NYPD’s Questioning Didn’t Stop There, Video Shows
That’s all too common a practice, says a statewide coalition of juvenile justice advocates launching a “Right2RemainSilent” campaign for a law change.
Posted inJuvenile Justice
Stuck on Mute: Kids in Juvenile Lockups Can’t Be Seen or Heard by Teachers During Remote Learning
The closure of city public school buildings Thursday also marked the end of in-person classes for another population of New York City youngsters: kids being held in juvenile lockups. But for the 141 minors jailed citywide, remote learning means a system where they cannot be seen or heard by their teachers during school hours. They […]
Posted inJuvenile Justice
‘Raise the Age’ Observers Find Progress and Pain in Courts Following Juvenile Justice Reforms
Last summer, 34 young New Yorkers fanned out across the city’s courtrooms to observe a combined 600 hours of youth court appearances. The aim: to evaluate the effects of the state’s historic Raise the Age legislation, which stopped the automatic prosecution of 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, in New York City. The report by the […]
Posted inJuvenile Justice
Court Can’t Order Teen DNA Scrubbed From NYPD Records, Judge Rules
A Brooklyn judge has ruled that family courts don’t have the power to intervene with the NYPD’s stealthy collection of DNA evidence from minors in its custody — a practice that police officials staunchly defend. It comes as the state Legislature considers a bill that would ban collecting and storing DNA from youth charged in family […]
Posted inGovernment
Parents Seeking Return of Children First Must Forge Connections on Screens
Need to know more about coronavirus in New York? Sign up for THE CITY’s daily morning newsletter. For parents with children in foster care, seeing their kids is both closer and further away than before the coronavirus upended families in New York and beyond. Closer, because child welfare agencies say they’re redoubling efforts to reunify […]
Posted inHousing
Courts Offer Chance to Delay Eviction and Other Cases Over Illness
Additional reporting by Reuven Blau Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. UPDATE: On Sunday, Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks announced that New York “will be postponing all non-essential functions of the court system until further notice,” with only pending […]
Posted inStaten Island
Staten Island Family Court Struggles With Disability Act Compliance
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. For those seeking justice in Staten Island’s cramped Family Court, the decade closed as it began: with unfulfilled promises of a new home that would be accessible to all. The nearly century-old, two-story courthouse […]
Posted inJustice
Family Courts Become Hubs of Happiness for Adoption Month
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. Amid a crush of families awaiting adoption ceremonies at Brooklyn Family Court earlier this month, one little boy told everyone within earshot he was about to get married. The following week in Bronx Family […]
Posted inJuvenile Justice
Legal System Off to Slow Start on ‘Raise The Age’ Night-Court Fix
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. A legislative fix intended to spare 16- and 17-year-olds charged with a felony from adult court and send them straight to family court on nights and weekends is having a rough beginning. Not one […]