You are here: / / THE NYC ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES (ACS) DID NOT MEET...

THE NYC ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES (ACS) DID NOT MEET ITS BURDEN TO PROVE IT MADE DILIGENT EFFORTS TO HELP REUNITE FATHER WITH HIS CHILD IN THIS PARENTAL-RIGHTS-TERMINATION PROCEEDING (CT APP). ​

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Rivera, reversing Family Court, determined the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) did not demonstrate “that it undertook ‘diligent efforts to encourage and strengthen the parental relationship’ or that such efforts would have been ‘detrimental to the best interests of the child’…” in this termination of parental rights proceeding:

The record below demonstrates that the child services agency failed to present evidence of diligent efforts to help reunite father and his child before it petitioned to terminate father’s parental rights. First, the agency failed to adequately accommodate and account for father’s linguistic needs. Father does not speak or understand English, but the agency never provided interpretive services during family visits, which were the most significant interactions between father, the child, the agency caseworker, and the child’s foster parents. The agency also failed to provide interpretation services at the child’s medical appointments or even give father advance notice of when those appointments were scheduled, precluding him from taking part in that critical aspect of his child’s care. Second, despite the child services agency’s belief that father’s lack of insight into mother’s mental health needs and their impact on parenting the child was the weightiest barrier to reunification, it failed to refer father to individual counseling or a support group so he could gain that insight. Finally, although the child services agency identified father’s living arrangements and onerous work schedule as further obstacles to reunification, it took few steps to help him secure appropriate housing or employment, which could have made it easier for father to visit his child.

In short, in this proceeding, rather than foster reunification, almost all of the child services agency’s actions—and its failures to take action—ensured that the parent-child bond disintegrated. Thus, the child services agency failed to meet its burden as a matter of law … . Matter of K.Y.Z. (W.Z.), 2025 NY Slip Op 05781, CtApp 10-21-25

Practice Point: Here Children’s Services did not provide an interpreter for father for meetings with the caseworker and foster parents, did not give father advance notice of the child’s medical appointments, made no effort to help father find less burdensome employment or better housing, and did not provide counseling to help him gain insight into mother’s mental illness. “Diligent efforts” to reunite father and child were not made by the agency.

 

You might also like
Anonymous Tip Alone, In the Absence of “Predictive Information,” Sufficient to Provide “Reasonable Suspicion” Justifying a Vehicle Stop
In the Absence of Prejudice, a Notice of Lien May Be Amended to Correct a Misdescription of the True Property Owner
PLAINTIFF BROUGHT AN EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION ACTION IN FEDERAL COURT; DEFENDANTS WERE AWARDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THE FEDERAL ACTION; BECAUSE THE FEDERAL COURT DID NOT EXERCISE SUPPLEMENTAL JURISDICTION OVER PLAINTIFF’S NYS AND NYC HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CAUSES OF ACTION, PLAINTIFF PURSUED THEM IN STATE COURT; HOWEVER ALL THE STATE ISSUES HAD BEEN ADDRESSED IN THE FEDERAL ACTION; COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL PRECLUDED THE STATE ACTION (CT APP).
Defendant’s Having Unprotected Sex with Partner After Defendant’s HIV-Positive Diagnosis Did Not Constitute “Depraved Indifference”
THE SOLE REMEDY PROVISION OF THE CONTRACT IN THIS RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE BACKED SECURITIES CASE, WHICH REQUIRED THAT THE DEFENDANT BE NOTIFIED AND GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO REPURCHASE DEFECTIVE MORTGAGES, WAS NOT COMPLIED WITH PRIOR TO THE RUNNING OF THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, PLAINTIFF’S TIMELY COMPLAINT WAS PROPERLY DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE, DESPITE THE FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE SOLE REMEDY PROVISION, ALLOWING PLAINTIFF TO REFILE THE COMPLAINT WITHIN SIX MONTHS PURSUANT TO CPLR 205 (CT APP).
THERE IS NO ACTUAL INNOCENCE GROUND FOR VACATION OF A GUILTY PLEA UNDER CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW 440.10 (h) (CT APP).
(1) SENTENCING COURT’S RELIANCE ON A CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENT IN A PRE-SENTENCE REPORT, AND FAILURE TO INFORM THE DEFENDANT OF THE NATURE OF THE DOCUMENT, VIOLATED DUE PROCESS, (2) SENTENCING COURTS ARE NOT REQUIRED TO PUT THE REASONS FOR DENIAL OF YOUTHFUL OFFENDER STATUS ON THE RECORD.
Lab Conducting Blood Tests for Drugs Owed Duty of Care to Plaintiff Whose Blood Was Tested

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE MOTHER’S MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IMPAIRED THE CHILDREN;... MOTHER IS PRECLUDED FROM RECOVERING PURELY EMOTIONAL DAMAGES FOR PRENATAL TORTS...