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NONRESPONDENT MOTHER REPORTED DOMESTIC ABUSE BY HER HUSBAND; AT THE FIRST COURT APPEARANCE, MOTHER AND HER CHILDREN WERE PLACED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES (ACS); IN THE FACE OF NO EVIDENCE MOTHER’S HOME AND CHILDREN WERE NOT WELL-CARED-FOR, FOR 18 MONTHS, SHE AND HER CHILDREN WERE SUBJECTED TO FREQUENT HOME VISITS, SEARCHES, COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE CHILDREN’S SCHOOL, AND VISITS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT; FAMILY COURT ACT SECTION 1054 DOES NOT AFFORD ACS SUCH BROAD POWERS OF SUPERVISION (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Rosado, determined the order which placed nonrespondent mother (Sasha C) under the supervision of the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) was “unlawful and represented a broad overreach beyond the scope of power permitted by Family Court Act section 1054 and in contravention of its purpose.” Nonrespondent mother reported domestic abuse by her husband. From that point on the court placed her under ACS supervision which, for 18 months, entailed frequent home visits and searches, frequent communication with her children’s school, visits by law enforcement, and frequent court appearances, all in the face of no evidence the home and children were not well-cared for. The detailed description of the ACS’s intrusion into mother’s life is harrowing and well-worth reading:

Family Court erred when it placed the mother and her entire household under sweeping, overbroad, and unchecked “ACS supervision and household monitoring” in its May 31, 2024 order of fact-finding and disposition. The error was compounded by the issuance of the February 28, 2025 order extending the supervision despite the lack of good cause shown or a sound basis in the record. Such conditions of supervision run afoul of the power and purpose of Family Court Act § 1054. While the statute provides that a court may direct a nonrespondent parent to undertake certain actions with respect to the child released into their care to ensure their accessibility for services, appointments, visitation and the like, it is clear, based on the unambiguous language in the statute, that the court may not place a parent who has not been accused of any wrongdoing under ACS supervision at the postdispositional stage of the proceeding (id.; cf. Family Court Act § 1057). Even were we to accept ACS’s argument that the mother acquiesced to its request for supervision at the May 30, 2024 disposition, her agreement is irrelevant. It bears noting that the supervision proposed by ACS on that date to conduct “video visits with the children,” was a departure from the supervision that was exercised by ACS postdisposition.

To the extent that ACS argues that Family Court’s temporary extension of supervision over the mother’s household was reasonable given, among other things, the mother’s history of “failing to report the father’s neglect by domestic violence,” we once again find that ACS’s policy of pursuing supervision in such cases “reinforces the coercive control underpinning abusive relationships, turns survivors into suspects, and requires the nonrespondent parent to answer for the respondent parent’s abusive behaviors” and that adhering to such a policy would permit ACS to continue surveillance of the mother simply because the child’s father committed acts of domestic violence against her … . We reject this policy based on its faulty and unlawful premises … . Matter of L.M. (H.M.), 2026 NY Slip Op 05061, First Dept 8-20-26

Practice Point: This is an important opinion which places limits on the power of an agency, pursuant to Family Court Act section 1054, to subject a nonrespondent parent to supervision. Here nonrespondent mother reported domestic abuse by her husband. In the absence of any evidence her home and children were not well-cared-for, she was unlawfully subjected to home visits and searches, unwarranted communications with the children’s school, even visits by law enforcement, for a period of 18 months.

 

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