WHAT IS ACS?

The New York City Administration for Children's Services,(ACS) is a city agency that is tasked with investigating and preventing child abuse and neglect in New York City. They have administrative offices in each borough and their main office is located in lower Manhattan. They are lead by a Commissioner who sets policies and runs the agency from day to day. The Mayor of New York appoints the Commissioner.

Front line ACS workers are the ones that dircetly deal with parents and familes and make home visits.ACS workes tend to be very poorly trained, not well-versed in the law and are often rude and dismissive to the families they are supposed to be helping. The biggest power that ACS has is the ability to bring a case to court to ask a judge to remove children from a homes based on neglect. ACS also subcontracts out work to agencies who do social work and foster care. These agencies are usually very poorly run and are accountable to no one. The most important thing when dealing with ACS is NOT to speak to them without counsel present.