Advocates For Children Call on Governor Andrew Cuomo

NEWBURGH – Across New York State, a growing number of children are at risk of abuse and neglect, compounded by the recent rise in heroin abuse, while the very people responsible for their protection – county Child Protective Services (CPS) workers – are often overwhelmed with high caseloads that put our most vulnerable children at risk of falling through the cracks.
That’s why a bipartisan group of state and county lawmakers, children’s advocates and union leaders came together recently in Newburgh at a news conference to call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign the Child Protective Services Safety Act, which the Assembly and Senate approved in June.

The legislation (A.10506/Lupardo/S.2691/Golden) would limit child protective services caseloads to 15 active cases per month, which would give workers more time to devote to cases for the children most at risk. While the legislation allots two years for full implementation, it’s is a significant step toward helping vulnerable children and families, the workers providing the services and the communities as a whole.

Organizing the Newburgh event was the Civil Service Employees Association, the union representing roughly 1,500 CPS workers statewide. CSEA President Danny Donohue, who urged the legislation’s passage this spring, said the state has a moral obligation to protect at-risk children. Donohue said challenges for CPS workers continue to grow, due in large part to the sluggish economy and the impact that the heroin epidemic has had on families.

“Many of the decisions child protective services must make every day can literally mean life or death for the children in their care,” said Donohue. “These workers see horrific cases of abuse every day; the stress over agonizing about the choices they must make is unimaginable. Signing this legislation into law won’t just help alleviate caseloads for workers who are already stretched too thin, but will save lives.”

“Child protective services workers, no matter which county you visit, share the same worries about the children in their care when they go to sleep each night,” said CSEA Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo, who represents CSEA members across seven counties in the Hudson Valley. “Putting a limit on caseloads will allow workers the chance to spend more time and be more proactive with our most vulnerable children, allowing for better outcomes.”

Area Assembly members Frank Skartados, James Skoufis and Ellen Jaffee, all of whom served as co-sponsors of the bill, said the legislation was based on a 2006 study by the state Office of Children and Family Services that found smaller caseloads were directly related to better outcomes for children.

Skartados said, “Children who fall under the review of social services should always be in good hands, but sadly this is not always the case. While nobody takes their job more seriously than caseworkers, there are limits to their effectiveness when there are too many cases to handle. I urge the Governor to sign this legislation that will bring fairness to the system and safety to the children, by establishing reasonable workload standards.”

Skoufis said, “This critical bill must become law to ensure that no child falls through the cracks and has to endure another day in danger due to burdensome caseloads.”

Jaffee said, “We call on the Governor to sign the Child Protective Services Safety Act, which passed both the Assembly and the Senate with strong bi-partisan support. It’s been 10 years since a 2006 report by the state Office of Children and Family Services found that smaller caseloads directly benefit children under supervision.  Child protective services workers, who must respond to caseloads that can run up to 70 active cases a month, are too often limited in their ability to address growing concerns about child abuse. This critical legislation would limit the caseloads of CSEA-represented child protective services workers to 15 per month. We owe it to these child protective services workers, and to our most vulnerable children under their supervision, to ensure this essential legislation is signed into law.”

Also taking part in the Newburgh event were state Sen. William Larkin and state Sen. Sue Serino, both of whom voted in favor of the legislation in the Senate, as well as Orange County Legislators Mike Anagnostakis and Phil Canterino. County Executive Steve Neuhaus, while unable to attend the Newburgh event, pledged his support for the legislation.

CSEA has launched a statewide campaign aimed at raising awareness of the impact of the overwhelming caseloads on children, and urging the Governor to sign the legislation into law.

CSEA, the Civil Service Employees Association, is New York’s leading union, representing employees of New York State and its counties, towns, villages, school districts, library systems, authorities and public corporations. Together with a growing population of private sector members, daycare workers and 50,000 retirees, CSEA forms a union 300,000 strong. It is also the largest affiliate (and Local 1000) of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which, in turn, is one of the largest affiliates of the AFL-CIO.