Child Welfare Agency Routinely Violates Families’ Rights, Suit Charges

A sweeping class-action lawsuit filed against New York City on Tuesday argues that the agency that investigates child abuse and neglect routinely engages in unconstitutional practices that traumatize the families it is charged with protecting.

The lawsuit says that investigators for the Administration for Children’s Services deceive and bully their way into people’s homes, where they rifle through families’ most private spaces, strip-search children and humiliate parents.

The agency’s “coercive tactics” include threatening to take children away or call the police, telling parents they have no choice but to let them in and making public scenes in hallways, according to the suit, filed in federal court in Brooklyn.

Marisa Kaufman, a spokeswoman for the agency, said in a statement on Monday that A.C.S. would review the lawsuit. “A.C.S. is committed to keeping children safe and respecting parents’ rights,” she said.

She added, “We will continue to advance our efforts to achieve safety, equity, and justice by enhancing parents’ awareness of their rights, connecting families to critical services, providing families with alternatives to child protection investigations, and working with key systems to reduce the number of families experiencing an unnecessary child protective investigation.”