NYC Family Policy Project (FPP)
NYC Family Policy Project’s mission is to explore and build evidence – through original research, data and policy analysis – for the policy visions of parents and young people impacted by the child welfare system in New York City.
While child welfare frameworks treat individual parents as the problem targeted for improvement, FPP recognizes that targeting community conditions and investing in community health can better serve the majority of families as well as improve the overall health of our city. FPP collaborates with impacted parents and youth, researchers, advocates, allies and disruptors working on the ground in impacted communities to develop research-driven transformative policy solutions for NYC families.
Recent Work
Featured
5-Year Trends: NYC Child Welfare 2019-2024
May 6, 2025
In 2020, the onset of the COVID pandemic upended the child welfare system in New York City. The number of families investigated and children placed... Read More
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Anonymous Reporters
March 25, 2025
This spring, the New York State Legislature will again consider a bill that would end anonymous reporting of child neglect and abuse, replacing it with... Read More
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The Protective Power of Cash
December 11, 2024
Research is clear that families turn to cash assistance in times of deep hardship and emergency. Today, the number of people needing to rely on... Read More
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How Guaranteed Income Can Be Used to Invest in Families and Protect Against Child Welfare Involvement, Explained.
August 7, 2024
By Mahima Golani When Mayor Michael Tubbs broke ground by announcing the nation’s first city-led guaranteed income pilot in Stockton, Calif. in 2017, shifting cash... Read More
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Motherhood in the Shadow of Child Protective Services: Dr. Kelley Fong, author of Investigating Families
February 19, 2024
‘By relying on CPS to respond to issues of poverty and adversity, we’re creating a heightened sense of insecurity for families that’s counterproductive to everything... Read More
Featured
Racial Disparities
July 5, 2023
Racial disparities in New York City’s child welfare system have been well-documented. Citywide, almost 45% of Black and Latino children experience an investigation of their... Read More
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Research Summary: The Role of Economic Setbacks and Hardships in Child Welfare Involvement
September 15, 2022
New research has found that family economic setbacks and lack of access to basic economic needs predict child welfare involvement—and that economic policies that soften financial... Read More
Data on NYC Child Welfare Impacts
We are sharing new data from the city’s child welfare agency, ACS, to help neighborhood leaders, community groups, families and elected officials address conditions that stress families and build community networks, resources and infrastructure to support families.
See the Data