Where to Find Data on Investigations in NYC

In New York City, 44% of Black children, 43% of Latino children and 19% of white children experienced an investigation in 2021. As ProPublica reported in 2022, an average of 150 children are investigated by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) across New York every day.

This brief runs through some key data indicators related to child welfare investigations, what they mean, and where to find them.  

This brief does not cover every data point available but focuses on those that offer a picture of family and community impact. Also, note that some data is by calendar year (CY) and other data is by fiscal year (FY), which runs Oct 1 – Sept 30.

 

Number of Investigations

Investigations begin with callers reporting abuse and neglect to the State Central Registry (SCR), run by the state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), which refers reports to ACS for investigation.

On ACS’ data page, it posts monthly Flash indicators. One monthly data point is the number of “SCR Intakes” – the total number of suspected abuse or maltreatment reports accepted by the SCR and referred to ACS. For example:

Each month’s Flash indicator includes a chart showing the current intakes against the last few years. FIGURE 1 is taken from the September 2023 Flash Indicator, which includes data from Calendar Year (CY) 2020 to August 2023. 

The Flash indicators also include “SCR Consolidated Investigations,” (FIGURE 2). Multiple reports to the SCR are consolidated into a single investigation if they concern the same incident or new allegations called in while the investigation is open. 

While it may seem that there are fewer investigations now than in 2020, this is not the whole picture. ACS now refers many SCR reports to an “assessment track” (also known as “differential response” or “alternate response”) that is  called CARES in NYC. CARES stands for “Collaborative Assessment, Response, Engagement and Support.” CARES cases expanded dramatically in 2022-23. 

The Flash indicators also include a chart titled, “Protective Diagnostic Stages,” which displays monthly data on the number of consolidated investigations and CARES cases over the past year. For example:

 

Types of Callers and Allegations

In the index in the last few pages of the Flash reports, ACS provides information on the types of callers and allegations. The majority of calls come from professionals that parents rely on to support their families, such as schools, doctors and hospitals, and social service agencies. 

ACS publishes the number of reports it receives from different reporter types:

These charts show reports per quarter, not per year, and this year’s quarter to the same time period the previous year. As you can see, the three most common reporter groups have remained consistent across this quarter in 2022 and 2023. These include Law Enforcement, Social Service, and Non-Mandated Others. For specifics on reporter types, see Terms & Definitions here.

 

Results of Investigations (Indicated or Not Indicated)

Investigations close with a finding that abuse or neglect is “indicated” or not. The percent of cases indicated fell dramatically in 2022, when a new law took effect on 01/01/2022, changing the legal standard from “some credible evidence” to “preponderance of evidence” required to indicate neglect. 

The percent of all cases indicated has also fallen because more cases are now tracked to CARES. CARES cases close without any finding – they are neither indicated nor unsubstantiated. In an investigation, a case has to be “indicated” if the worker thinks a fair preponderance of evidence shows that the allegation is true. For instance, were the child’s absences educational neglect? The CARES assessment doesn’t seek to determine whether an allegation is true or false. In CARES, even if the allegation is true, the case is not indicated. It is simply closed. The focus is supposed to be on assisting the family in addressing any challenges.

ACS provides information on the percent of all cases – investigations and CARES combined – that result in a substantiation, which shows this sharp reduction.

 

Repeat Investigations

In the Mayor’s Management Report, ACS provides annual updates on numerous priority items related to child welfare investigations, including information about repeat investigations.

Repeat investigations are a useful indicator that something has gone awry. Perhaps an error was made in closing an investigation without needed intervention, or continued reports are being made inappropriately.

 

In recent years, the percentage of children in an investigation who are reported and investigated again within a year has been about 25%. That means that 1 in 4 children who experience an investigation will experience another investigation within that year. 

The number of families who had a substantiated or ‘indicated’ investigation and then a repeat substantiated investigation went down from almost 18% in FY2018 to 13.6% in FY2023.

 

Who Is Investigated

Neighborhood

In 2022, ACS began providing data snapshots of each community district. The snapshots give a picture of ACS’ presence in a neighborhood.

Below is one example, Community District 1 (CD1), the Mott Haven Neighborhood in the Bronx in 2022: 

For investigations, these reports show the type of child protective contact (investigation or CARES cases), the type of reporters calling the hotline, and the types of allegations in investigations. They compare each neighborhood to the city and borough. The reports also show foster care, preventive services and juvenile justice involvement, and ACS child care vouchers.

If you compare the numbers of investigations or removals in one neighborhood to another, it doesn’t tell you very much, because the number of children in one neighborhood may be a lot different. However, you can compare rates of investigations, looking at the number of investigations for every 1,000 children in the neighborhood. 

If 24 children out of 1,000 have an indicated investigation each year in Mott Haven, for instance, it means that on a block with 100 children, 2 are experiencing an indicated investigation every year, or 1-2 families. You can see the number of investigations and indication rate in every community district (CD) from 2017-2022 to get a sense of changes over time.

However, these data don’t show overall investigation rates, which are much higher. For 2019 data on investigation rates by zip code – and investigation rates for 2019 broken out by race and ethnicity – you can read FPP’s analyses of hotline calls and racial disparity in 2019. You can also find information on investigations and other child welfare data for every zip code. 

 

Race/Ethnicity/Gender/Language of Families

In 2023, ACS reported the race/ethnicity, gender, and language of families at every step of the child welfare process—from reports to investigations to indications, and to preventive service referrals, court involvement and removal. 

This information is set up to show how each stage relates to the original number of reports, meaning that it answers questions like: 

• What percent of Black families investigated citywide have their case indicated? 
• What percent of families investigated end up having a child removed? 
• What percent of families with an indicated investigation have their child removed?

These charts also show how investigations play out in every neighborhood, so that comparisons can be made across neighborhoods.

 

Trends Over Time

Lastly, it’s possible to see changes in investigations and other child welfare impacts over time. The Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) keeps data from 1995-2022 in a series of spreadsheets that cover: CPS reports, indicated reports, foster entries, and other metrics. (This data is called MAPS – Monitoring and Analysis Profiles.) 

On the spreadsheets, data is aggregated in highlighted yellow at the bottom for NYC, Upstate, and New York State (NYS). These spreadsheets do not include calculated rates or proportions, only raw numbers. 

Some of the MAPS data is also published in reports or ‘profiles’ by OCFS. These reports are broken down by county, and include separate profiles of NYC, Upstate, and New York State. They include some information about changes over time, but only in the last 5 years.

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How Does NY State Define Neglect?

For a full definition, read the laws summarized here: 

• A maltreated child includes a child “defined as a neglected child by the family court act, or … who has had serious physical injury inflicted upon him or her by other than accidental means.” NYS Social Services Law § 412(2). New York State defines a neglected child as a child “whose physical, mental or emotional condition has been impaired or is in imminent danger of becoming impaired as a result of the failure of his parent or other person legally responsible for his care to exercise a minimum degree of care…” Family Court Act § 1012(f); NYS Social Services Law § 371(4-a)(i). “’Person legally responsible’ includes the child’s custodian, guardian, or any other person responsible for the child’s care at the relevant time.” Family Court Act § 1012(g).
• In reports to the SCR, the reporter must have “reasonable cause to suspect that a child coming before them in their professional or official capacity is an abused or maltreated child or when they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is an abused or maltreated child where the parent or other person legally responsible comes before them in their professional or official capacity and states from personal knowledge facts, conditions or circumstances which, if correct, would render the child an abused or maltreated child” (NYS SSL § 413(1)). 

Both ACS and OCFS have phone numbers that mandated reporters can call to find out about services and resources in the community to refer families to instead of calling in a report. 

• In NYC, it’s the ACS preventive technical assistance unit that receives the call: 212-676-7667
• OCFS has a line called HEARS that is described as a parent helpline, but parents should know that it is staffed by mandated reporters at OCFS

 

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