Taking Children from Their Parents Without a Court Order
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against New York's Administration for Children’s Services (A.C.S.) regarding its emergency child removal practices. The lawsuit claims that A.C.S. often bypasses necessary judicial oversight, leading to the removal of children without proper legal justification. It also alleges that these removals disproportionately affect Black and Latino children, raising concerns about racial discrimination in the child welfare system.
- ▪The lawsuit accuses A.C.S. of violating children's rights under the Fourth Amendment.
- ▪Around 90% of children removed on an emergency basis are Black or Latino.
- ▪A.C.S. has taken approximately 1,400 children each year on an emergency basis, many without allegations of abuse.
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Our Local CorrespondentsTaking Children from Their Parents Without a Court OrderA class-action lawsuit is challenging the emergency-removal practices of New York’s Administration for Children’s Services.By Larissa MacFarquharMay 28, 2026Photo illustration by Najeebah Al-Ghadban; Source photograph by GettySave this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyWhen child-welfare officials in New York City talk publicly about taking children from their parents, they often point out how drastically the system has changed since the dark days of the nineteen-nineties. Back then, there were nearly forty-five thousand children in foster care; now there are fewer than sixty-five hundred.
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