ACS Pledges Sweeping Changes After Workers Indicted in Girl's Death

Caseworkers will be equipped with checklists for assessing the conditions of disabled children like Marchella Brett-Pierce.

The city's child welfare agency announced Thursday that it is making changes to improve how it handles families with complex medical issues after the death of a 4-year-old girl with severe breathing problems who was under its care.

The changes by the Administration for Children's Services include strengthening how the agency hires, monitors and fires outside companies that are contracted to help families handle problems and prevent abuse.

Part of the reason Marchella Brett-Pierce slipped through the cracks was a communication lapse between the ACS and the provider giving drug counseling to the girl's mother, Carlotta Brett-Pierce, the agency said. The girl, who had been born prematurely and with lung problems, had a breathing tube installed. No one at the drug counseling agency made special notice of Marchella's medical problems and whether her mother was capable of handling them.

Despite Brett-Pierce's poor performance in drug counseling, the contracted agency recommended closing the case, and the ACS did not investigate further in the months before the girl was found beaten, starved and drugged.

The agency changes were outlined in a report issued Thursday by a panel consisting of child welfare experts, ACS Commissioner John Mattingly and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. The panel was formed in the wake of Marchella's Sept. 2 death.

Also Thursday, the City Council announced that it has guaranteed $13.6 million in funding for services aimed at preventing abuse and neglect. The news comes a week after Marchella's caseworkers were charged with criminally negligent homicide in her death. Her mother previously was charged with murder; her grandmother was charged with manslaughter. All have pleaded not guilty.

"This report is, I think, a fair representation from experts outside of ACS of what we think needed to be done in order to make this kind of situation less likely to happen in the future," Mattingly said.

One ACS caseworker and his supervisor, both of whom resigned, did not record whether any visits were made to Marchella's home. The two say they made the visits but just didn't enter them into the system because they were overwhelmed with work.

As a result, the agency will also strengthen oversight of supervisors and offer further training to managers. Fresh guidance on note-taking and documentation requirements also was issued to workers.

De Blasio said the changes build on reforms already in place after the 2006 death of Nixzmary Brown, a 7-year-old who was beaten and starved by her family under the noses of her teachers and ACS workers. Her mother and stepfather are serving long sentences in her death. The reforms included creating a computer tracking system and bolstering the corps of investigators who look into cases of child abuse and neglect.

But investigators' jobs got increasingly difficult as other services were cut in the economic downturn, which is why it was so important to cement city funding. Of the funding announced Thursday, $11 million will go toward preventative services for 2,900 families and $2.6 million toward homemaking services, like cleaning and baby-sitting.

Preventative services are used to help families avoid abuse and neglect claims, with the aim of keeping their children out of foster care. They can vary from an overnight stay in a shelter to a three-year program. A family must apply and be accepted, and space is limited.

City Council member Annabel Palma, who leads the General Welfare Committee, said the stabilization of the budget will make it easier for nonprofits that provide such services to do their jobs.

Marchella was born 17 weeks early; her twin sister died in the womb. Marchella spent much of her life in hospitals, yet she was sent home without any special medical care.

She was hospitalized with a breathing tube problem seven months before she died. Brett-Pierce took her daughter home before she could be given further training by doctors. The next time the Marchella was hospitalized, she was already dead.

Down the road, the Administration for Children's Services plans to hire specialists trained to deal with children with medical problems who can advise workers dealing with such cases.

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