MAYOR GIULIANI AND ACS COMMISSIONER SCOPPETTA ANNOUNCE RECORD BREAKING NUMBER OF ADOPTIONS
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Administration for Children's Services (ACS) Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today announced that the City will finalize more than 4,000 adoptions for children in the care of ACS by the close of FY '97. The record breaking number of adoptions represents a 78% increase over the baseline in FY '94, the year ACS began its effort to speed adoptions.
"Caring for our children is the best investment we can make in New York City's future," said Mayor Giuliani. "And I commend Commissioner Scoppetta for his tremendous role in turning around the adoption process to expedite all the requirements to provide more children with homes and a loving families that will pave the way for their happy and successful lives. By the end of next week, ACS will have completed 4,130 adoptions -- compared to only 2,312 in FY 1994. This unprecedented 78 percent increase in the number of adoptions is evidence of our commitment to fulfill New York City children's needs, hopes and dreams."
Commissioner Scoppetta said, "There are 4,130 more children in New York City who now have permanent families for life -- to give them the love and support that all children are entitled to. The combined efforts of the Administration for Children Services (ACS), the State Department of Social Services (SDSS), and the New York City Family Court have resulted in a record breaking number of adoptions. This is an excellent example of how participants in the child welfare system can work together to create a better life for our kids."
In March, 1997, Commissioner Scoppetta identified over 1,700 adoption petitions filed in Family Court, which were bottlenecked in the system. Working in cooperation with the Chief Administrative Judge of Family Court, Michael Gage, along with State Department of Social Services (SDSS), foster care agency personnel, adoption attorneys and caseworkers, ACS will finish the fiscal year, which ends on June 30th, with 4,130 adoptions -- beating last year's total of 3,666 by 464.
The ACS plan released last December entitled "Protecting the Children of New York: A Plan of Action for the Administration for Children's Services," emphasized the importance of permanency and expediting adoptions. As a result, Mayor Giuliani and ACS initiated several adoption reforms to ensure permanency for more children in the care of ACS.
These reforms include:
- The creation of the ACS Adoption Expediting Unit to develop methods to speed adoptions;
- New performance measures for foster care agencies that require adoption goals;
- Acquiring authority for ACS to conduct its own child abuse investigations on potential adoptive parents; and
- New procedures which permit concurrent planning for certain cases so that the adoption process may begin as soon as a child comes into the care of ACS, when appropiate.
On Sunday, June 29th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Mayor Giuliani will host the 20th Annual Adoption Fair in City Hall Park. The Fair provides an opportunity for prospective parents to learn more about the hundreds of children who are waiting for adoptive families through the City of New York. Adoption representatives will provide information and show photographs and biographies of children currently available for adoption in New York City.
The Mayor is also scheduled to address the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's Families for Kids National Summit in Washington D.C. on Thursday, June 26, concerning policy perspectives on adoption.
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