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Copyright 1996 The New York Times Company
March 20, 1996
N.Y. Panel Urges Tougher Child Abuse Laws
By JOE SEXTON
NEW YORK -- Gov. George Pataki's Commission on Child Abuse called
for changes in the state's child welfare system Tuesday, including
easing the removal of children from abusive households and making
endangering the welfare of a child a felony.
The commission, headed by Attorney General Dennis Vacco, recommended
laws that would give child welfare officials and judges greater power
to act "in the best interests of the child."
The commission concluded that current laws and regulations placed
too great an emphasis on preserving families.
The commission called for doing away with the requirement that child
welfare authorities strive to return children to households in which
the children have been repeatedly abused or neglected.
The commission's recommendation would make it easier for the courts
to terminate the rights of parents in such households and permanently
place a child in foster or adoptive homes.
"In the past, from our perspective, family preservation has resulted
in children being placed in continued harm's way," Vacco said.
The panel's 16-page report also called for toughening the state penal
code, raising many instances of endangering the welfare of a child
to a Class D felony, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years
in prison. Endangering the welfare of a child is now a misdemeanor,
penalized by up to a year in jail.
If the change is adopted, prosecutors would be able to seek longer
prison sentences against parents who abuse or neglect their children.
Vacco said he could envision prosecuting parents whose children failed
to attend school for long periods of time.
"I wouldn't mind making that argument to a jury," said Vacco.
Prosecutors across the state, who often find it difficult to prosecute
abusive parents for assault, have complained that defining all instances
of endangering the welfare of a child as misdemeanors only further
handicapped them in punishing extremely abusive parents.
"Things as they are now are totally inadequate," said Manhattan District
Attorney Robert Morgenthau, whose office has proposed legislation
that lists instances when child abuse could be prosecuted as a felony.
The commission's recommendation on giving greater emphasis to "the
best interests of the child" reopens what has become a cyclical national
debate over how best to deal with seriously troubled families.
But many experts have argued that family preservation and the best
interests of the child are deeply entwined, and that current law
does not allow for a judge or caseworker to keep a child in a household
known to be a real threat. They say the problem is with the inability
of child welfare agencies to make accurate and timely assessments
of households.
"Shifting the focus, in legislation, to the best interests of the
child could have real and positive consequences," said Karen S. Burstein,
a former Family Court judge in Brooklyn.
Copyright 1996 The New York Times Company
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