Social work nonprofits praise new ACS prevention services strategic plan

Providers welcomed a new three-year strategic plan announced by the Administration for Children’s Services to better connect families’ experiences in the prevention services it provides to the support of social work nonprofits that contract with the agency. 

A variety of social work, welfare and community-based organizations provide these services across the city. New York Nonprofit Media reached out to several for their reactions to the new strategic plan.

“ACS’s new Family Services Division plan is a powerful step toward strengthening the support system families deserve,” said SCO Family of Services President and CEO Suzette Gordon. “By putting families’ voices front and center and equipping providers with the tools to be trusted partners, ACS is showing a real commitment to helping children and parents thrive together. We know that when families have access to holistic, community-based support, they can reach their fullest potential.”

Others expressed similar sentiments. “We applaud ACS’s three-year plan for centering family voices and strengthening prevention,” Good Shepherd Services Chief Executive Officer Michelle Yanche said. “We know that when families are supported early and treated with dignity, children thrive.” 

ACS  released the new three-year strategic plan last week to center families’ experiences in the prevention services it provides, to the support of the social work nonprofits that contract with the agency.

This plan, which will guide the city agency from now until 2028, signals a shift in the way ACS views its programs, services and partners. In demonstration of this, the Prevention Services Division  – which works to prevent abuse and neglect in families – will be renamed the Family Services Division to more comprehensively describe the services provided. 

Overall, the plan focuses on two key stakeholders in the prevention space: the families that receive the services and the nonprofit partners that provide the services.

“It’s the alignment of what families tell us is helpful with what providers tell us they are seeing and they need for their workforce and the work of ACS together,” ACS Commissioner Jess Dannhauser said in an interview. “The key to this plan is that alignment is going to focus on the right things that families need, and make sure that we’re supporting our extraordinary providers and their workforce in everything that we do here at ACS.”

The plan addresses its contracted nonprofits by committing to supporting provider staff through scholarships and professional development, bolstering staff training and expanding staffing capacity.

Prevention services are interventions, provided by ACS-contracted organizations, that try to promote family wellbeing and prevent the abuse and neglect that can lead to family separation via foster care. These services include therapy and case management.

“We are encouraged by ACS’s new strategic plan, particularly its focus on embedding family voices, strengthening innovation and building stronger community connections,” Children’s Aid Society Executive Vice President Georgia Boothe said. “These priorities are critical to ensuring services reflect the real needs of families and are accessible as trusted supports. We look forward to seeing the necessary investments that will turn these commitments into meaningful action for New York City’s children and families.”

One of the primary ways ACS is hoping to center families is by making sure they know what services are available to them through the system. People can’t feel comfortable asking for and receiving help when they don’t understand what resources and supports are available to them.

To this end, some of the priorities outlined in the plan include developing new standardized terminology for services that will be consistent across all providers, collecting information about family needs and creating new pathways to refer families for ACS services outside of child protective services.

Dannhauser said there’s been a significant increase in the number of community referrals in the past few years. The administration wants to see this number increase even more, as it means, in theory at least, that families are getting help before a crisis situation forces them to get it.

“If we can continue to build on that and grow the number of families who turn to us when they see a need, and get the need that they are reaching out for met, that’s the goal,” he said.

Parent and family viewpoints are also going to play a growing role in the way the agency shapes its services and language, according to the strategic priorities. 

This culminates in the new role of “parent advisor,” which would allow a parent who has previously navigated the child welfare system for their children to help guide the agency on how to approach families and what families expect.

“We are committed to learning new approaches to meet the needs of families, nurture stronger connections with the communities we serve and embrace an identity that places learning and listening at the heart of everything we do,” ACS Deputy Commissioner Luisa Linares said. “This plan will help us do just that.”