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By: Serach Nissim
With the continued lack of staffers in the local Child Protective Services department, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is trying to tap former police officers to fill jobs in the Department of Social Services. As reported by the NY Post, Blakeman said at a recent press conference that the goal is to “help reduce the caseload” for CPS workers, who are inundated with “a voluminous amount.” “It’s incumbent upon us to make sure these children are safe,” he added. “That’s job No. 1.”
Back in 2023, Blakeman launched a program to hire more workers for CPS, but as of January the Long Island executive specified that he wants former cops and detectives as special investigators to look into child abuse cases. Referring to the responsibilities
as “God’s work,” he indicated that cops would be well suited for the job—which essentially entails protecting children. Blakeman has been trying to fast track former cops, former detectives, parole officers, corrections officers and fire marshals, for expedited
training to join caseworkers inundated at the CPS. Blakeman says their training will be just six weeks, and their background checks, which can usually take up to a year, will also be accelerated.
Per the Post, throughout the US there is a shortage of workers at child welfare agencies. A 2023 report from Casey Family Programs noted that “for about 15 years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, child welfare turnover rates hovered between an estimated 20% and 40%, with an estimated national average of 30%.” The pandemic only escalated this staff shortage, with a recent study showing that in New York the 2023 turnover rate reached a whopping 60%, in some residential facilities. Not only is the pay not great, but who wants to do this job, and moreover who is qualified to do the daunting job?
John B. Mattingly, the former commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), described the job saying: “You’re a 24-year-old woman. You have a degree in sociology with a history minor . . . And you find yourself within two, three months on the job walking into a public housing apartment building, walking past the gangbangers who hang out in front, taking what you have to take from them as you walk by.”
The Former NYC Child Welfare boss continues the scenario saying, “The report you got was that this mother was making her living by selling drugs out of that apartment and that the children periodically get bumped around by the drug users who are coming in. That’s all you know. You don’t know who made that report.” He says you now need to fight grandparents who want to keep the kids away from you, figure out if there really is danger or criminal activity involvement —all while keeping yourself and the child safe.
Mattingly is one of the NY officials who believe the job is best suited for police officers.
In January, Blakeman announced that four new investigators- including a former police detective and parole officer- are joining the ranks of NY’s CPS. The announcement was made before Jan. 17, which was the fifth anniversary of the death of 8-year-old Thomas Valva, who died of hypothermia after his father forced him to sleep in a frigid garage. The case was considered a failure on the part of CPS.
