SERINO JOINS ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN TO PUSH FOR IMPROVED CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES

NEWBURGH—Senator Sue Serino today joined advocates from around the region to call on Governor Cuomo to make child safety a priority by signing the Child Protective Services Safety Act.

“The safety of our children must always be our number one priority,” said Senator Serino. “At a time when our communities are grappling with a heroin epidemic and more and more children are reliant on Child Protective Services (CPS), we have a duty to ensure that CPS workers have the resources they need to protect vulnerable children from abuse and neglect. That starts by reducing caseloads to ensure that CPS workers can give those assigned to them the attention they so desperately need.”

The bill (S.2691/A.10506) will go a long way in helping vulnerable children and families, as well as in empowering caseworkers by limiting CPS caseloads to 15 active cases per month to ensure that no case falls through the cracks, thereby giving caseworkers more time to devote to children in need. The bill, which passed both the Senate and the Assembly in June, would require the limit to be fully implemented within two years.

The press conference, organized by the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), brought together a bipartisan group of lawmakers, child advocates and union leaders to shine light on the critical issue.

“Our kids simply cannot afford to wait—their lives are on the line,” Serino continued. “I urge the Governor to make signing this bill a priority.”

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