By Henry J. Stern
January 23, 2006

Since our last report, there have been developments in two issues we have been writing on:  child abuse and transit labor negotiations.  We'll talk about child abuse today and leave transit labor for tomorrow.
 
Today, Monday, is Day 12 of the Brooklyn horror story.  The girl was found dead on January 11.  The principal suspects: the murderous stepfather, the mother who let her own daughter be beaten to death, the grandmother who knew that her own granddaughter was a victim of torture, and the vacuous and unresponsive employees of the agency (ACS) which was supposed to be overseeing the care of the child, all have been excoriated in the press as the principal villains.  They deserve whatever punishment is appropriate.  In our view, Cesar deserves the lash, but our society is too refined, too advanced (or too decadent) to permit such barbaric treatment, even of men who torture and murder small children.
 
But there are others who share the blame: the neighbors who heard the screams but did not report the abuse, the police who were called to the apartment and did not notice the abuse, the "doctor" who is said to have accepted the father's phony story that the girl had fallen and hurt herself, the budget officials who may have denied ACS the money it asked for, the commissioner who is a national authority on child abuse but was not in full control of his own agency, the inspectors who went away when refused entry and did not use the power of the state to compel their admission to the torture chamber, and the school social worker who tried, but unsuccessfully, to help the child.
 
To us, the worst part of the story is that this is the fourth child murdered in four months.  Some tragedies are inevitable in a system this large.  People with no history of violence may unexpectedly lose their minds and commit horrible acts.  Yet when there is a record of previous complaints, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the agency is not working as well as it should.
 
We have a suggestion: a child abuse hotline 1-800-NOABUSE.  We know there is one already, but hardly anybody knows about it. The number is 1-800-342-3720, you are connected with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, located in Rensselaer, NY.  That's across the Hudson River from Albany.  It was the original terminus of the New York Central Railroad.  When Commodore Vanderbilt was told that the public would find it much more convenient if the railroad could cross the Hudson by bridge so passengers could arrive in Albany, he is supposed to have responded with the famous sentence, "The public be damned."  In those days, that was a very bad word.

Back to the state child abuse hotline.  It is fully automated, when you call for help, you get a recording, which tells you to call 911 if it is an emergency.  We wonder if you get 911 in Rensselaer or New York City.  If it is not a crime in progress, you have two other options to choose from.  By that time, a frightened caller is likely to have hung up, or the phone may have been removed from her hands.
 
The child abuse hotline should be widely advertised.  Private companies use 1-800-LAWYERS, 1-800-FLOWERS, and 1-800-DIVORCE (if flowers don't work).  There is no reason why the child abuse hotline shouldn’t be easy to reach - a word or phrase that people can remember.  We suggested NOABUSE, but let the public choose the best seven letters (remember no Q or Z).  It would help if the phones were answered by  human beings.  If some of them spoke Spanish, or could connect the caller to someone else who does, that just might save a child's life.
 
Last week we mentioned three other children that died in families under ACS oversight over the last four months; Sierra Roberts on October 25, Dahquay Gillians on November 6 and Joziah Bunch on December 28.  Due to the lack of gruesome details (photographs of the chair to which Nixzmary was tied, with rope coiled around its wooden legs), the earlier tragedies did not result in the public and media outcry that Nixzmary's case engendered.  The unhappy result in all four recent cases raises the issue of whether ACS is as competent as it should be.  Could any reasonable person answer that question in the affirmative?

Certainly the same publicly-fueled investigation that followed Nixzmary's death should be conducted with the same thoroughness and intensity in the cases of the three less noticed victims.  The results of these inquiries should be published, and appropriate disciplinary action taken with regard to any employees who may have been derelict in the performance of their duties.  One need not have to blunder in the case of one child whose murder made her a celebrity. Apathy or negligence in dealing with children who are not famous is equally reprehensible.  

Another important question to be asked of ACS is how many children under its protection are regularly beaten, but not to the point of death or grave bodily injury.  What is done to save these children from domestic violence by either parent, step-parent or any other adult who happens to be living in or visiting the home, usually to enjoy the favors of the mother, an activity not enhanced by the sound of a crying child.  Surely more children are beaten than killed, and if the sadist is clever enough not to leave visible marks, his cruelty is more than likely to go unpunished.  If the agency can't stop the killers, what hope can we hold out that they will stop those who merely beat their children, or more likely, their girlfriend's children, whenever they feel so inclined.
 
There are no doubt other improvements to the system that could be implemented by people who would bring imagination and energy to the job.  We suggest that the Commissioner hire a person who could be helpful.  We know some really bright men and women who have experience in a large city agency.

This afternoon we received a letter signed by sixty authorities on child welfare expressing strong support for Commissioner Mattingly.  You can link to it here.  Breathes there a man in straits so dire that he cannot retain the support of his own contractors?  We have another observation: if a commissioner is in trouble and someone wants to help him with the mayor, would it not be preferable to speak to the mayor or write to him privately, rather than co-addressing the letter to Speaker Christine Quinn, (their hope for 2009?), who has no authority whatsoever over hiring or firing city commissioners.  They spread the news of their testimonial far and wide.

Is such distribution intended to persuade, to intimidate, to show off, or to ingratiate.  There is most likely no sinister motive here, social agency executives usually (with some exceptions like William Rapfogel) don't know an awful lot about politics, although they huff and puff as if they do.  See, we can say nice things about people too.  In fact, Mattingly himself is a decent fellow, learned in his field and devoted to children.  He should not be embarrassed by his protagonists.

If you have gone this far, you have read enough for one day.  So we defer our report on the transit labor situation until tomorrow.  Perhaps something will happen by morningtide which the TWU and the MTA will have reason to regret.


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