Office of Children and Family Services

Oversight of Child Protective Services Outside New York City

In New York State, reports of possible child abuse and maltreatment are investigated by local social services districts (counties), under the supervision of the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). Under the Social Services Law, the districts have seven days from the receipt of a report to determine whether intervention is required to protect the child against possible harm, and 60 days to complete the investigation.

We examined whether the local districts outside New York City were meeting the seven-day and 60-day requirements. We found that improvements were needed in the computerized tracking system used by OCFS to monitor the local districts’’ compliance with the requirements. According to the data on the system, the districts often were not meeting the requirements. However, when we reviewed the detailed case records for a sample of cases, we found the districts’ performance was much better. We recommended that OCFS improve the accuracy and reliability of the tracking system.

For a complete copy of Report 2007-S-129 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.