For decades, the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) routinely sought—and family courts routinely granted—unbounded supervision orders over parents who had done nothing wrong (known as “non-respondent parents”) and were in family court only because their child’s other parent has been accused of wrongdoing. These orders permitted government agents to enter and search thousands of homes, repeatedly and for months on end. ACS supervision of fit parents not accused of any wrongdoing caused significant harm to families without making children safer.

Matter of Sapphire W and Matter of A.R. ended this illegal practice.

Ms. W., a mother and a survivor of domestic violence, won her appeal of a family court supervision order in an Appellate Division, Second Department unanimous ruling that held such orders have no basis in the law. The court noted that the issue is of “substantial … statewide importance” and that ACS’s practice of surveilling parents accused of no wrongdoing “constitute[s] precisely the type of state intervention that the Legislature sought to avoid in circumstances when it is not warranted.” The court further stressed that ACS surveillance can “have a negative impact on” and “be traumatic for both the child and the parent.”

Ms. W. did nothing wrong. When the father of her one-year-old child committed acts of domestic violence against her, she took immediate steps to bar him from the home. But because the father had committed violence in the presence of the child, she became involved in family court. The father, designated as the respondent, was charged with neglect; Ms. W., the non-respondent, was charged with nothing. Nevertheless, ACS requested and the family court issued an order allowing Ms. W. to keep custody of her child only if she gave ACS unlimited access to her home and her child.

For years, survivors of domestic violence like Ms. W. have challenged this “double abuse” that makes them the target of government scrutiny even after escaping their abusers. Until these rulings, ACS has shielded this illegal practice from judicial review by strategically ending supervision when parents challenge the legal basis for these orders. But Ms. W.’s persevered so that others do not have to endure the same violation of their rights.

Impact of Sapphire W. and A.R.

These were landmark decisions. As data from ACS shows, before these decisions, only 1% of new Article 10 cases where the child was released to a caregiver did not lead to supervision orders. Since these decisions, that figure has skyrocketed to over 22% – representing a 2,200% increase in the number of non- respondent parents and their children who are spared ACS surveillance during Article 10 cases.

This significant change in practice can be expected to result in enormous benefits every year, including: roughly 1,700 fewer non-respondent parents and children being subjected to ACS surveillance, over 10,400 fewer ACS home searches; and over $23 million dollars of taxpayers’ money saved on unnecessary surveillance of parents not charged with any wrongdoing and their children.