On a recent visit to a Bronx bus stop, Joyce McMillan kept hearing a similar story.
Prompted by a bus ad that encouraged parents to learn their rights in encounters with the child welfare system, several commuters said they were either part of a family entangled with that bureaucracy or knew someone who was.
Case workers had come to their homes and their kids’ schools, taken them to court, and placed their children in foster care – or that was the story of a sister, cousin, or best friend.
Why do people believe that ACS and CPS across this nation protects children? Because they have great marketing.
McMillan, founder and executive director of multiple local parent advocacy organizations, launched a marketing campaign aimed at arming parents with information on how to respond when child welfare workers knock on their doors.
She chose the Bronx as the campaign’s epicenter because it’s the borough where the Administration for Children’s Services, the local child protective services agency, gets the most calls to investigate families in New York City, according to the agency’s yearly and monthly reports.
In mid-August, McMillan had ads plastered on the sides of about 50 buses over 10 different lines running throughout the borough. She said she funded the roughly $40,000 campaign with donations given to Just Making a Change for Families, a parent advocacy group McMillan founded and leads.
The ad design features a drawing of a mother reading a “Know Your Rights” book to her daughter, and a URL that leads to a list of parents' rights. For example, parents can ask to have a lawyer present, or deny ACS workers entry into their home if they don’t have a court order.
“Keep Families Together,” the ads say in bold, black capital letters. “Know Your Rights If ACS Knocks.”
McMillan's own battle with ACS spurred her to start organizing with other affected parents and parents’ rights advocates, who have long highlighted the racial and economic inequities in the local child welfare system.
About 40% of the parents investigated by ACS in the last fiscal year were Black and roughly the same percentage were Latino, according to agency data. Neighborhoods with the highest poverty rates also have the highest rates of ACS investigations, according to an analysis of 2017 data by the New School's Center for New York City Affairs.
When asked about the ads, ACS Commissioner Jess Dannhauser underscored his appreciation for organizations: “It is very important that parents understand their rights when ACS comes to their homes.”
He added that his agency is “committed to protecting parents’ rights” while attending to child safety.
Last year, ACS officials and the agency’s staff union pushed back against local legislative efforts to mandate Miranda-like warnings for parents under investigation by the agency, according to a report from THE CITY.
Two City Council bills would have required caseworkers to inform parents of certain rights at the start of an investigation, much as law enforcement advises those facing questioning – i.e., “You have the right to remain silent.” But the bills failed to get a vote before an end-of-year deadline.
The bus ads are part of McMillan’s ongoing efforts to change public perception of the child welfare system. She found a kind of inspiration in the advertisements from child welfare agencies and advocates across the country, including ACS, which have invested in subway ads, videos, and radio spots calling on bystanders to report child abuse.
“Why do people believe that ACS and CPS across this nation protects children? Because they have great marketing," she said.
McMillan said she wanted to use the same tactics to empower parents.
