Five decades of litigation, and children still waiting for safety

The modern reckoning started in the early 1970s with Bernstein v. Wilder, a landmark class-action lawsuit that originally exposed religious based programs in New York and later address chronic under-supervision and systemic harm in New York City’s foster-care network. The plaintiffs were children caught in a maze of agencies and caseworkers, and they alleged that the city’s Department of Social Services had failed in its constitutional duty to keep them safe. The case compelled the city to admit to widespread deficiencies and set the stage for decades of oversight and reform.

Bernstein drew public attention to the state of child welfare, but it also revealed a painful truth that still holds today: the most vulnerable children often disappear in plain sight.

Roughly two decades later, Marisol A. v. Giuliani (1995) renewed the fight for children. This sweeping class action, filed for thousands of children in New York City’s care, alleged that the City and State failed to shield foster children from abuse, neglect, and repeated placement in unsafe settings. Plaintiffs described appalling conditions: children passed from home to home, physically and sexually abused, denied an education, and forgotten by overwhelmed caseworkers.

The federal court found deep structural flaws in New York’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). The settlement that followed brought years of court-appointed oversight, data tracking, and accountability measures meant to reform the child-welfare apparatus. Federal court oversight lasted more than a decade without sustained improvement.

By the early 2000s, reports of child deaths and re-abuse were still coming in despite reforms. In A.M. v. Mattingly (2010), a new group of plaintiffs challenged ACS once more, this time focusing on children who were re-abused after the agency did not act on clear warning signs. The case showed that systemic failures persisted even after years of supposed reform.

A.M. v. Mattingly underscored a devastating reality: reforms on paper do not protect children in practice.

Few tragedies show systemic collapse as vividly as the Judith Leekin case. Leekin was a foster and adoptive parent who used four aliases to exploit multiple child-welfare agencies over two decades. She gained custody of at least eleven special-needs children and collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in government payments.

Behind the paperwork was unthinkable abuse: children locked away, denied schooling, starved, and beaten. The case revealed how fragmented oversight and a complete lack of communication between agencies let one woman torture children for years under the state’s watch, until she moved to Florida, where the abuse came to light.

Howard M. Talenfeld, founder of the Justice for Kids® team, played a central role in bringing the whole story to light. He represented ten of Leekin’s surviving adopted victims and fought for accountability, securing more than $27 million in settlements and exposing the agencies’ failures, which led to overhauls of background-check and inter-agency communication protocols. The case became a national warning: without transparency and oversight, the foster-care system can enable the very abuse it claims to prevent.

Today, nearly 14,900 children remain in New York’s foster-care system. Every class action, from Bernstein to Marisol A. to A.M. v. Mattingly, and every individual tragedy, like Judith Leekin’s, tells the same unfortunate story: when a system meant to protect causes harm instead, the law becomes a child’s last line of defense.

At Justice for Kids®, we measure progress not by how many reports are filed, but by how many children are finally safe.

Foster care should be a refuge. For too many children, it becomes another chapter of harm. Our New York foster care attorneys represent children who have suffered physical abuse, sexual assault, neglect, and emotional trauma while in the custody of the state or its contracted providers.

We investigate cases involving:

• Re-abuse after earlier agency reports were ignored
• Negligent supervision or unlicensed foster placements
• Failure to investigate or act on warning signs
• Psychological or medical neglect in residential programs

Justice for Kids® has recovered significant compensation for children failed by the system, and our work also pushes agencies to change the practices that allowed the abuse. Our attorneys know the foster-care laws, regulations, and accountability gaps specific to New York, and we use that knowledge to protect children and drive change.

A New York child-abuse lawyer plays a critical role when the people entrusted with a child’s care cause harm, whether in a foster home, daycare center, public school, residential facility, or hospital.

Our firm handles cases involving:

• Physical or emotional abuse
• Neglect by caregivers or institutions
• Educational mistreatment or discriminatory punishment
• Failure to report or intervene by mandated reporters

Every situation is different, but our commitment never changes: children harmed under state supervision must be seen, heard, and protected.

Children with disabilities face distinct risks in schools, foster care, and institutional settings. Our New York child-disability attorneys fight for children who are injured in foster care and disability settings.

When a system fails to care for its most vulnerable, the results are devastating. Justice for Kids® works with families, physicians, and advocacy groups to help make sure disabled children are treated with the dignity and safety the law guarantees them.

Every child in New York, regardless of background, race, or disability, has a constitutional right to safety, education, and due process. Our children’s civil-rights attorneys represent kids whose fundamental rights have been violated by government agencies, schools, or institutions.

We bring claims under federal civil-rights statutes (including 42 U.S.C. § 1983) and New York law for:

• Failure to protect children from known dangers in foster care, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse
• Excessive force and abuse in schools or juvenile facilities
• Child-on-child sexual abuse caused by negligent supervision

We don’t just seek compensation. We pursue accountability that can force agencies to change.

Child sexual abuse leaves lifelong scars, but survivors have rights and the power to act. Our New York child-sexual-abuse lawyers provide trauma-informed representation for survivors across the state, helping them seek justice under the New York Child Victims Act and related laws.

We represent victims of abuse in:

• Foster homes and group homes
• Schools and churches
• Youth and residential programs
• Medical or psychiatric facilities
• Placements with sexually aggressive children, including child-on-child sexual abuse

We guide families through civil claims, coordinate with law enforcement, and work to support long-term safety and recovery.