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Speaker 1: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City, from WNYC. It's Wednesday, August 13th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: A popular Jersey Shore tourist town is limiting beach hours. The mayor of seaside heights tells NJ.com, police will strictly enforce beach closures once lifeguards leave their post for the day. That's after one person died and six more needed rescue over the weekend when after-hours rip currents pull them out to sea. Seaside Heights beaches open at 9:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night when lifeguards leave for the day.

Seaside Heights police will help close the beaches, and then issue summonses to those who stay after hours. More disappointing news for PATH riders in Hoboken. WNYC's Sean Carlson explains.

Sean Carlson: The plan was simple enough, shut down the Hoboken PATH Station for almost all of February, install new equipment, and avoid the kind of piecemeal prolonged service disruptions that would come with spreading the project out. That was the plan, but the Port Authority says its contractor made mistakes designing a key component. It blames the guardrail for a train derailment last month, and says there are other issues with the new equipment.

Now, the Hoboken station is shutting down again for Labor Day weekend, while repairs are made. Peak service has slowed until then too. During the Labor Day weekend outages, PATH tickets will be cross honored on NJ Transit. New York Waterway ferries will be discounted.

Michael Hill: A majority of people in Paterson, New Jersey now have access to running water again to shower, and flush their toilets, but the water is not good enough yet for drinking. A boiled water advisory remains in effect for the city after Friday's major water main break.

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87 and partly sunny now. Slim chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly late this afternoon, mostly sunny, and a high of 88. Partly sunny, 86 tomorrow with chances for a mid-morning to early afternoon shower and storm chances.

Speaker 1: Stay close. There's more after the break.

Michael Hill: Imagine this, you have a child with someone, and your co-parent becomes violent toward you. You report the domestic violence, but the Administration for Children's Services winds up surveilling you as part of their investigation. WNYC's Samantha Max has learned that this is exactly what has happened to some parents in New York City. Samantha joins us now to explain. A warning to listeners, this story discusses domestic violence. Sam, tell us about the case that tipped you off to this phenomenon.

Samantha Max: Yes. Well, according to court records, in late 2023 a woman named Kyon, she's at home with her then 14-month old son. Her boyfriend at the time, and the child's father did not live with them, but he comes over, and she tells him she doesn't want to be in the relationship anymore. Then, according to court records, he responds with violence. He grabs her face, stomps on her, and strangles her until she loses consciousness.

All of this is happening in front of their child. When police knock on the door, court papers say that the father takes a knife, and threatens to kill Kyon, so the city's Administration for Children's Services opens a case against the father. He's identified in court papers as Mr. R. I should note that we're not including Kyon's last name at the request of her lawyer to protect her privacy.

Court papers make clear that Kyon was not accused of wrongdoing. She never lost custody of her child. She lived separately from the father, and got a restraining order against him. In spite of all of this, the Administration for Children's Services subjected her to supervision. At least 15 times case workers visited her home. Sometimes these were announced visits, sometimes unannounced, and court papers say they inspected her son's body, looked through every room, even searched her refrigerator. This went on for months until ACS agreed to stop.

Michael Hill: That's not the only situation, as we said, like this. Is that right?

Samantha Max: Yes. Attorneys for parents and children in family court told me this is something that happens all the time. ACS has actually acknowledged itself that it frequently supervises parents who are not accused of abuse or neglect when the other parent in the situation is under investigation. The agency says this could be necessary to ensure the child isn't in danger, particularly in domestic violence situations.

I spoke with David Shalleck-Klein, executive director of the Family Justice Law center, and he also represented Kyon in this case. He told me Kyon pursued this court action, because she knew she wasn't the only person this was happening to, and she wanted to prevent more parents from going through the same thing.

David Shalleck-Klein: There is always this sword of Damocles which is hanging above them, which is that, if they do not comply, if they do not cooperate, if they do not seem like they are doing whatever ACS wants them to do, that their children can be taken from them at any given moment.

Samantha Max: This particular ruling builds on a similar one early this year in New York City's other appellate division, so it now applies citywide to all family courts. Shalleck-Klein says this pair of rulings will spare thousands of parents and children from unnecessary surveillance.

Michael Hill: Is it legal for the ACS to do this?

Samantha Max: Well, According to the appellate court, no. During oral arguments in Kyon's case earlier this year, an attorney representing ACS, Alan Rosinus, he was laying out different scenarios where he said supervision might be helpful to protect a child, like if the father violates the protective order, and barges into the home, but the judges were really skeptical of the city's arguments. Here's Associate Justice Tanya R. Kennedy questioning the ACS attorney.

Justice Tanya R. Kennedy: I don't want an "if". I like to know what the mother did or did not do that warranted, [coughs] excuse me, such intrusive actions by ACS.

Alan Rosinus: I mean, I would quibble with the idea that it was intrusive, Your Honor, but I think that the--

Justice Tanya R. Kennedy: Searching the child, that's not intrusive?

Alan Rosinus: Your Honor, I--

Justice Tanya R. Kennedy: No, that's not intrusive?

Alan Rosinus: To ensure that the child is. Is not harmed.

Samantha Max: The appellate judges ultimately found that ACS's practice of supervising these parents violates New York's Family Court Act, which is supposed to prevent the state's unnecessary intervention into family life, which is, of course, a very personal thing. The judges also noted in their ruling that there's a disproportionate impact on Black and Latino families, which make up a huge portion of ACS cases.

The judges said that the agency should not surveil parents who still have custody of their kids, and have not been accused of wrongdoing. They also argued that ACS has failed to explain how its practice was making kids and their parents safer.

Michael Hill: What did the ACS say in response to your reporting, Samantha?

Samantha Max: A spokesperson for ACS told me the agency doesn't want parents to be monitored beyond what's necessary, and has been reducing its use of supervision over the years, but they say they're also reviewing their legal options, because they still want to have the options that they need to protect children, particularly after a violent incident.

Michael Hill: Sam, I know there are some people who are listening to this, and I know what they're thinking. Well, if you're a good parent, and you've done nothing and you have nothing to hide, why would you be worried about ACS keeping tabs on you?

Samantha Max: Well, court papers say that Kyon was cooperative with ACS, but in court papers, she also described this supervision as humiliating, intrusive, traumatizing. She says it brought her back to a dark place she associated with her abuse. The ruling explains that this type of surveillance can really mimic the type of coercive control that domestic violence victims experience when they're abused.

Kyon's lawyer told me, monitoring domestic violence survivors might disincentivize them from getting help. Then, lawyers I spoke with who represent kids, told me this can also be really traumatizing for children who have already gone through such a difficult experience. Strip searches in particular are traumatizing, but it's also just unsettling to have a stranger come into your home, question you, and question your parent.

ACS will be able to open an investigation if they have concerns about a parent's ability to keep their child safe, but if there is no investigation, for now, it just won't be an option anymore to surveil these parents, unless a higher court rules otherwise.

Michael Hill: Now, Sam, court ruling is one thing, actual practice is something else. Do we know if ACS has actually changed its practice, because of the rulings?

Samantha Max: Yes. My understanding is that since the earlier ruling in the other appellate division happened several months ago, the lawyers I've been speaking to have told me that they have noticed the difference that ACS has been following this ruling, that obviously family court, there are very ingrained practices that can be difficult to change, but that they are starting to see this change. Now that we have this second ruling, so it now applies to the whole city, the expectation from lawyers is that there really will be a shift.

Michael Hill: WNYC's Samantha Max. You can read more of Samantha's reporting on this difficult topic at our news site, Gothamist. Sam, terrific job. Thank you.

Samantha Max: Thanks, Michael.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines, and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this evening.

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