The grieving households of children who died beneath the watch of the Massive Apple’s child-welfare company say a scathing new metropolis report proves what they already know — nothing has modified.
The damning probe by the Division of Investigation revealed that the embattled Administration for Youngsters’s Providers has regularly blocked investigators from inspecting the abuse and deaths of dozens of harmless children in its care, leaving the door open for extra tragic outcomes, victims’ relations lamented to The Publish.
“When a child dies, somebody has to pay for that,” mentioned Nyisha Ragsdale, whose 4-year-old nephew Jahmeik Moldin was discovered starved to demise inside his household’s Harlem house in 2024.
The tragic tot’s mother, Nytavia Ragsdale, is awaiting trial on homicide and manslaughter prices.
“My sister had earlier circumstances,” Nyisha Ragsdale instructed The Publish. “They obtained reported. There isn’t any approach anybody is gonna inform me that she had circumstances for 3 or 4 years, and my nephew died — it’s not one thing that occurred in a single day or in a few weeks or a few months.
“It needed to be happening for some time, so all this data, DOI ought to have entry to,” she mentioned.
The DOI report, launched Might 5, discovered ACS to be one of many Massive Apple’s cagiest businesses.
In response to the investigation, ACS barred DOI from reviewing recordsdata on 17 of 18 baby fatalities that occurred beneath the company’s latest oversight.
In 2024, ACS denied entry to 13 out of 16 such baby fatalities and withheld 19 out of 25 recordsdata in circumstances involving youngsters’s deaths in 2023, in response to the DOI report.
It has additionally denied entry to information of alleged sexual misconduct.
“When a New York Metropolis baby dies or suffers extreme harm on account of neglect or abuse, it’s not solely a tragedy,” the report mentioned. “It’s a failure that ought to immediate metropolis authorities to ask the place we went fallacious and what we will do higher.”
The DOI report was launched precisely one 12 months after The Publish reported on greater than a half-dozen youngsters who died beneath ACS supervision due to continual neglect and abuse.
In little Jahmeik’s case, his mom and pa, Laron Modlin, had been the topic of not less than 4 ACS neglect studies since 2019, earlier than the boy starved to demise Oct. 13, 2024.
The totally stocked fridge within the household’s house was turned to the wall so the tot couldn’t get to the meals.
In one other tragic case, De’Neil Timberlake, 5, overdosed on methadone in The Bronx on July 16, 2025, whereas his father, Darrell Timberlake, was beneath ACS investigation and had beforehand been busted and charged with appearing in a matter injurious to a baby.
“There must be transparency throughout the board,” De’Neil’s grandfather, Joseph James, mentioned. “That must be the legislation. Because it stands proper now, it is mindless. It’s fallacious.
“My grandson died,” he mentioned. “It was a slip by the cracks.”
Julius Batties, whose 7-year-old daughter, Julissia, was overwhelmed to demise by her mom in 2021 after ACS returned the woman to her troubled mother’s Bronx house, mentioned the entire company’s information must be made public.
“Launch all the things,” he mentioned. “I don’t care if some calls and makes a name and it’s faux. To me, it appears like [ACS officials] are hiding one thing once they maintain again on data.
“That’s why the system is so unhealthy immediately,” he mentioned.
In one other case, Nazir Millien, a disabled 8-year-old boy, died subsequent to his troubled mother inside their Bronx house — and lay decomposing within the house whereas the boy’s 4-year-old sister survived on scraps.
NYPD cops and ACS employees had each knocked on the door however apparently didn’t get a solution and walked away from the horror scene.
“What issues essentially the most are the youngsters,” Nazir’s grandfather, Hubert Cotton, instructed The Publish. “Their curiosity must be first, above all the things.”
Cotton mentioned all related metropolis businesses should be a part of the answer.
“Extra heads collectively are higher, so they need to all sit collectively and work … out what to do to make it higher,” he mentioned. “In the event that they wish to get higher, everyone should be wanting on the identical factor.
“ACS ought to have a seat on the desk, too, as a result of on the finish of the day, they’re accountable.”
Officers at ACS have repeatedly cited their company’s dedication to children beneath their supervision however famous additionally they have a mandate to guard the identities of kids and households of their care.
“ACS appreciates the essential oversight function of the Division of Investigation and we stay dedicated to holding people accountable in any occasion of potential worker misconduct,” a rep for the company mentioned in an announcement Sunday.
“ACS additionally stays dedicated to transparency and accountability in our operations, whereas safeguarding the confidentiality of the youngsters, youth and households who we serve,” the consultant mentioned.
Beneath state Social Service Regulation, details about these households is confidential.
