BDS partners with Simpson Thacher to assist parents impacted by the family regulation system.

BDS’ Pro Bono unit held their first clinic of Fall 2023, partnering with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to assist parents impacted by the family regulation system. Molly Meltzer (Director of Pro Bono) and Ava Cilia (Skadden Fellow, Family Defense Practice) educated Simpson Thacher’s volunteers on the harmful impacts of system involvement for parents, caregivers, and children, and trained them to assist parents with having their names cleared from the State Central Register (SCR).

The SCR is a New York State-wide database compiled of reports of possible child abuse or neglect. An overwhelming majority of these reports do not involve abuse, but rather mis-categorize symptoms of poverty as ‘neglect.’ Reports of such neglect to the SCR create a vicious cycle that is detrimental to parents, caregivers, and children.

A family’s lack of resources can lead to a report of neglect, and those reports then further limit a parent’s ability to find future employment, which then restricts their ability to acquire resources to better support their family, thus perpetuating poverty, and system involvement. In working with parents and caregivers to have their names and reports cleared from the SCR, they are given the opportunity to access meaningful employment opportunities and resources that allow them to provide for their families, which interrupts the cycle.

In January 2022, new legislation raised the standard of evidence required for the system to list a person on the SCR with an indicated case. This legislation represents one of the most significant changes to child welfare laws in decades, and is thanks to a coalition of impacted parents, parent defenders, advocates, and community-based organizations.

Simpson Thacher’s dedicated team of volunteers were able to assist five BDS clients in clearing their names from the SCR. We are incredibly grateful for Simpson Thacher’s support and look forward to future collaborations.

If your law firm is interested in collaborating with Brooklyn Defenders’ Pro Bono Unit, please contact Molly Meltzer, Director of Pro Bono, at mmeltzer@bds.org.