NYC Family Defense Providers Submit Joint Testimony to the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on Racism Within Family Court and the Family Policing System
The Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, Center for Family Representation, and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem submitted joint testimony on racism within the family policing system to the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which is conducting an investigation of “the New York Child Welfare System and its impact on Black Children and Families.”
The family defense organizations’ written testimony details their experience and observations as defenders on the impact of New York’s family policing system on Black children and families. The testimony shares the racism the organizations have observed and the harm caused by this system that has the power to separate families and keep them separated, and to destroy the legal, emotional, and psychological bonds of families.