Tag: family defense
Letter to Mayor de Blasio: Safeguarding Children at the Time of Arrest
February 1, 2019 Dear Mayor de Blasio, We, a diverse group of human service providers, faith-based leaders, and advocates call on the leadership of New York City to immediately adopt a city-wide policy to safeguard children at the time of a parent’s arrest and provide all arresting officers with substantive training to minimize trauma to […]
City Limits: New Push to Provide Legal Advice to Parents Facing Abuse and Neglect Investigations
“People say, ‘Take my liberty but I want to keep my children,” says Emma Ketteringham, our Managing Director of the Family Defense Practice. Legal counsel is critical for parents undergoing investigation or in family court, especially when a child is at stake. Stella B. said she never had the opportunity to be properly investigated because […]
New York Times: A Woman’s Rights: Part 5 “The Mothers Society Condemns”
Our Emma Ketteringham and Erin Cloud spoke to The New York Times on how pregnant women with a history of drug use are mistreated, abused and criminalized for larger structural issues. “According to National Advocates for Pregnant Women, an advocacy and legal group, in just about every state, expectant mothers with a history or suspicion […]
Audible: New Family Values
Our Mary Anne Mendenhall and her client Tina have a conversation on Audible’s “New Family Values” podcast. Hear them in Chapter 7: Protecting the Child, here.
The Chronicle of Social Change: New York City Council Confronts Child Welfare Agency Over Emergency Parent-Child Separations
Between Oct 2016-May 2018, ACS reported a 30% increase in “emergency removals,” removing a child before the case has appeared before a judge. Our Managing Director of the Family Defense Practice Emma Ketteringham testified before the New York City Council on the impact of this alarming trend. “Parent advocates like Coles and Emma Ketteringham of the legal […]
Written Testimony to the Justice System Committee on Family Separation
New York City Council Justice System Committee New York City Council, General Welfare Hearing on Family Separation in New York City November 27, 2018 Written Testimony of The Bronx Defenders, By Emma Ketteringham Our Family Defense Practice has been in place since 2005 and represents parents in child protection and all of the related Family […]
Rise Magazine: Uplifting Every Voice
“When you are powerless in a system that is tearing your family apart, you hold on to any little ray of hope. My hope and strength came from my boys and the deep and instinctual knowledge that I, as their mother, could not and would not allow strangers to obliterate the years of nurture and […]
Medium: When Protection Hurts
“I frequently recall one child who was asked to draw himself as a superhero. I asked him what his power would be. ‘When I grow up, my superpower is going to be to keep families together,’ he said. ‘So no kid has to go through what I am going through right now.’” As an attorney […]