Public Advocate Reaches Agreement With New York state, not NYC Over Mismanagement Of Foster Care Facility Lawsuit [Video]

Public Advocate Letitia James. (THIRTEEN via YouTube)

A little more than three months after she filed a federal class-action lawsuit against city and state child protective services agencies alleging mismanagement in foster care, Public Advocate Letitia James on Tuesday announced she had reached a settlement with the state, but not the city.

Its terms include a provision requiring the state’s Office of Children and Family Services to install a new monitor to oversee the Administration for Children’s Services, a city agency it already oversees. But the settlement may also mark the newest chapter in an ongoing proxy war between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The city and ACS were left out of the settlement agreement entirely. In an important detail relegated to the last line in a press release issued Tuesday announcing the settlement, the Public Advocate’s office revealed that her office is still, in fact, suing the city and ACS.

“The City of New York and ACS are not parties to the agreement, and that portion of the lawsuit will move forward in Court,” the release said. 

A spokeswoman for James said that Cuomo’s office reached out to the public advocate immediately after she filed the lawsuit in early July, at the height of de Blasio’s feud with Cuomo.        source