New York, NY – Mayor Bloomberg Defends ACS Commissioner Despite Report on Child Deaths

New York, NY – Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the city's child welfare commissioner after a damning report concluded 10 children had died as a result of the agency's inept investigations.

Bloomberg called John B. Mattingly, head of the Administration for Children's Services, "as good a guy as you're ever going to get to head an agency like this."

Asked if he should step down, Mattingly had replied, "The mayor will let me know any time that he feels I'm not carrying out what I promised him I would do when I came in August 2004, and I will be here as long as he wants me."

Bloomberg said Mattingly heads an agency "that has a very tough job and we don't pay people that well and it's dangerous and you see things that you never thought you'd ever see."

"It is what it is," Bloomberg said of the report. "Let's focus on making it (the agency) better rather than yelling and screaming."

The Department of Investigation report outlined a troubling pattern of lying, incompetence, carelessness and poor training among caseworkers, as was reported here on Vos Iz Neis.

In response, the agency said it has drastically increased the number of caseworkers, reduced each worker's caseload from 22 to 11, and made important personnel changes.

Mattingly said ACS investigated more than 63,000 abuse and neglect reports in 2006, up from 48,000 the previous year, and expects the number to reach 61,000 by the end of this year.

ACS also has hired 20 investigative consultants with law enforcement experience and plans to bring on 100 more. [AP]