March 1, 2015

US Government Report Charges Negligence at NYC Head Start




[From article]
Staff at the city’s Head Start programs for 3- and 4-year-olds have abused and neglected kids, and 189 sites are unsafe — many riddled with rats, roaches, mold and other dangerous conditions, says a scathing audit obtained by The Post.
The alarming problems are laid out in a Jan. 20 report — not released to the public — by the federal Administration for Children and Families, which funds the city to pay community organizations that run Head Start programs. Many of these community groups also run city-funded pre-K programs. The city’s Administration for Children’s Services is responsible for overseeing Head Start programs, but has failed to take steps to prevent such horrors, the feds found.
[. . .]
The audit says the city did not properly follow up on 17 reports of serious child mistreatment
[. . .]
In a statement, the ACS said none of the problems required a program’s closure. “All the issues cited in the report were either addressed immediately, or we are enforcing a corrective action plan to resolve them,” the ACS said.

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