Officials prioritize social justice over child safety as another child dies in NYC

October 16, 2024 TruthUSA

“It breaks our heart any time a child is abused, any time a child is harmed,” Mayor Eric Adams said after learning about the death of 4-year-old Jahmeik Modlin, who was found in a Harlem apartment, malnourished and suffering from hypothermia over the weekend.

Jahmeik is the sixth child to die of maltreatment in the city in the last three months.

And as with the other recent fatalities like 11-month-old Jazeli Mirabel, 10-year-old Brian Santiago, 5-year-old De’Neil Timberlake, Jahmeik’s family had a history with the Administration for Children’s Services.

Details of that history have not been released, but a neighbor reported that the relationship between the parents was abusive, with the father wielding a knife as the mother barricaded herself inside the apartment.

So what lesson has Mayor Adams has learned from these tragedies?

“We’re going to do everything we can to give parents the support that they deserve.”

Are you kidding? You hear a story about two parents who have been charged with criminally negligent homicide for starving a 4-year-old boy and your first thought is how can we support the parents?

How about supporting the children?

A mother of three on the scene offered a different, and perhaps more understandable, reaction to the Post. “Get rid of both of the pieces of s–t — the mom and the dad . . . To not feed a kid? That’s not right.”

But supporting the parents seems to be the only line our city’s professionals have to offer these days.

Jahmeik's mother Nytavia Ragsdale, 26, was charged with criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child. — Jahmeik’s mother Nytavia Ragsdale, 26, was charged with criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child. William C Lopez/New York Post

Jess Dannhauser, the commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services, has been touting his agency’s plan to divert as many cases as possible away from official investigations and toward its Collaborative Assessment, Response, Engagement & Support system.

In order to “combat racial disparities” and “promote social justice,” CARES “encourage[s] families to develop their own solutions to their challenges.”

ACS has also added “Family Enrichment Centers” to promote “social connection, and parental resilience.”

And it is providing parents with legal notices explaining that they don’t actually have to let ACS into their home to investigate reports of child maltreatment!