Yes—criminal‑court attorneys are now openly criticizing family and juvenile dependency courts for engaging in unwarranted governmental interference (UGI). That is how serious the situation has become.

As reported in the article excerpted below, many families experience their first encounter with the child‑welfare system as a traumatic, intrusive event. Social workers often arrive unannounced, sometimes late at night, and request entry without presenting identification. They interview children outside the presence of their parents, ask to inspect their bodies, and question parents about intimate aspects of their lives—relationships, mental health, substance use, employment, housing, and even children who do not live in the home.

According to Nila Natarajan, a New York City public defender who represents parents in family court, “Getting an investigation is a harrowing experience… It’s terrifying, particularly for communities who know what that knock means.” These communities, she notes, are disproportionately Black and brown.

Advocates acknowledge that some children genuinely require protection. However, they argue that the mandate of child‑welfare agencies is overly broad and frequently functions as a prosecutorial tool, shaped by racial and economic bias. Eighteen public‑defender organizations across New York recently urged state lawmakers to reform policies that routinely result in unnecessary family separation, disproportionately affecting families of color.

In a letter to the governor and legislative leaders, these organizations called for passage of five bills designed to protect parents from government overreach in child‑welfare investigations. Four of the bills focus on establishing safeguards around how families are brought into the system. As the letter states, “The system reinforces racial and economic inequality by treating poverty as child neglect, unnecessarily separating families, and shifting resources to the foster system rather than providing support to the families it is meant to serve.”

Christine Gottlieb, co‑director of the New York University School of Law Family Defense Clinic, emphasized that many parents do not know their rights when investigators arrive. “They will tell you that you have to open the door, that you have to strip‑search your children, that you have to take a drug test. None of those things are true unless they have a court order.” She added, “Most children are better off staying with their families in their communities. Some need assistance. We should support them in their own homes whenever possible.”

—Editing by Katherine Rautenberg. For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com. See HERE