Judge rejects public advocate’s settlement in foster-care case
In a blistering decision that marks a significant victory for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, a federal judge on Friday struck down a proposed settlement between the state agency overseeing foster care and a group of plaintiffs who last year sued the city and state over its foster care system.
In a 21-page memorandum and order, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain deemed the proposed settlement, which would have vastly expanded the state’s oversight over New York City’s child welfare agency and the more than 10,000 children currently in foster care in New York City, “patently unfair and unreasonable.”