Officials there put her in touch with advocates to help with court proceedings, and helped hook her up with a larger apartment. But as in many Family Court cases, many of the fact-finding hearings that are supposed to follow an ACS removal were adjourned or postponed. Her children remained in foster care, and when she gave birth on November 1, ACS got a court order to remove the newborn as well. Instead, the mother fled to the convent, where the nuns kept her in hiding. After the nuns and the woman's lawyers both pressured ACS to back off, the agency agreed on November 9 to withdraw the order to remove the child.
Critics say the incident illustrates the agency's aggressive protective strategy.
In response, ACS spokesperson Leonara Weiner said the agency behaved as even-handedly as possible. ACS is now providing support and preventative services. The mother is now out of hiding and living in her new apartment. As City Limits reported last month, this mammoth company, Maximus, has had significant problems with other social services contracts nationwide. But although these contracts must be available for inspection before they go to a public hearing, the only documents available last week at the city's Human Resources Administration headquarters were boilerplate that included no specific information about which companies were named, or how much the contracts would be worth.