Administration for Children Services

[HzlEyez]

Hi

I am posting this message because, I have a concern.  My boyfriend has decided to fight for full custody.  The court has requested that home visit be done to both parties.  Today the ACS worker contacted my boyfriend to set up a date and time to come over to the apartment.  The ACS worker told my boyfriend that he needed to interview all parties living at the apartment with him.  My question is if the ACS worker wants to interview my child, I want to know in NYS what is legal when it comes to an ACS worker interviewing a child?  Can the ACS worker interview the child separate from me while I stand outside the door or am I allowed to be in the same room that the ACS worker is interviewing my child.  If anyone could please get back to me I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,

[mistoffolees]

Typically, they're going to want to interview the child alone.

Also, beware that NY has had a reputation in the past of being arbitrary and very quick in their evaluations (possibly due to overly heavy caseloads) and you will need to make a good first impression in only a very short time. Of course, the advantage is that he won't have much time either and they really don't like to change the status quo unless there's a good reason to.

Now, that information is quite dated and may have changed, so take it with a grain of salt. But the general advice is the same even if they're doing a better job. Courts generally require a pretty good reason to make a change in custody - particularly if the current situation has been going on very long. So make sure you don't give them any reason to consider a change. Keep your place clean, and make sure it's a healthy environment for kids before their visit. Stay out of trouble yourself.

These types of investigations are scary, but if there are no danger signs, there's usually nothing to worry about. You might want to see an attorney, though.

[HzlEyez]

Hi Mist:

Thank you for your reply.