As Survivors Seek Justice, New York Child Welfare Agencies Face the Costs of Decades-Old Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

A new report focused on dozens of New York agencies serving children, youth and families in the foster care system revealed a shocking number last month: These nonprofits now face more than 800 lawsuits alleging childhood sexual abuse, including allegations that date back as far as the 1950s.

The legal challenges follow passage of the 2019 Child Victims Act, a law written to “finally allow justice for past and future survivors of child sexual abuse, help the public identify hidden child predators through civil litigation discovery, and shift the significant and lasting costs of child sexual abuse to the responsible parties.” The state law, mirroring similar legislation across the country, lifted state statutes of limitation for survivors of abuse to file legal claims against their alleged perpetrators. Claimants had until Aug. 21, 2021 to file lawsuits.

Fifteen percent of the almost 11,000 cases filed in New York State against clergy, individuals and schools involve child welfare agencies, including some long-standing New York institutions, according to an analysis by Child USA, a nonprofit that focuses on prevention of child sexual abuse. The plaintiffs seek monetary damages and accountability for incidents they say have caused them a lifetime of trauma.

“The foster care agencies completely failed them,” said Helene Weiss, a lawyer whose firm is representing dozens of survivors under the Child Victims Act.

“When you are in a foster home or agency where you think you’re safe, you think you’re supposed to be taken care of — and where you’re supposed to trust the people who take care of you — and you face something as horrific as childhood sexual abuse at that institution not once or twice, but maybe for a period of five or six years, that destroys your entire childhood,” Weiss said. “That person’s life will never, ever be the same. You really can’t put a price tag on that kind of suffering.”