The Mamdani administration has relaunched its closely watched search for candidates to lead New York City’s child welfare agency, moving on from the two people previously identified as finalists.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s two initial choices were both attorneys in the field who have been outspoken about the need for major reforms to the child welfare system to better serve low-income families of color. But following a reportedly difficult and contested recruitment, the search for a permanent leader of the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) has since been reopened, according to a city hall spokesperson.
In a brief phone call Tuesday, Angela Burton, who was formerly the top choice for agency commissioner, confirmed that she was removed from consideration last week. The news was first reported by The New York Times. Burton, a candid and self-described CPS “abolitionist,” was previously an adviser to the state court system.
In a LinkedIn post last week, Burton urged the mayor to consider legislative proposals that would help families involved in child welfare investigations, such as removing barriers to food and cash assistance programs, and creating a separate Office of Family Well-Being in his administration.
“As NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani considers his choice for ACS Commissioner, it’s urgent that commonsense proposals be prioritized,” Burton wrote. Quoting guidance from the New York Bar Association, she added: ‘“Low income Black and brown families are disproportionately targeted by ACS, and the trauma experienced by families is profound.’”
The second candidate, attorney Michelle Burrell, recently withdrew from the process. Burrell works as a project director in Queens at Legal Services NYC, helping low-income families with issues including affordable housing, food insecurity and immigration. Though Burrell has made fewer public critiques of the child welfare system, in a 2019 law review article, she called for changes in child maltreatment investigations and criticized the overrepresentation of Black and brown families in the system.
More than two months have passed since former state lawmaker Mamdani was sworn in as mayor, yet his new administration’s vision for the city child welfare agency remains unclear. Former Commissioner Jess Dannhauser resigned from his position on March 2, weeks after announcing he would leave.
The slow progress in naming his successor marks a significant shift from the past. Since the Administration for Children’s Services became a standalone agency in 1996, every mayor has named a commissioner even before entering office. Mamdani, meanwhile, has appointed heads of much smaller agencies this month, including the Department of Small Business Services and the Department of Cultural Affairs.
A City Hall spokesperson declined to share details of the relaunched hiring process, but said the administration is trying to be thoughtful and deliberate about choosing the person to oversee services for one of the city’s most vulnerable populations. Children’s Services is in charge of more than 6,000 foster youth in the city — the vast majority of whom are Black and Latino, well above their share of the general population. The spokesperson added that the agency is in capable hands under Melissa Hester, who was named interim commissioner in February. Hester was previously deputy commissioner of human resources at the Administration for Children’s Services.
Sources close to the search told The Imprint that the Mamdani administration is looking for a new commissioner who will overhaul the agency’s practices, particularly how it conducts child maltreatment investigations.
But those who spoke on and off the record have also said that the mayor’s team has struggled to find a candidate with enough experience to run the $3 billion agency. The city’s child protective specialists conduct more than 50,000 abuse and neglect investigations each year for the agency, which also manages child care vouchers, oversees a network of foster care nonprofits and runs two secure detention centers that house roughly 330 as of March.
This article has been updated to reflect the current number of youth in the Administration for Children’s Services’ secure juvenile detention centers.
