The Legal Aid Society and Lawyers for Children, along with the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, filed a lawsuit in New York state court Tuesday on behalf of a class of foster care youth against The City of New York and the Commissioner of The New York Administration for Children's Services, concerning class members' rights to secure adequate housing prior to discharge from foster care. We are pleased to announce that, in an effort to avoid protracted litigation, a proposed settlement has been reached, which, subject to Court approval, will provide significant procedures and relief to prevent young people aging out of foster care from being discharged into homelessness or other unsuitable housing conditions.

The Legal Aid Society, Lawyers for Children and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP have engaged in lengthy and detailed negotiations with the City to revamp the City's procedures in order to ensure that young people aging out of foster care are not discharged to homelessness. The principal issue has been the City's systematic failure to provide young people aging out of foster care with the services to which they are entitled to prevent them from becoming homeless. As part of the proposed settlement of the class action lawsuit filed on behalf of four young people aging out of foster care, the City will maintain a unit devoted to this population, initiate training for foster care agencies, significantly revise its procedures for helping youth find stable housing and improve their access to services.

“An alarming number of young people are being discharged from foster care into homelessness,” said Tamara Steckler, Attorney-in-Charge of the Juvenile Rights practice at The Legal Aid Society. “Each year, more than 800 young people ages 18 to 21 are discharged from foster care in New York City and many of these young people have not been receiving the services they are entitled to under the law.”

Karen Gutheil, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said that “unless these vulnerable young people receive the assistance in transitioning to independence that they desperately need, many of them are at immediate risk of homelessness.”

The lawsuit, captioned D.B. et al. v. Richter, also seeks to ensure that the Administration for Children Services provides supervision and services, as required by law, to young people who are not yet 21, but who have already been discharged from foster care. Karen Freedman, Executive Director of Lawyers For Children, explained that “these vulnerable young adults who have left foster care to live on their own, will now have access to the critical and often life-saving services that ACS has agreed to provide under the terms of the settlement.”

The Davis Polk team includes James W.B. Benkard, Sharon Katz, Scott B. Luftglass and David C. Pitluck.