State slams city's handling of slain 6-year-old Zymere Perkins' case, ordered Mayor de Blasio to hire monitor
By Jennifer Fermino and Greg B. Smith
State officials slammed the handling of slain 6-year-old Zymere Perkins' case by Mayor de Blasio's Administration for Children's Services. The mayor is seen her with recently resigned ACS Commissioner Gladys Carrión on Oct. 5. (Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)
The state released a scathing report Tuesday detailing multiple failures by the city's child welfare agency ahead of the beating death of a 6-year-old boy — and ordered Mayor de Blasio to hire a monitor to oversee the agency.
The report shows a doctor who examined Zymere Perkins' body on the night of his death on Sept. 26 found evidence that the boy might have been dead for 17 hours before he was brought to a hospital. The little boy was so underweight, the doctor thought Zymere was only 3 years old. And there bruises all over his tiny body.
The state found that ACS workers repeatedly dropped the ball, ignoring signs of abuse and even lying about Zymere's injuries.
The findings emerged a day after ACS Commissioner Gladys Carrión announced her resignation.
The state Office of Children & Family Services ordered de Blasio to hire an independent monitor to oversee ACS, underscoring the egregious nature of the city's failures. The mandate was issued behind the scenes on Dec. 1, yet during a press conference Tuesday de Blasio made no mention of the state's order and presented the monitor as his idea.
The mayor claimed he didn't need state approval of the position, though a state official said that wasn't true: OCFS must approve his selection.
Late Tuesday, de Blasio released the city's internal report on Zymere's case. And he announced that he ordered three workers directly involved to be fired. Six more are being suspended and demoted due to multiple lapses in investigating accusations of abuse prior to the boy's death.
A state report showed a series of failures by city child welfare workers — including lying — assigned to little Zymere's case.
"I will not accept excuses for this failure and I will not accept the notion that every single one of these tragedies cannot be prevented," the mayor said. "The buck stops with me."
The internal ACS report revealed many of the same issues uncovered by the state, admitting the agency "failed to completely and thoroughly investigate issues regarding the welfare of Zymere Perkins."
Both reports confirmed five prior reports to ACS alleging abuse of the child, a detail first reported by the Daily News. Three reports alleging "inadequate guardianship" were substantiated and two were unsubstantiated. None of the reports substantiated physical abuse.
The state found that prior abuse reports before Zymere died "contained repeated allegations of parent drug/alcohol misuse, fractures, excessive corporal punishment and inadequate guardianship."
"ACS did not conduct thorough investigations and/or follow regulatory standards," the state found. In prior reports of abuse "there were specific points when timely and appropriate intervention could have assisted the family's functioning."
The state report described a life of horror during Zymere's six years and a city agency that repeatedly bungled his case.
State officials contradicted the mayor's claim that he himself wanted a monitor for the ACS. (Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)
The reports found:
*In June 2010 ACS dismissed as unfounded the allegation that the mother, Geraldine Perkins, tested positive for marijuana after giving birth to Zymere. Zymere's test was negative.
*In June 2015, a tipster said the mother's boyfriend, Rysheim Smith, hit the child 20 times at a picnic so hard that the slaps could be heard "from each hit." The child later told ACS that the boyfriend beat him and placed him in a cold shower when he was bad."
*In August 2015 ACS was told the mother and boyfriend beat another resident at a homeless shelter. The mother was arrested and taken away. ACS determined that the child had been abandoned at the shelter after the incident. Again Zymere told ACS he was beaten with a belt and placed in the shower. In both incidents, the boyfriend and mother denied the abuse claims, but ACS made no effort to corroborate the allegations.
*In February, a school employee reported the child had suffered multiple injuries, including scratches near his eye, a fractured jaw and a tooth "knocked out." The mother claimed each time the child "fell."
ACS learned the child had been absent from school 24 times and that school officials were concerned about his many injuries. Yet ACS did not follow up, though caseworkers had become aware of prior domestic violence allegations involving Smith. They closed the case without interviewing Smith.
Charges against Geraldine Perkins, seen in Manhattan Criminal Court on. Sept. 28, could be upgraded since Zymere's death was deemed a homicide. (Robert Mecea/Robert Mecea)
*For months, ACS followed up with the family, observing several instances of "controlling behavior" by Smith. During a January home visit, a caseworker saw Zymere holding a blanket to his face and discovered Zymere "did not have any teeth in the top of his gum."
The mother claimed he'd fallen on the ice. The caseworker "expressed concern" but did not notify the state and did not seek an "elevated risk" conference with supervisors as required.
*Finally in April, OCFS found evidence that ACS caseworkers lied in reports about the extent of Perkins' injuries. School officials called the NYPD when the boy showed up with injuries and claimed he fell off his scooter. The school nurse documented multiple bruises and scratches on his legs, but ACS caseworkers claimed in paperwork the boy had minor "irritation" on his legs and no marks or bruises. They then deemed the allegation "unsubstantiated" and closed the case.
Perkins, 26, and her live-in boyfriend, Smith, 46, were arrested hours after the mother rushed the boy's lifeless body to St. Luke's Hospital from their East Harlem apartment.
Both are charged with endangering the welfare of a child. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, and prosecutors are considering upgrading the charges.
ACS has also come under fire for its handling of a case involving Jaden Jordan, a 3-year-old boy beaten in Gravesend, Brooklyn. He died on Dec. 3 after five days in a coma. It took ACS workers responding to an anonymous tip about an abused child in a dog cage three days to locate the correct address.
Carrión, seen outside her home on Tuesday, resigned this week. (Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News)
The tipster provided the wrong address. The correct home was next door.
Missed warnings
The city ignored repeated warning signs that Zymere Perkins was being abused, including:
In April, when ACS was probing claims of mysterious bruises on the child at school, Zymere told investigators that that he got "spanked" at home and didn't "get to eat good" if he was "bad."
His guidance counselor in February told ACS they were concerned about the number of "accidents" his mother claimed he had.
Zymere told ACS workers in August 2015 — who were investigating his mother's arrest for assaulting another woman — that he was "beaten" with a belt by his mom's boyfriend, yet there was no effort to check his body for bruises at that time.
When ACS was investigating a report that Zymere was beaten at least 20 times on the legs and buttocks for "not listening" at a picnic, the mother refused to tell officials who was at the party. The boy denied he was hit in that instance, but said he was hit other times and was "afraid" of his mom's boyfriend when he was "bad."
When ACS called the mother to inquire about injuries Zymere had in school earlier this year, the caseworker heard the mother's boyfriend tell her to get off the phone and "contact a lawyer."
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