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Average child protective specialist caseload
Protect children from child abuse. — Respond quickly to every allegation of abuse and neglect and perform thorough assessments of safety and risk.
Average caseloads for ACS child protective specialists have dropped from a recent high of 9.7 cases in Fiscal 2023 to roughly 6 by Fiscal 2026. ACS's own performance reports attribute this to a deliberate staffing strategy: hiring more caseworkers ahead of expected attrition and keeping more case-assignable staff available at any given time, rather than a drop in the number of cases needing attention.
Researched July 15, 2026 — ACS, Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report, ACS, Fiscal 2026 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 8.4 | 12 |
| FY23 | 9.7 | 12 |
| FY24 | 8.1 | 12 |
| FY25 | 7 | 12 |
| FY26 (YTD) | 6.4 | 12 |
Why this is tracked
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani created ACS by executive order in January 1996 as a standalone agency, pulling child welfare functions out of the former Human Resources Administration, in direct response to public outrage over Elisa Izquierdo's death and reports that the warning signs had been missed or ignored. Nicholas Scoppetta, who had spent time in foster care himself, was named the first Commissioner. The agency's creation marked a shift toward a more protective, investigation-focused posture, in contrast to a prior system that had prioritized keeping families together even in cases involving risk.
NYC ACS - ACS Celebrates 25 Years of Keeping Children Safe & Families Supported, New York City Administration for Children's Services - Wikipedia
Source: Case Assignment System, Division of Policy Planning and Measurement/Office of Research and Analytics — via NYC Open Data: Mayor's Management Report, Agency Performance Indicators
Coverage shown: FY22–FY26, reported monthly.
Definition: Total number of cases carried on the last day of the month divided by the total number of Diagnostic Child Protective Specialists and Supervisors (Sup I) on the last day of the month.