A parent is locked in a feud with a jealous ex, an angry landlord or a spurned family member. Suddenly, they find themselves the subject of baseless, anonymous reports of child abuse that spur a disruptive investigation into their children’s well-being.
Experts and family law attorneys say the weaponization of anonymous abuse claims is a common occurrence across the country.
But the classic harassment tactic could soon come to an end in New York.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has until the end of the year to act on a bill that would ban anonymous complaints to the state’s child abuse hotline. Instead, callers would be required to provide their name and contact information under the promise of confidentiality; otherwise, the report wouldn’t spur an investigation.
The bill, which lawmakers passed in June, has the support of advocates for domestic violence survivors, as well as the state Bar Association, which says it would put an end to “a flawed policy that harms thousands of New York families each year.”
Hochul’s signature is not a given. Members of her administration and the city’s child services agency have voiced concern about doing away with anonymous reports entirely, since there are circumstances where callers could have a legitimate fear of providing their name. They urged lawmakers to avoid conflating those callers with those who are looking to abuse the system.
”They're not apples to apples,” Gail Geohagen-Pratt, deputy commissioner for the state Division of Child Welfare and Community Services, said at a legislative hearing last year. “There are circumstances where individuals are legitimately calling in a concern and just, for whatever the circumstances, do not want to leave their names.”
Supervisors would be directed to intervene when a caller to the hotline insists on anonymity, according to the bill.
New York registered 144,000 reports of child abuse or neglect last year, according to the state Office of Children and Family Services. About 6,000 of those reports were filed anonymously.
About 20% of the total reports were at least partially substantiated, meaning local investigators found some evidence to back up an allegation, according to the data.
The substantiation rate is far lower for anonymous reports. In 2023, only 8% of anonymous reports were substantiated, Geohagen-Pratt told lawmakers last year.
“ People know that if they want to hurt you or cause problems in your life, they can call [the state hotline] and say these crazy allegations and you will be investigated."Amanda Pumarejo, a mother of three from Manhattan
The bill’s supporters point to the data as evidence of the need for significant reform.
Anonymous complaints lead to thousands of probes into families each year. Black families face investigations at higher rates. A report published in the Columbia Journal of Race and Law earlier this year concluded nearly half of New York City’s Black children will be part of a child protective services investigation before they turn 18.
“There's simply no data that indicates that having anonymous reporting is better for children,” said Christine Gottlieb, director of the NYU Family Defense Clinic. “We’re doing far too many unnecessary investigations that are actually harmful to children.”
At the legislative hearing last year, Amanda Pumarejo, a mother of three from Manhattan, said she and her children have been subjected to multiple investigations. Each complaint has been unfounded, she said, but the repeated investigations have traumatized her and her kids.
“ People know that if they want to hurt you or cause problems in your life, they can call [the state hotline] and say these crazy allegations and you will be investigated,” she said.
The legislation’s opponents say there are simply too many hypotheticals to ignore. What if someone decides against filing a valid report because they don’t want their name attached to it? What about the anonymously reported cases that have uncovered abuse or neglect?
State Assemblymember Mary Beth Walsh, a Saratoga County Republican who practices family law, said there are a lot of “helpers and good people” who would have a legitimate reason to not want their name attached to a complaint.
“I mean, in the case of a neighbor, can you imagine living next door to somebody that you’re reporting for suspected child abuse or neglect?” Walsh said. “It would be an absolute misery.”
Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, a Queens Democrat who sponsored the bill and chairs the chamber’s children and families committee, said he initially had concerns about eliminating anonymous reports, too.
But he and his fellow sponsor, Sen. Jabari Brisport of Brooklyn, crafted the amendment that requires a hotline caller to be transferred to a supervisor if they refuse to attach a name to their complaint.
The supervisor would be required to explain that the state and local governments are required to keep their information confidential, unless ordered otherwise by a judge. If the caller still refuses to give up their contact information, the supervisor would be required to direct them to local services — including 911 if there’s an active emergency or a separate state hotline that connects families in need with food, housing and other services.
“If you want to report anonymously to be protected, you can call 911 immediately,” Hevesi said. “We’ve done our very best to take away the concerns about the potential for a chilling effect.”
Marisa Kaufman, a spokesperson for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, said the agency supports “limitations on anonymous reports to curb malicious reporting.”
Kaufman said the agency believes there should be “appropriate carveouts that keep children safe” — such as when a hotline operator believes a child could be at an imminent risk or if they believe the child is the caller.
The New York Public Welfare Association, which represents local social services across the state, issued a memo in June raising concern about the bill without opposing it outright. The association noted there can be “valid circumstances when a reporter should remain anonymous.”
“While we agree the [child abuse hotline] process should not be weaponized against the subjects of a report, there are existing penalties that can be brought to bear for the filing of a false report,” the memo reads.
Knowingly making a false report to the state hotline is already a class A misdemeanor in New York, but it’s rarely prosecuted. Last year, just 19 people were arrested with a top charge of falsely reporting abuse of a child or vulnerable person, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Dale Margolin Cecka, an Albany Law School professor, published a research paper in 2014 that concluded the costs of allowing anonymous reporting outweigh the benefits, which helped kickstart the push for a ban.
Her research found there were “no feasible penalties for false reporting.”
“It’s difficult for prosecutors to bring the charge, in part because false reports are often made anonymously,” she said in a recent interview. “The nonsensical suggestion that we just prosecute anonymous people — that is an oxymoron.”
Hochul, a Democrat, has to choose whether to sign or veto the bill. She could also seek to reach an agreement on what’s known as a chapter amendment, in which lawmakers agree to pass retroactive changes to the bill in exchange for the governor’s signature.
If she signs it, New York would be the third state — along with Texas and California — to pass a law banning or curtailing anonymous reports.
"The governor will review the legislation,” spokesperson Kara Cumoletti said.
