Teen jumped off Brooklyn Bridge after years of missteps by incompetent NYC child-welfare officials
A Brooklyn family has filed a federal lawsuit accusing New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) of removing a deeply troubled 13-year-old girl from her home, failing to properly supervise her in foster care, and attempting to conceal agency failures after her death.
The lawsuit centers on Jade Smith, who died in January 2023. Her family alleges that ACS separated her from her parents despite her extensive mental health history, then failed to adequately monitor her as she repeatedly ran away from foster placements.
In court filings, Jade’s mother, Terri Nimmo, accused the agency of destroying her family’s life. “Over the course of ACS’s 20-month assault on the Nimmo family, the Nimmos lost their home, their jobs, and their 13-year-old daughter,” the lawsuit states. “They will never recover.”
According to the suit, nearly a year after Jade’s death, a caseworker made an unannounced visit to the family’s home and asked if Jade was “out for the moment,” an encounter Nimmo says caused weeks of panic attacks and nightmares.
The family described Jade as a gifted and prolific artist who struggled for years with severe mental health conditions, including PTSD, dissociative identity disorder, and depression. She had been hospitalized multiple times beginning at age 9 and experienced hallucinations, night terrors, and repeated suicide attempts by the age of 12, the lawsuit says.
The family’s ordeal began in the summer of 2022, when Jade made an allegation of sexual abuse that her mother believed was linked to a dream or delusion. Weeks later, the claim was reported to ACS by a third party. Caseworkers arrived the same day, the lawsuit says, but allegedly failed to consult Jade’s therapist, psychiatrist, or medical records before taking action.
In September 2022, ACS filed a neglect petition in Family Court against Jade’s stepfather, the lawsuit claims, without disclosing her extensive psychiatric history or other relevant information. Jade was removed from her home and placed with relatives and later into foster care, where she allegedly ran away multiple times.
The lawsuit alleges that ACS records were incomplete and inaccurate, omitting critical details about Jade’s mental health and her repeated attempts to flee placements. Nimmo says her concerns about her daughter’s safety were dismissed.
The last time Nimmo saw her daughter was Christmas Day 2022. Two weeks later, Jade ran away from her foster home. She died the following day.
After her death, ACS allegedly backdated case notes and escalated its investigation into the family, contacting Jade’s longtime therapist for the first time and repeatedly questioning school staff connected to her surviving sibling. The prolonged investigation, the lawsuit claims, left the parents unable to work and ultimately homeless.
In February 2024, a Family Court judge dismissed the abuse allegations, calling them “extremely difficult to believe” and describing Nimmo as an attentive parent who had been responsive to Jade’s mental health needs.
The family is seeking unspecified damages and says accountability is coming. “There will be a reckoning,” they said in a statement.
ACS declined to comment on the lawsuit but issued a statement saying, “The safety and well-being of New York City’s children and youth is our top priority. The loss of Jade Smith is a terrible tragedy. We offer our deepest condolences to the family.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or experiencing a mental health crisis, help is available. In New York City, call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free, confidential support. Nationwide, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
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