AREAS OF EXPERTISE
FOSTER CARE
15 years of experience with the child welfare system including child protective services, foster care, permanency planning, foster parent home studies and training, assessments of adoptive parent suitability, safety planning, and persons in need of supervision (PINS) proceedings. I have personally conducted countless foster and pre-adoptive home visits and evaluations, completed safety and risk assessments with foster parents and biological families, drafted and reviewed safety plans, as well as wrote daily documentation in compliance with local and state requirements. Over a period of seven years I worked within the Family Court system and visited children in all placements within the foster care continuum: foster homes, group homes, residential treatment centers (RTCs), residential treatment facilities (RTFs) run by the NYS Office of Mental Health, hospital inpatient medical and psychiatric units, secure and non-secure juvenile detention facilities, and state hospitals.
GENERAL SOCIAL WORK
As a foster care case planner I provided case management services to children, biological families, and foster parents, and as a forensic social worker, I held other professionals accountable for the case management services they provided to others. I recognize the importance of upholding morals, values and ethics within the social work profession which enables me to provide consultation on cases involving social work in settings such as hospitals, schools, behavioral health centers, community-based organizations, residential settings, and religious institutions. I have worked collaboratively with all of these systems and structures to ensure social workers and other professionals maintain the expected standard of care deserved by the individuals they serve.
SEXUAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE
I have worked with hundreds of children impacted by sexual abuse and assault, physical abuse, commercial sexual exploitation (CSEC), and neglect. I have expertise in conducting forensic interviews and assessments of children of all biological and developmental ages who are alleged to be victims of such crimes. My skills in forensic interviewing have uncovered sexual abuse when others were unable to do so, and resulted in my taking the stand and drafting affidavits to support attorney motions. Since 2023, I have provided expertise on many Child Victims Act cases.
CHILD CUSTODY AND VISITATION
When couples choose to file for divorce or separate, the highest toll is often taken on their children. I have represented children involved in custody and visitation cases and have seen firsthand the impact this has on them and the ways in which the impact can be mitigated. I believe children are far more resilient and capable than adults give them credit for and that it is important they play an active role in such proceedings to provide them with a voice, a semblance of control via their input (even if it is simply around schedules), and to remind them that they are a part of a family that values them. When children are included in the process and feel their voice is heard, a family has better outcomes.
RESIDENTIAL CONGREGATE CARE
I understand the general profiles of children, staffing structures and limitations, the therapeutic environment that these facilities are responsible to provide, and the standards set for such intended services, particularly those set forth by OCFS in New York State. My knowledge of these residences extends to the relationships and dynamics they often hold with states and local counties, which includes shared responsibilities to supervise child residents to ensure their health, safety, and well-being.
SERVICES
CASE CONSULTATION
If my services are not necessarily required as an expert witness on a specific case, I provide more generalized consultation to support collaborative case analysis, litigation, and deposition strategy. At times attorneys simply want to discuss their case with an expert to understand the strength of their case, potential holes, areas of weakness in the provision of social work services, and more. I am available to quickly review any available documentation and meet with attorneys as needed.
DEPOSITION AND TRIAL TESTIMONY
I am available for both in-person and virtual depositions. I do not shy away from court testimony and am willing to travel to do so. I spent 7 years testifying as a fact witness in Family Court which provides a foundation to my composure in the courtroom. I appreciate the importance of having an expert on the stand who is prepared, confident, and able to pivot when necessary.
DOCUMENT REVIEW
I complete a speedy yet efficient review of all available discovery and documentation and can provide summaries or notes when necessary. No amount of discovery is too much and in my focused review, I always find the needle in the haystack to support a case.
AFFIDAVIT DRAFTING
I draft my own affidavits following a personal review of all documentation provided. I view affidavit drafting as an important collaborative process between an expert and an attorney. I understand that every attorney has their own preferred method of affidavit drafting and will amend mine as requested. I almost always turn-around revisions within 24 hours (or sooner) unless further documentation is provided for review.
CUSTODY AND VISITATION SUPPORT
I provide forensic (and non-forensic) interviews of children, support parents, and when necessary participate in mediation. I can help children to understand the changes within their family dynamics and relationships, support them to recognize their rights and wishes, and explore their involvement within the court and/or mediation processes. I am available to support parents in learning the impact of the legal proceedings (both contested and uncontested) on their child and how to best explain their new family dynamics/structure to children of all ages and developmental levels. I provide techniques and concrete ways for parents to explain their family’s situation so they can better support and connect with their child. I will also participate in mediation (formal or informal) through a clinical, family-centered lens.
BIOGRAPHY
Samantha A. Fried is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) who has worked in child welfare for nearly 15 years and in academia for 7 years. She has served in senior leadership management positions in private agencies and City government working across policy, practice improvement, training, and compliance. At the Administration for Children’s Services’ Nicholas Scoppetta Children’s Center she served as Chief of Staff to bring clinical and legal expertise to the leadership team and staff of over 300 by identifying the needs for clinical initiatives to guide agency legal, policy, and management divisions. As the Director of Program Policy and Practice Development at JCCA, she reported to the executive team to assess, coordinate, streamline, and scale cross-functional projects to improve the delivery of child welfare and mental health services to children and families. By working across all agency programs, she found creative practical solutions to address agency-wide practice and policy initiatives and authored best practice training guides and policies and procedures to ensure compliance with local and state statutes. Throughout her career, she has frequently consulted with colleagues on complex cases to address both clinical and legal concerns and was often brought in when emergencies arose or teams felt they exhausted all viable options.
Samantha was involved in project management at the Center for Court Innovation (presently known as the Center for Justice Innovation) where she oversaw a $2.5 million federal grant for the Office for Victims of Crime of the United States Department of Justice (OVC) – the Child Victims and Witnesses Support Materials Project. This national project created a package of interactive materials for children, caregivers and justice system practitioners to facilitate the provision of effective, developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed court support to children involved in state, federal and tribal court settings in criminal and civil cases. During this time, Samantha began to provide national trainings to attorneys, victim advocates, and social workers about best practices for working with child victims and witnesses. These tools are now used throughout the country to improve practices around work with court-involved children.
She began her career as a therapeutic case planner at New Alternatives For Children, which is consistently rated as the best foster care agency in New York City and serves medically fragile children and children with severe mental health issues and trauma. In this role, she worked tirelessly on behalf of families and learned what it truly means to uphold a county’s standard of care to ensure the health, safety, well-being, and permanency of children in foster care. She also provided both written and oral testimony to the Family Court in permanency hearings and trials. She then spent four years as a Forensic Social Worker in the Legal Aid Society’s Brooklyn Juvenile Rights Practice where she worked alongside attorneys to represent children in child protective, juvenile delinquency, and custody and visitation proceedings in Family Court. As a Forensic Social Worker, Samantha became a skilled forensic interviewer children and was often sought out to meet with children suspected of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and commercial sexual exploitation. It was in this role that she found her passion for the law including affidavit drafting to support attorney motions and affirmations, alternative dispositional planning, court testimony, and the importance of holding local counties and foster care agencies to their own standard of care. She also provided secondary trauma trainings and one-on-one case consultations for attorneys.
Samantha has worked within academia for seven years as an Adjunct Professor at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work of Yeshiva University, the Columbia School of Social Work, New York University’s Silver School of Social Work, and the Fordham Graduate School of Social Service. She most enjoyed her experiences in the classroom teaching Forensic Social Work and Social Work and Law. She spent a year working in the Fordham University School of Law co-teaching a Family Advocacy seminar and supervising social work students placed within the various law clinics. She sits on the board of City Living NY, a Brooklyn-based organization that empowers young people who age out of the foster care system to transition successfully into adulthood.
Samantha holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan and an M.S.S.W. with a Minor in Law from Columbia University.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
Child Victims and Witnesses Support Materials: Cooperative agreements #2016-VF-GX-K011 and #2018-V3-GX-K069, awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime: https://ovc.ojp.gov/child-victims-and-witnesses-support
Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services, Continuing Education Course Instructor: Supporting Children Involved with the Justice System (2023)
National Children’s Advocacy Center Symposium, Presenter: Supporting Child Victims and Witnesses Involved with Justice Systems (2019)
National Indian Nations Conference, Justice for Victims of Crime, Presenter: Supporting Child Victims and Witnesses Involved with Justice Systems (2018)
National Crime Victim Law Institute Conference, Presenter: Supporting Child Victims and Witnesses Involved with Justice Systems (2018)
Cardozo School of Law Secondary Trauma Symposium Panelist (2016)
Contact Me
At times I am available to provide services for cases on a last-minute basis (even within only a few days) so please do not hesitate to reach out despite a court deadline.