Part-time Faculty
eb14@nyu.edu
431 - 1 Wash Pl
B.A., Psychology, Colgate University, 1968
M.A., Psychology, New School for Social Research, 1971
J.D., Hofstra University, 1979
ERIC BRETTSCHNEIDER : Entered the child welfare and human services field in 1967 as a family court intake worker and child care worker. He spent 10 years as Director of The Queens Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a non-profit agency, where he concentrated his efforts on complementing foster care and child protective services with preventive strategies. In 1980, he joined the New York State Department of Social Services, where he was responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Child Welfare Reform Act. During his tenure as Deputy Commissioner for the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA), Eric promoted his progressive vision of comprehensive, preventive services and was instrumental in: creating The Child Protective Training Academy; advocating for the avoidance of sibling separation in foster care; starting minority controlled child welfare agencies; and beginning the movement toward decentralized community driven, and integrated social services. As Executive Director of the Agenda for Children Tomorrow, working there for 17 years in a public-private partnership during the tenure of three mayors. Eric continued this work on behalf of New York City children and their families, and established the partnership with the agency and ACS beginning in 1990. Eric later served the United Way of New York City as Interim Senior Vice President. Then he became Chief of Staff to Commissioner Gladys Carrión at OCFS and on February 4th, 2014 joined her as Deputy Commissioner at NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and later First Deputy Commissioner (FDC). He continues to serve as FDC under Commissioner David Hansell.
Mr. Brettschneider holds a B.A. and an M.A. degree in Psychology from Colgate University and the Graduate Faculty of New School University, respectively, as well as a law degree from Hofstra University. He teaches in NYU’s Department of Metropolitan Studies, Gallatin School and NYU School of Social Work. He was awarded an Outstanding Teacher Award by NYU. He was also awarded the New Yorkers For Children Nicholas Scoppetta Child Welfare Award, September 2017
Eric is the former President and current board member of New Yorkers for Children as well as a Doris Duke Foundation advisory board member. He was appointed co-chair of the New York State Office of Court Administration’s Advisory Committee on Court Interpreting in 2015 by Administrative Chief Judge Lawrence Marks. Eric is a recipient of the 2005 Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship from Harvard Law School. In 2015 Hofstra University awarded Eric the Public Justice Foundation Award.
His publications include contributions to Making a Leadership Change (1988) and the textbook Education and Psychology (WMC Brown Company Publishers, 1977), as well as Bottom Up Planning in a Top Down World in Devolution (Fordham University Press, 2001) and Leadership Reflections (Information Age Publishing,2022).
Eric retired from ACS in April of 2021 and now serves as a Senior Fellow at City University’s Institute for State and Local Governance.
child welfare community building advocacy the law and social welfare parent involvement and service integration
AWARDS AND HONORS
Lead on a Study with CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance :
Barriers to Inclusion of BIPOC People in the Helping Professions and Recommendations to Address Them
Eric Brettschneider is the recipient of the 2017 New Yorkers For Children (NYFC) Nicholas Scoppetta Child Welfare Award for his life-long dedication to New York City's children. NYFC selects a recipient for the Nicholas Scoppetta Child Welfare Award every year at the Fall Gala. Previous recipients include Mary J. Blige, Kevin Liles, Russell Simmons, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Reverend Alfonso Wyatt, Marian Wright Edelman, Hugh Jackman, Marcus Samuelsson and Maya Haile, Geoffrey Canada, and Laura Baudo Sillerman.
2024 Spring
2023 Spring
2022 Spring
2021 Spring
2020 Spring
2019 Spring
2018 Spring