The Legal Aid Society, along with Lawyers For Children and The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, were organizational plaintiffs in an Article 78 petition challenging the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) regulations which sought to establish the Host Family Home program. Plaintiffs were represented by pro bono counsel Proskauer Rose LLP. The program purported to authorize the placement of children in “host family homes,” for the provision of temporary care with volunteers. Branded as a “bold, new initiative” to support families, the program omitted important legal protections for children and families, including the provision of counsel and effectively sought to establish an unauthorized shadow voluntary foster care system.

In November 2022, a trial court dismissed our petition for lack of standing. In July 2023, the Third Appellate Division reversed, and granted our motion for a preliminary injunction, preventing the program from going into effect. In December 2023, the trial court dismissed our petition again, finding that OCFS acted within its statutory authority. In a split decision, the appellate division affirmed in April 2025. In May 2026, the New York Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in favor of the plaintiffs and annulled the regulations.