A closet full of dresses is one of many reminders of the emptiness in Fernando Canteli and Everson Ladson’s home.     

For two and a half years, the room was a safe space for two children who were removed from their previous home after experiencing domestic violence and other trauma.

The couple says the 1-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl arrived at their home with “broken teeth” and poor hygiene, and that they experienced frequent nightmares. But over time, they were able to get settled, go to school and make friends.

What You Need To Know

  • A married, gay foster couple from Brooklyn is battling to regain custody of the children who were taken from their care after what they say were false allegations of abuse by the children’s mother

  • They claim she fabricated the claims because she was upset that her children were being cared for by a same-sex couple

  • The couple also alleges that when they raised concerns about mismanagement within the foster care system, the agency in charge retaliated by filing additional complaints against them

  • Now, the couple is fighting to bring the children back home

During the two and a half years the children lived at Canteli and Ladson’s home, the couple faced allegations from the birth mother and the foster care agency, SCO Family Services, which is contracted by the Administration for Children’s Services. Each time, the claims were investigated by authorities, and every time, closed as unfounded.

An investigation record states the couple felt they were retaliated against for being a married gay couple. Those concerns were confirmed in a call Ladson recorded with an ACS caseworker and shared with NY1.

Canteli and Ladson accused SCO of improperly supervising the children during visits with the birth mother. They said their foster daughter told them she’d been forced to talk on the phone with her father, who was in prison — a violation of a court order of protection.

While the SCO caseworker denied the call took place, a subpoenaed prison call log obtained by NY1 confirms calls took place during visits.

The couple says they believe they were retaliated against because they spoke out against SCO Family Services in family court. Both SCO and ACS declined requests for interviews in connection with this story.

NY1 has also reached out to the mother for comment, through her attorney, and has not heard back.

In October of 2024, the children’s attorney — required by law to advocate on their behalf — filed a motion to remove the SCO caseworker, stating, "She has consistently failed in her duties to protect” them. Days later, the couple learned SCO filed another allegation against them, accusing them of inappropriately touching their foster daughter.

The children were immediately removed, and underwent forensic and medical exams with child sexual abuse experts. An independent review determined the claim was unfounded, and the children should be returned to Canteli and Ladson.

Before they could be returned, SCO filed another claim of abuse. A second independent review, and further testing of the children, “yielded no findings” of abuse. However, that review found the children should not return to the Canteli-Ladson home, despite opposition from the children’s attorney.  

In total, SCO and the mother filed six allegations against the couple.  

SCO told NY1 in a statement that its “highest priority is… the safety and well-being of the youth in its care," adding that it is committed to “maintaining a safe and inclusive environment” for the families it serves and the people it employs.

The federal Adoption and Safe Families Act mandates that states move to terminate parental rights if a child is in foster care for more than 15 out of the past 22 months.

These two children have spent 33 months in foster care, yet ACS continues to push for them to return to their mother — a mother whom the Family Court has steadfastly refused to allow unsupervised time with her children.