On Sept. 12 of last year, three siblings drowned in the middle of the night in Coney Island.

Their mother, Erin Merdy, was indicted on multiple counts of first- and second-degree murder.

NY1 confirmed she had a case history with the Administration for Children’s Services.

On March 9, NY1 asked Jess Dannhauser, the commissioner of ACS, where the investigation stands and what ACS could have done differently to save those children.  

“That’s what we’re diving into right now, to understand our involvement, to understand other folks’ involvement, to make sure there’s an active investigation,” he said. “We will make sure that we learn from that and get it right.”

But according to documents from the New York state Office of Children and Family Services, which regulates and monitors ACS, the ACS report on the case had been closed months earlier, on Oct. 2, 2022.

That is the date cited in the state’s Child Fatality Report, a review that New York statute requires in the case of child deaths.

While the report, as is standard, does not name those involved, it does detail its investigation into how ACS handled a case in Brooklyn where a mother was charged with drowning her three children on the morning of Sept. 12, 2022.  

The Merdy children were the only victims of a triple homicide reported by the NYPD that day.

When the Dannhauser was asked when he would inform the public about ACS’s agency’s history with Erin Merdy, he responded: “When it’s important, when the public needs to know if we get something terribly wrong, I’ll make sure that they know.”

According to the OCFS report, ACS did get things wrong, and the commissioner did not let the public know.

The state released the report on March 2, a week prior to NY1’s interview with the commissioner.  

It cited ACS for a number of concerns and directed the agency to submit a Performance Improvement Plan within 45 days to identify actions ACS has taken, or will take, to address the cited issues.  

The state report says that dating back to 2020, ACS had a substantiated case for “educational neglect” — describing the mother as “unstable,” “overwhelmed and extremely depressed. As a result… she was unable to adequately care for” her children.

Furthermore, “the record did not reflect that the fathers of the deceased siblings were notified of the report in writing,” the report said.

This week Derrick Merdy, father of 7-year-old Zachary who died that night, said he still has not been contacted by ACS regarding its investigation or past case history with his son.  

“Just like everything else, I’ve been shut out. Don’t know nothing about it. And I’ve never been informed of anything,” Merdy said.

ACS did not respond to NY1’s specific questions about the report but issued a statement which reads in part: “As part of our commitment to continuous quality improvement, ACS incorporates findings from our child fatality review process, along with the state’s review process.”

The statement said it is training staff “in postpartum depression, expanded coaching for high-risk cases, and continued to educate ACS and provider agency staff of the importance of collateral and family contacts and documentation.”

And while the state’s review is not the direct investigation, it does shed light on Erin Merdy’s case history.

One summary in the state report notes that ACS caseworker interviews with the mother “lacked key safety-related questions” and that she had “had a recent MH (mental health) diagnosis…”

The report said, “There was a missed opportunity to gather collateral information from the SM’s (subject mother’s) MH (mental health) provider… There was concern the SM (subject mother) was not taking her medications as prescribed, but there was no documentation this was discussed with the provider.”

The summary notes continued, “the record did not reflect that ACS obtained medical records regarding (her) psychiatric hospitalization, or… discharge recommendations, despite supervisory notes stating this was a priority.”

Derrick Merdy says he was unaware of the ACS investigation or the state’s report on his son’s death.

“A big part of it is just coming clean. You’ve got any information. I would love to see it,” he said. “If I had received this information when he was five years old, it would have changed everything because I always thought that, at the bare minimum, his mom is doing her best to keep him safe.”

As for Erin Merdy, she is currently awaiting trial. Her family and lawyer have declined to comment on the case.

Meantime, a result of NY1’s reporting, the Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, who chairs the state Committee on Children and Families, is considering holding hearings to review the statute that allows the commissioner to withhold information surrounding child deaths.

Mayor Eric Adams told NY1 the ACS commissioner has his full support.

His office followed up with a statement which says in part, “Child Protective Specialists have one of the most difficult jobs there is and work hard to keep children safe.”