Wrongful death lawsuit names CYFD, foster parent

An amended lawsuit brings on new accusations in the 2017 death of a baby girl in the care of a state-licensed foster parent.

CYFD, social workers, supervisors, and an office manager are now named as defendants in the lawsuit against Stephanie Crownover, a foster mom accused in the December 2017 death of Ariza Barreras in Valencia County.

More >> Wrongful death lawsuit names CYFD, foster parent

Marcia Lowry, With New Secret Funding Source, Resumes Lawsuit Against New York City Foster Care

A nonprofit law firm representing a group of New York City foster youth has resumed long-running litigation against the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and the state agency that oversees it.

A Better Childhood (ABC), along with its white-shoe litigation partner Cravath, Swaine & Moore, has delivered a nearly 300-page filing to a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, with new evidence and allegations of money grabbing by nonprofit foster care agencies, frequent protocol violations, and too-frequent abuse of children, many of whom are staying too long in foster care in violation of federal law.

More >> Marcia Lowry, With New Secret Funding Source, Resumes Lawsuit Against New York City Foster Care

Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon’s child welfare agency are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit over the state’s foster care system, after settlement talks failed to produce a resolution earlier this summer.

In April, a national advocacy group and Disability Rights Oregon filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 10 children in state foster care ranging in age from 18 months to 17 years old. They accused the state of violating the children’s rights guaranteed by federal laws and the U.S. Constitution.

More >> Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

CYFD sued after reunification attempt fails

Three siblings who had been removed from their mother amid abuse allegations have filed a lawsuit against the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department alleging they were abused by a male relative when the agency allowed them to stay with their mom on a trial basis.

Filed recently in state district court in Albuquerque by the children’s guardian ad litem, the lawsuit says all three children were physically abused by Charles Pruner, and one also suffered sexual abuse. Court documents show Pruner was criminally charged with raping the 4-year-old girl, but he was ultimately acquitted following a jury trial last spring.

More >> CYFD sued after reunification attempt fails

$3.25M award for alleged bungled adoption is overturned; lawyer isn't liable for emotional distress

An Iowa lawyer isn’t liable for emotional distress damages for a failed adoption that left a baby in the temporary care of a birth father who was later charged with the child’s murder, the state supreme court has ruled.

The Iowa Court of Appeals overturned a $3.25 million emotional distress verdict against lawyer Jason Rieper in a July 3 opinion, report the Des Moines Register and WHO-TV.

More >> $3.25M award for alleged bungled adoption is overturned; lawyer isn't liable for emotional distress

Parents of 6-year-old girl who died in foster care sue Idaho officials

The parents of a child who died while in foster care have filed a lawsuit claiming officials with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the foster family and others failed to adequately care for the 6-year-old girl who had a serious medical condition.

Danielle Greenup and Andrew Bishop, along with the child’s grandmother Darce Bishop, filed the lawsuit in federal court last week, alleging deliberate indifference, recklessness and gross negligence in the care of Justice Bishop.

More >> Parents of 6-year-old girl who died in foster care sue Idaho officials

Children file class action lawsuit against Indiana Department of Child Services, Governor Holcomb

A group of children filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday morning against Governor Eric Holcomb, the Indiana Department of Child Services and its director Terri Stigdon alleging Indiana is failing in its duty to protect more than 22,000 children in the state’ child welfare system.

The names of the children are not identified in the lawsuit.

More >> Children file class action lawsuit against Indiana Department of Child Services, Governor Holcomb

• Foster mom: "Our system is broken"
• Lawsuit claims Indiana child protection agency inflicting trauma on kids in its care
• Group of Children File Federal Lawsuit Against Gov. Holcomb, DCS

Lawsuit: Texas ranch didn't protect 2 boys from sexual abuse

A young man and a teenage boy filed a lawsuit last week accusing the staff at a Texas ranch for at-risk youth of not protecting them from sexual abuse by older residents, an advocate for child abuse victims said Wednesday.

In recent years, an increasing number of former residents have come forward to say they suffered physical and sexual abuse at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch near Amarillo decades ago. But too many years had passed for legal recourse.

More >> Lawsuit: Texas ranch didn't protect 2 boys from sexual abuse

Judge tosses lawsuit against Cuyahoga County DCFS case workers over 5-year-old girl’s death

A federal judge in Cleveland dismissed a lawsuit filed over the death of 5-year-old Ta’Naejah McCloud that accused Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services of improperly handling accusations of abuse against the child.

An attorney representing her estate said he plans to at least re-file the case in state court.

More >> Judge tosses lawsuit against Cuyahoga County DCFS case workers over 5-year-old girl’s death

Washington state to pay $1.7 million to settle woman’s claims that social workers ignored child abuse, neglect she suffered

She first met him at a corner store 30 years ago, when she was 13 and wandering the streets of Tacoma’s then-notorious Hilltop.

The 37-year-old man, a convicted drug dealer, took her home, forced her into sex and before long, had the girl living with him, she said. And soon, he allegedly was plying the girl’s drug-addicted mother with crack cocaine as part of an unspoken arrangement.

More >> Washington state to pay $1.7 million to settle woman’s claims that social workers ignored child abuse, neglect she suffered

9th Circuit upholds class-action status of foster children's lawsuit against Arizona

The Arizona Department of Child Safety will have to defend how it handles the more than 14,000 children in foster care now and all those who will be there in the future, a court says.

In a unanimous ruling Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that most of the claims against the state should be handled in a class-action lawsuit. That means the department will face questions on not just how it has handled the care of a handful of children who filed suit, but whether its policies endanger others in the system.

More >> 9th Circuit upholds class-action status of foster children's lawsuit against Arizona

Foster children sue state to ensure adequate protection

A new class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the state of inadequately protecting Oregon’s foster children.

Ten foster children, representing the roughly 8,000 children in the state’s care, want a federal court to fix longstanding issues at the Oregon Department of Human Services.

Oregon >> Foster children sue state to ensure adequate protection

Protect Children from Strip Searches, HSLDA asks Supreme Court

On Wednesday, HSLDA filed an amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that could halt warrantless strip searches during child welfare investigations.

More >> Protect Children from Strip Searches, HSLDA asks Supreme Court

Lawsuit against DHS claims agency 'failed to protect children'

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, families and former employees are moving forward with a class action lawsuit that was filed against the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

They plan to sue the agency for what they call "failing to protect children."

More >> Lawsuit against DHS claims agency 'failed to protect children'

Texas focused more on fighting lawsuit than fixing foster care, child welfare advocates say

Major improvements to a foster care system that a federal judge has said fails Texas kids aren't likely to happen anytime soon, according to child advocates.

The state is fighting the judge's orders, they would cost tens of millions more per year and the Legislature is focused on school finance and property tax issues.

More >> Texas focused more on fighting lawsuit than fixing foster care, child welfare advocates say

Twin girls: starved and tortured by their mother sue the State of Washington, DCYF

Twin girls, age 12, have sued the State of Washington, Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) on Monday.

Tamaki Law says that the girls are suing after alleging that social workers negligently removed them from a loving and safe foster home, where they had lived from birth to age 7, and then placed them in the home of their drug-addicted, physically abusive biological mother.

More >> Twin girls: starved and tortured by their mother sue the State of Washington, DCYF

Lawsuit seeks up to $4.5M for Oregon girl who was abused in state care

A lawsuit filed Thursday accuses the Oregon Department of Human Services and at least three child welfare workers of negligence for placing a teenage girl in a home where she was allegedly sexually abused.

The lawsuit, which seeks up to $4.5 million in damages, was filed on the girl’s behalf by the guardian now caring for her, Jules Moorhouse. It alleges she was also placed in foster homes in which she was neglected.

More >> Lawsuit seeks up to $4.5M for Oregon girl who was abused in state care

$3B class action lawsuit filed against Ottawa over First Nations child welfare discrimination

A $3.05 billion class action lawsuit has been filed against the federal government for discriminating against First Nations children by "systematically" underfunding on-reserve child welfare services.

The lawsuit, which still needs to be certified to proceed as a class action, was filed Monday with the Federal Court of Canada in Toronto and Montreal.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of First Nations children affected by on-reserve child welfare services between April 1, 1991, and March 1, 2019.

More >> $3B class action lawsuit filed against Ottawa over First Nations child welfare discrimination

8 Separated Migrant Families Demand $6 Million Each in Damages From U.S. Agencies

Eight immigrant families demanded millions of dollars in damages Monday from the Trump administration for separating them, including a Guatemalan woman who alleged an officer said her 5-year-old son would be taken and then taunted, “Happy Mother’s Day.”

In claims filed with the U.S. government Monday, the parents accused immigration officers of taking their children away without giving them information and sometimes mocking them or denying them a chance to say goodbye. The claims allege that many children remain traumatized even after being reunited with their parents, including a 7-year-old girl who won’t sleep without her mother and a 6-year-old boy who is reluctant to eat.

More >> 8 Separated Migrant Families Demand $6 Million Each in Damages From U.S. Agencies

• 'Inexplicable cruelty': US government sued over family separations at border

Helena-area man sues Montana, saying his foster mother raped him

A Helena-area man who said his former foster mother repeatedly raped him as a teen is suing the state of Montana for placing him in her home.

The lawsuit filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court Wednesday accuses the state of Montana and its Department of Public Health and Human Services of negligence and negligent supervision.

More >> Helena-area man sues Montana, saying his foster mother raped him