lived with foster parent Sam Sojo, beginning in January of 2003. The mother of Plaintiff Milton R., ten years old, voluntarily placed him into foster care in January 2003 because of domestic violence in their home. Based on this new evidence 14 about problems with this placement, the agency decided to remove Shorona from the Pons home and placed her with her grandmother, where she has now also been reunited with her mother who completed a drug rehabilitation program. Shorona said that Maria had pushed her, and that she had done so in the past. Pons said that Shorona had fallen while playing with one of her daughters, Maria. 13 On May 15, 2003, Shorona was taken to the hospital with a broken arm. On the basis of this investigation, the agency determined there was no problem with the placement. ¶ 14.) However, agency records indicate that a caseworker investigated the home on Novemand interviewed Shorona and Ms. 10 Plaintiffs’ Complaint alleges that Shorona’s mother, Cecilia Jones, reported she thought 11 Shorona had been abused 12 in foster care and nothing was done. Pons was a foster parent for ten years and cared for a total of ten children. Plaintiff Shorona J., five years old, was removed from her mother’s home because of a drug addiction problem and placed with foster parent Julia Pons, who has two teenage daughters. Re-certification requires a review of all caseworkers’ files and an in-home interview. 8 Prospective foster parents receive a one-time training and are re-certified each year. If the foster parent works and will need daily childcare, the caseworker investigates a day care center. Applicants are asked who lives in their household and what childcare arrangements may be necessary. 7 This system allows for the flexibility necessary to work within the city’s resources to respond to emergencies.Ĭaseworkers fully investigate prospective foster parents. An investigation into abuse could consist of a caseworker meeting with the foster parents and foster children both together and separately. Caseworkers receive a twenty-hour training that teaches how to exercise discretion in assessing allegations of abuse. Supervisors are certified social workers with Masters of Social Work degrees. All have Masters of Social Work or bachelor’s degrees. The City currently employs 300 caseworkers. All agencies require that caseworkers place written reports of investigations into each child’s file. The agencies are equally divided between those that have a mandatory time restriction on investigation into allegations of abuse, and those that rely on the discretion of the caseworker and supervisor to determine when investigations must be made, allowing for timely response to emergencies and prioritizing of cases depending on the nature of the allegations. ![]() There are a total of ten foster care agencies throughout the State of Y. ![]() Funding for the City’s foster care system is shared between the State of Y and the City of X. ![]() The City of X currently has 3,000 children in foster care. Whether Defendants are entitled to summary judgment because Plaintiffs have failed to establish the necessary element of a § 1983 claim since neither the actions of City employees nor City policy caused a violation of foster children’s substantive due process rights. Municipal liability is not an alternative to suing the perpetrators of private violence in tort. 3 This case is an attempt to hold the City liable for harms caused by third parties, in contradiction to the purpose of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. 2 Current foster care policies sufficiently protect foster children’s substantive due process rights, do not constitute deliberate indifference to their welfare, and are consistent with professional standards. 1 Defendants are entitled to summary judgment because Plaintiffs have failed to provide evidence for a necessary element of their § 1983 claim, namely, that Defendants’ policies or actions caused a violation of their constitutional rights. Click the highlighted text for the corresponding annotation.ĭefendants City of X, Howard Stens, Department of Children’s Services (DCS), Jeffrey Hights, Alice Hand, Samuel Addidge, Milly Tills, and Irene Constan request the court to enter summary judgment in their favor on all counts of Plaintiffs’ Complaint.
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