Legal news for Massachusetts child welfare attorneys – An advocacy group filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts foster care system, claiming inadequate supervision, abuse.
Lawsuit says Massachusetts foster care system plagued with problems, causes undue stress and abuse towards children.
Springfield, MA (www.NewYorkInjuryNews.com) – A national children’s advocacy group filed a lawsuit Thursday, April 15, 2010, arguing the Massachusetts foster care system violates children’s rights by “routinely placing them in dangerous and unstable situations,” as reported by The Boston Globe.
New York-based Children’s Rights is claiming the state has one of the highest rates of abuse in foster care and that its system is plagued by other problems. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six children whom were allegedly harmed by the lack of supervision from the state Department of Children and Families (DCF). Children’s Rights claims Massachusetts children in foster care suffer abuse at nearly four times the national standard.
Children’s Rights asserts the system moves the children too often, which results in further trauma, alleging that one-third of children in the system are sent to five or more homes while under their custody. Furthermore, the suit claims the foster care system fails to prepare parents for reunions with their children.
The suit names Governor Deval Patrick, Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, JudyAnn Bigby and DCF Commissioner Angelo McClain as the defendants.
President of the union that represents DCF caseworkers, Zevorah Ortega-Bagni, told reporters she hopes the lawsuit will lead to changes. She said, “I am very disappointed that matters have come to this stage…The system has some serious, serious problems…I hope the Department of Children and Families will rectify all the problems that may have contributed to all the harm that children have received while in the foster care system.”
On the defense, state officials have disputed the allegations and claimed the DCF has made significant progress in recent years. Officials claim there has been an increase in the number of children cared for safely in their own homes, which exceeds national standards for adoption and reunifying families.
Those in the defense claim the Patrick administration has made changes to the agency even though the budget has decreased as a result of the loss of state revenues. Governor Patrick is seeking $760 million for the agency for the next fiscal year.
A DCF spokeswoman told reporters it was unfair for Children’s Rights to make comparisons of abuse rates between Mass. and other states, because the state has a lower threshold for reviewing allegation of neglect and abuse.
Apparently, Massachusetts is one of eight states that investigates allegations based on “reasonable cause,” as opposed to other states’ standards that require “credible evidence” or “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The spokeswoman further told reporters, “We regret that their lawsuit will force us to expend already limited resources during this fiscal crisis to defend this suit, instead of investing those resources in efforts to serve children and families.”
Legal News Reporter: Tara Monks – Legal News for Massachusetts child welfare lawyers.