JAN. 12, 2015 — A civil rights class action lawsuit today filed on behalf of South Carolina children seeks to get the state to remedy “dangerous deficiencies” with the state Department of Social Services, including a shortage of foster homes, excessive caseloads and the failure to provide children with basic health care.
[UPDATED, 4:15 p.m.] In a prepared statement by DSS spokesman Marilyn Matheus, the agency responded: “The Department of Social Services and our child welfare caseworkers across this state are completely dedicated and work hard every day to ensure that foster children receive the care that meets their individual needs. Children who come into our care are assessed at that time to determine the services which will best provide for their physical, mental and educational needs. In regards to this specific lawsuit, the agency will fully evaluate the claims and respond in an appropriate forum.”
A $6.9 billion state budget plan offered today by the Haley administration reportedly included an extra $39 million for improvement so to DSS, including pay increases for DSS workers. The current state budget totals $6.7 billion.
In December, lawmakers filed several bills to reform DSS. In the House, S.C. Rep. Jenny Horne, R-Dorchester, filed H. 3079 to create a new Department of Child and Family Services to take on many child welfare duties of the current agency. State Rep. Joe McEachern, D-Richland, filed H. 3104 to require a safety plan for children in the agency’s custody. In the Senate, S.C. Sens. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, and Joel Lourie (D-Richland) filed S. 150, a major bill to overhaul the agency.
Lawsuit seeks to thwart continuing violations
The lawsuit, Michelle H. v. Haley, was filed in federal court in Charleston on behalf of 3,400 children in foster care by the national organization Children’s Rights, the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center and Matthew T. Richardson, a Columbia lawyer who ran for state attorney general in 2010. The suit sued Gov. Nikki Haley and the acting state director of the long-embattled agency to “stop DSS from continuing to violate the federal constitutional and statutory rights” of children in the state’s child welfare program.
Among the allegations of the lawsuit:
- Children taken from their families by the state continued to be harmed physically, psychology and emotionally while in DSS custody. “DSS is re-victimizing the very children it is charged to protect,” the lawsuit said.
- DSS operates a system that doesn’t have enough foster homes, has excessive caseworker loads that dramatically exceed national and state standards and fails to provide adequate and basic health care services for children in the agency’s care, which leads to harm and risk of harm.
The agency was riddled by complaints and legislative probes last year after numerous deaths of children in the agency’s care. The lawsuit said children “have waited far too long for DSS to meet its federal constitutional and statutory obligations” to ensure their safety and proper care.
The lawsuit documents the care given to 11 children who range in age from 2 to 17. Michelle H., the 16-year-old whose name is featured in the case summary, moved at least 12 times in eight years, including into abusive foster homes, according to the lawsuit. Another group of five brothers and sisters, ranging from 2 to 10, entered foster care in late 2014, was put in different placements across the state because of a shortage of homes, the suit says. They didn’t have a caseworker for a week or family contact for three weeks, according to lawsuit, which also alleged that the two older children were put in group facilities where they were mistreated.
“Foster care is supposed to be a safe haven for abused and neglected children, yet South Carolina is revictimizing the kids it’s supposed to protect,” said Ira Lustbader, litigation director for Children’s Rights, in a press release. “There’s got to be accountability when longstanding systemic problems, like a severe lack of mental health services, gross overreliance on institutions and high caseloads, continue to harm innocent children.”
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!