MISSISSIPPI DOES NOT CONTEST FOSTER CARE FAILURES, SETTLES LAWSUIT
On April 3, 2007, Bradley Arant attorneys Wayne Drinkwater and Melody McAnally, along with Children's Rights, a national advocacy organization based in New York, and attorneys for the state of Mississippi, won preliminary court approval of the settlement agreement to reform the state's child welfare system and resolved a federal class action lawsuit scheduled for trial beginning May 7, 2007.
Drinkwater and McAnally and Children's Rights filed the federal suit in 2004 on behalf of approximately 3,500 foster children in Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS) custody. The May 7 trial would have determined whether the constitutional rights of the children had been violated. In the settlement agreement, Governor Haley Barbour and Attorney General Jim Hood do not dispute that Mississippi foster children's constitutional rights were violated, and agree that the case should move immediately into the remedial stage to determine the relief required to protect foster children in the state's care.
The agreement provides that during the next six months Mississippi will work with outside experts and Plaintiffs’ counsel to create a detailed plan to reform the system. If Plaintiffs agree that the plan is adequate, it will be submitted to the court to become a binding and enforceable court order. If Plaintiffs determine that the plan is insufficient to reform the system, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi will decide what relief should be granted at a trial to begin on December 3, 2007.
A hearing for approval of the settlement is scheduled for May 17, 2007.
The suit charges Mississippi with failing to provide legally required safety, protection and basic health care services to thousands of abused and neglected children in state custody, while denying them the opportunity for a permanent, loving home. Longstanding problems identified in the suit include dangerously overburdened and untrained caseworkers, a shortage of safe foster homes and a lack of basic health services.
For more information, contact Melody McAnally.
