How can i sue dcf

I can review your potential suit for serious injury , physical abuse , sexual abuse or severe neglect of a child in foster care. Monetary damages, such as compensation for medical care, psychological counseling, and pain and suffering, are awarded in the name of the child. As a state agency, the DCF has limited immunity from lawsuits.

You must have legal standing as the natural parent or court-appointed guardian for the child. I can help a grandparent, adult sibling or other advocate obtain legal guardianship. The suit asked a judge to immediately reinstate in-person visits, which were stopped because of the pandemic. The suit said the department ended visitation for most children in state custody in March when it moved to virtual visits between parents and children.

The suit included an April 3 directive from DCF Commissioner Linda Spears that said most face-to-face parent child visits would be done through phone calls or video conferences to limit in-person interaction as much as possible. Through this policy the department is unilaterally deciding whether to provide visitation or terminate visitation, without the requisite court order.

According to the suit, one plaintiff — an unnamed mother of a 3-month-old — has not been physically present with the baby since March 9. The woman said she believes that happened because of her inability to communicate with the caseworkers. Shira Schoenberg is a reporter at CommonWealth magazine. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Charlie Baker. Shira covered the New Hampshire presidential primary for the Boston Globe. Before that, she worked for the Concord N. The complaint asks federal officials to suspend any further federal funding of DCF until the agency adopts a comprehensive remediation plan to provide language access to people with limited English.

It asks the federal government to then provide monitoring and oversight and institute reporting requirements to ensure DCF complies.

It says the plan should require interpreters to be present for all visits or phone calls with people with limited English proficiency, prohibit family members from serving as interpreters, require training for interpreters and caseworkers on impartiality and language issues, mandate the translation of all vital documents, and order community social service agencies to also provide interpretation services.