Connor B. by Vigurs v. Patrick

To receive federal funds, state foster-care agencies were required to comply with various requirements, including the completion of mandated Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs). An agency’s performance was measured using a number of metrics, including recurrence of maltreatment, incidence of abuse in foster care, number of foster-care reentries, length of time to achieve reunification or adoption, and placement stability. The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) (defendant) performed poorly on multiple CFSRs. The reviews indicated that, due to a lack of funding and resources, DCF often failed to (1) ensure consistent visits with parents and siblings; (2) provide adequate service plans for achieving reunification; (3) keep the rate of reentry sufficiently low; (4) timely provide adoption services; (5) ensure consistent caseworker visits; (6) provide preparatory education for children aging out of the system; and (7) maintain reasonable caseworker caseloads, among other things. Eighty-five hundred children (the children) (plaintiffs) who were removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect and then harmed in foster care sued DCF, contending that DCF violated the children’s rights to substantive due process, liberty, privacy, and associated interests. DCF moved for judgment on the record.