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FILE NO., COURT, AND DATE FILED
4:08-cv-00074-GKF-FHM (N.D. Okla. Feb. 13, 2008)
CITATION
2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33237 (N.D. Okla. Apr. 23, 2008); 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60885 (N.D. Okla. Aug. 11, 2008), 591 F. Supp. 2d 1186 (N.D. Okla. 2008); 594 F. Supp. 2d. 1273 (N.D. Okla 2009); 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13739 (N.D. Okla. Fe. 20, 2009); 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31820 (N.D. Okla. Apr. 15, 2009); 594 F. 3d 1188 (10th Cir. 2010); 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28000 (N.D. Okla. March 24, 2010); 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50333 (N.D. Okla. May 21, 2010).
CLEARING HOUSE REVIEW NO.
None
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS
Marcia Robinson Lowry
Ira P. Lustbader
William Kapell
Gena E. Wiltsek
Yasmin Grewal-Kok
Jeremiah Frei-Pearson
Patrick S. Almonrode
Children's Rights, Inc.
330 Seventh Avenue, Fourth Floor
New York, New York 10001
(212) 683-2210
Fax: (212) 683-4015
mlowry(at)childrensrights.org
Frederic Dorwat
Paul Demuro
Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers
124 East Fourth Street
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103-5010
(918) 583-9922
Fax: (918) 583-8251
FDorwart(at)fdlaw.com
R. Thomas Seymour
Scott A. Graham
Seymour & Graham, LLP
100 W. Fifth Street, Suite 550
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103-4288
(918) 583-5791
Fax: (918) 583-9251
Rtseymour(at)aol.com
Bruce Day
Joe E. Edwards
Day, Edwards, Propester & Christensen, PC
Suite 2900, Oklahoma Tower
210 Park Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
(405) 239-2121
Fax: (405) 236-1012
bruceday(at)dayedwards.com
Phillip A. Geraci
R. Nadine Fontaine
Carly Henek
Andrew Bauer
Kaye Scholer LLP
425 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10022-3598
pageraci(at)kayescholer.com
ISSUES
This class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of the 10,000 children living in Oklahoma’s child welfare system against Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services (DHS). The complaint charges DHS with violating the constitutional rights of children by routinely placing them in unsafe, unsupervised, and unstable living situations where they are frequently subjected to further maltreatment while in state custody.
The complaint identifies several systemic problems including: high rates of child abuse and neglect; routine placement of children in unsafe homes and overcrowded, understaffed emergency shelters; and frequent movement of children from one unstable placement to another. The lawsuit also raises concerns about excessive caseloads and worker turnover, dangerous monitoring and oversight practices, and insufficient efforts to develop and maintain an adequate pool of foster care placements.
HISTORY AND STATUS
Plaintiffs filed this suit in February 2008. On May 5, 2009, the court ruled that the case may proceed as a class action on behalf of all children in the Oklahoma child welfare system now or in the future as a result of abuse or neglect. Defendants appealed the class certification ruling to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
On February 8, 2010, the appellate court unanimously upheld the lower court decision finding that the case may proceed as a class action. The appellate court found that plaintiffs had satisfied the commonality requirement by alleging that defendants’ conduct posed a risk of harm to all children in defendants’ custody. Additionally, due to the common risk of harm and the common legal theory for asserting that risk, the appellate court found that plaintiffs had satisfied the typicality requirement.
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