Abstract
Child welfare agencies in the U.S. have a history of repeat maltreatment of children in care. Substantive due process rights violations-based lawsuits have been brought as a remedy for the harm of children in agency custody. The U.S. Supreme Court in DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services (1989) established nearly insurmountable deliberate indifference and shocks-the-conscience standards for allowing cause of action against the child welfare agency for maltreatment of children in care. The professional judgment standard is discussed as an alternative liability test for allowing substantive due process causes of action based on significant departures from professional practice that results in harm to children in agency custody.
Presenters
Ariel AlvarezAssociate Professor, Department of Political Science and Law, Montclair State University, New Jersey, United States
