Nonprofit Legal Advocates File Suit for 11 Foster Children

By Ruth McCambridge
NonProfit Quarterly

Class action lawsuits are one way to create systems change, and nonprofits have always been central to this kind of activity. In the case of some state foster care and child protective systems, there may be a longstanding acknowledgement of malfunction even as reforms progress excruciatingly slowly. Enter nonprofit advocates.

In South Carolina, eleven foster children are listed as plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit that claims that children are being endangered by the inadequacies of the Department of Social Services (DSS). The 74-page suit was filed in federal district court in Charleston and requests a court-appointed monitor who would oversee such things as caseload restrictions, healthcare, and the capacity for children in care to visit with siblings.

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