District of Columbia v. H. J. B.

• Decision Date: 09 June 1976
• Docket Number: No. 9743.,No. 9684.,9684.,9743.
• Citation: 359 A.2d 285
• Parties: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Appellant, v. In the Matter of H. J. B., Appellee. U. S. CATHOLIC COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES AND MIGRATION, Appellant, v. In the Matter of H. J. B., Appellee.
• Court: D.C. Court of Appeals

359 A.2d 285

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Appellant, v. In the Matter of H. J. B., Appellee.

U. S. CATHOLIC COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES AND MIGRATION, Appellant, v. In the Matter of H. J. B., Appellee.

No. 9684.

No. 9743.

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Argued November 5, 1975.

Decided June 9, 1976.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

James N. Dulcan, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Washington, D. C., with whom C. Francis Murphy, Corp. Counsel, Washington, D. C., at the time the brief was filed, Louis P. Robbins, Principal Asst. Corp. Counsel, and Richard W. Barton, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for the District of Columbia.

Alfred L. Scanlan, Washington, D. C., with whom Franklin D. Kramer and R. James Woolsey, Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for appellant United States Catholic Committee for Refugees, NCWC.

Patrick J. Christmas, Washington D. C., also entered an appearance.

Elizabeth J. Branda and Joel Klein, Washington, D. C., with whom W. Anthony Fitch, Harry J. Fulton and Frederick H. Weisberg, Public Defender Service, and Patricia Wald, Washington, D. C., Mental Health Law Project, were on the brief, for appellee.

Judith C. Areen, Washington, D. C., with whom Wallace J. Mlyniec, Georgetown Juvenile Justice Clinic, Washington, D. C., submitted a brief as amicus curiae on behalf of American Ortho Psychiatric Association, Child Welfare League, National Society for Autistic Children and Washington Psychiatric Society.

Before REILLY, Chief Judge, and YEAGLEY and MACK, Associate Judges.

YEAGLEY, Judge:

The difficult issues raised on this appeal arise out of an order entered June 3, 1975, in which the trial court directed that the appellee be transferred from St. Elizabeths Hospital to Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital in Meridian, Rhode Island. Appellants, the District of Columbia and the United States Catholic Committee on Refugees and Migration, were ordered to bear the costs of that placement, approximately $29,000 per year. After review of the numerous arguments raised by the parties and the brief filed by the amici, we reverse as to the liability of the Committee, affirm the government's liability for the appellee's medical expenses and remand in order that the government may propose a program of medical and psychiatric care suitable for appellee's treatment during the term of her involuntary commitment.

The Catholic Committee is a District of Columbia organization incorporated in 1954. The Committee's principal activity consists in the placement of foreign-born children with American families. During the years it has been in existence, the Committee has found homes for a great many orphans including the appellee. Although separately incorporated, the Committee is a constituent agency of the United States Catholic Conference which is the Committee's prime source of revenue.

Appellee H.J.B. is a 14-year-old female diagnosed as severely retarded with a major psychiatric disorder and autistic tendencies. She is presently confined to the care of St. Elizabeths as the result of a petition for involuntary commitment filed by the Superintendent of that hospital with the Mental Health Commission in July 1974, which petition subsequently was filed with the Superior Court.

Appellee was born in late September 1961 and was found abandoned shortly after her birth in the streets of Pusan, Korea. Thereafter she was entrusted to the care of a Catholic orphanage. The orphanage contacted the Committee which arranged for her adoption by an American family in Illinois.

The child was certified in good health by the United States Health Service in Korea and brought to the United States in May 1963. Soon after her arrival in Illinois, the family discovered that the child was, not developing normally and in 1966, refused to continue with the adoption. The local agency of the Catholic Charities of Illinois assumed custody. For the next seven years, the child was moved from one foster home or institution to another but each placement failed, generally because of the violent behavior to which the child was then, and is now, prone.

In the spring of 1974, the child was brought to the Committee's New York office and placed in Bellevue Hospital. Bellevue treated her for some months, but refused to continue her treatment beyond that period because she was not, in the hospital's opinion, a bona fide resident of New York. The child was returned to the Committee on June 27, 1974. That same day, she was flown to the Committee's national headquarters in Washington. A physician in the company of an official of the Washington office examined the child immediately upon her arrival at National Airport, and after diagnosing her condition as "chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia", signed the necessary commitment papers. Within two hours of landing, the child was admitted as an emergency patient at St. Elizabeths Hospital.

One week later, the Superintendent of the hospital filed a petition for involuntary commitment, pursuant to D.C.Code 1973, § 21-541. Proceedings before the Mental Health Commission concluded in a recommendation to the Superior Court that H.J. B. be ordered to a period of indefinite hospitalization in St. Elizabeths. The Commission found, in support of its recommendation, that H.J.B. was a resident of the District of Columbia and that she was mentally ill and a danger to herself.

The Superior Court adopted the mental illness finding at its initial hearing, held November 22, 1974, but as there was evidence taken in the court and before the Commission to indicate that the child could not receive adequate care at St. Elizabeths, the proceeding was continued to explore alternative courses of providing for her maintenance. Upon a suggestion made at a hearing held December 16, 1974, the court ordered the child placed with the National Children's Center, but was compelled to reconsider the matter on April 22, 1975, because the Center refused to accept the child even on a nonresidential basis. During the ensuing period, appellee's attorneys discovered the possibility of placing her at the Bradley Hospital which has a special program for the treatment of such cases. The hospital indicated it would accept the child for a minimum one-year placement at a charge of $79 per day or approximately $29,000 per annum. The court considered the suggestion at a hearing held April 23, 1975, and as there was no other proposal for H.J.B.'s care, ordered on May 7, 1975, that the child be transferred to Bradley, directing further that the District of Columbia bear the cost of her expenses. The latter part of the order was modified later. In support of its order, the court found, inter alia, that H.J.B. was a legal resident of the District, that she had unique treatment needs, that she could not be adequately cared for at St. Elizabeths and that there were no other suitable alternatives for her care at that time other than the Bradley placement.

Up to this point only the appellee and the United States, on behalf of the hospital,¹ had been represented by counsel at the hearings, although employees of both the District and the Committee had appeared previously as witnesses. The District, after receiving the May 7th order, filed a motion to intervene. The motion was granted and the hearing reopened so that the District could present witnesses to contest the residency finding, an effort which ultimately proved unsuccessful.

During the hearings which followed the District's motion to intervene, a question was raised concerning the possible liability of the Committee for H.J.B's medical expenses. Two theories were advanced in support of that proposition. The first suggested that as the Committee had acted as child to the District, it could not declare her a public charge and disavow responsibility for her support. The second was premised on the Committee's corporate charter, filed in the District, in which the Committee had stated among its corporate objects and purposes:

To the extent and in the manner permitted by applicable law to accept the custody and control, formal or otherwise, by surrender, commitment, relinquishment, release, or otherwise, of any of the foregoing individuals [children brought by the Committee to this country for adoption] who may be minors and to place such minors . . . in boarding homes, foster homes, or custodial homes; to support them until they reach majority or are adopted; to act as guardian of their persons or property or both; and to give consent to their legal guardianship or adoption . . .

To do any and all acts, and to render any and all services or assistance which may prevent such individuals from be coming public charges in communities of the United States . . . .

At the May 23rd hearing, the first at which the Committee's liability was considered, the court declined to rule on the question pending advice from the Commit tee concerning its willingness to voluntarily guarantee payment of H.J.B's expenses. The Committee later responded that be cause its annual budget was only $42,000 it could not afford the $29,000 annually needed to care for the one child at Bradley without seriously curtailing the Committee's other philanthropic activities involving many other persons. The court expressed its belief that the Committee could not elude the promise it had made in its articles of incorporation and suggested that the Committee would have to seek additional funds from its parent organization. The Committee's request for time to investigate less expensive arrangements for H. J.B.'s care was denied.

The following day, the court again ordered H.J.B. transferred to Bradley but modified its earlier order by directing that her expenses be borne jointly and severally by the District and the Committee. The court found, with respect to the Committee, that it had functioned as the child's guardian, being responsible for the child's care as mandated by its articles of incorporation. With respect to...