LaShawn A. by Moore v. Kelly, 91-7159

• Decision Date: 09 August 1993
• Docket Number: No. 91-7159,91-7159
• Citation: 301 U.S.App.D.C. 49,990 F.2d 1319
• Parties: LaSHAWN A., by Her Next Friend, Evelyn MOORE, et al., Appellees, v. Sharon Pratt KELLY, et al., Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 1319

990 F.2d 1319

301 U.S.App.D.C. 49

LaSHAWN A., by Her Next Friend, Evelyn MOORE, et al., Appellees, v. Sharon Pratt KELLY, et al., Appellants.

No. 91-7159.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Nov. 4, 1992.

Decided April 16, 1993.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc

Denied Aug. 9, 1993.

Beverly J. Burke, Deputy Corp. Counsel, Washington, DC, for appellants. John Payton, Corp. Counsel, Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corp. Counsel, and Donna M. Murasky, Assistant Corp. Counsel, Washington, DC, were on the brief, for appellants.

Marcia Robinson Lowry, New York City, with whom Christopher T. Dunn, Elizabeth Symonds, and Arthur B. Spitzer, Washington, DC, were on the brief, for appellees.

Before MIKVA, Chief Judge, SENTELLE and RANDOLPH, Circuit Judges.

MIKVA, Chief Judge:

This is a review of a decision by the district court in favor of a group of unfortunate children who brought a class action suit for injunctive relief against various officials of the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs brought the class action on behalf of children who are in foster care under the supervision of the District of Columbia Department of Human Services ("DHS"), as well as children who are reported to be abused or neglected but are not yet in the care of the DHS.

The children attacked a child-welfare system which they alleged is characterized by ineptness and indifference, inordinate caseloads and insufficient funds. The district court found that, because of the appalling manner in which the system is managed, children remain subject to continuing abuse and neglect at the hands of heartless parents and guardians, even after the DHS has received reports of their predicaments. The court also found that youngsters who have been taken into the custody of the District's foster-care system languish in inappropriate placements, with scarce hope of returning to their families or being adopted. The court held that the District of Columbia's treatment of the children violated the Constitution and federal and local statutes.

After trial, the parties negotiated a remedial order that seeks to ease the plight of children who depend on the DHS for protection and for the opportunity to live and grow in a stable and nurturing environment. In the remedial order, the District of Columbia expressly reserved the right to appeal the district court's judgment assessing liability against it. The District's appeal from this judgment raises some complex constitutional and federal statutory issues. Because District of Columbia law is an independent and sufficient basis to support the district court's decision, however, we need not reach these issues in order to uphold the district court's resolution of this case.

I. BACKGROUND

It is not necessary to recount at length the complex background of this case, nor to recapitulate the extensive list of allegations against the District officials that the district court found to be based in fact. For the details as to these matters, we refer to Judge Thomas F. Hogan's clear and comprehensive discussion in the opinion below. LaShawn A. v. Dixon, 762 F.Supp. 959, 961-87 (D.D.C.1991). Suffice it to say that the district court found that the District of Columbia Department of Human Services ("DHS"), the agency entrusted with the care of foster children and abused and neglected children, has consistently evaded numerous responsibilities placed on it by local and federal statutes. Among the agency's transgressions are:

[T]he failure of the DHS to initiate timely investigations into reports of abuse or neglect, the failure to provide services to families to prevent the placement of children in foster care, the failure to place those who may not safely remain at home in appropriate foster homes and institutions, the failure to develop case plans for children in foster care, and the failure to move children into a situation of permanency, whether by returning them to their homes or freeing them for adoption.

LaShawn A., 762 F.Supp. at 960.

The district court held, as to the children already enmeshed in the foster-care system, that the practices of the DHS deprived them of their due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court also found that the challenged actions and non-actions of the DHS violated two federal statutes: the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. §§ 620-627 and §§ 670-79, and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5101-5106. The court held the defendants liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for both the constitutional and federal statutory violations.

The children also raised pendent claims that the defendants had violated the District of Columbia's statutory and regulatory law, namely the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Act of 1977, D.C.Code Ann. §§ 2-1351 to -1357, §§ 6-2101 to -2107, §§ 6-2121 to -2127, and §§ 16-2351 to -2365 ("Abuse and Neglect Act"); the Youth Residential Facilities Licensure Act of 1986, D.C.Code Ann. §§ 3-801 to -808 ("Licensure Act"); and the Child and Family Services Division ("CFSD") Manual of Operations (September 1985). The district court found that the defendants had violated these acts and regulations, but it did not hold that the children possessed an explicit or implied private cause of action under District law to enforce these statutes. Instead, it held that the District's laws conferred constitutionally protected liberty and property interests on the children, the deprivation of which, without due process, was actionable under § 1983.

On appeal, the District officials assert that the district court erred in finding that the administration of the city's child-welfare and foster-care system violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. They further contend that Suter v. Artist M., --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1360, 118 L.Ed.2d 1 (1992), which the Supreme Court decided after the district court decided the present case, forecloses any federal statutory cause of action. As we will explain, it is not necessary for us to confront these constitutional and federal statutory issues, for the district court judgment is completely supportable on the grounds of local law.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Abstention

As an initial matter, we must address the District officials' contention that under principles of Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971), the district court should have abstained from deciding a large portion of this case. Appellants assert that Younger applies as to children within the foster-care system because these children are parties to ongoing proceedings in the Family Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia where their claims could have been resolved. (Appellees do not urge Younger abstention as to the claims of children who are reported to be abused or neglected but who are not yet in foster care, because these children are not yet parties to Family Division proceedings.) This Court has never decided whether the District of Columbia is a state for Younger abstention purposes. Instead, every time the question has arisen, we have assumed that the doctrine applies to the District and nonetheless determined, in light of the facts of each particular case, that Younger abstention has not been appropriate. See, e.g., District Properties Assocs. v. Dist. of Columbia, 743 F.2d 21, 28 n. 4 (D.C.Cir.1984); Family Div. Trial Lawyers v. Moultrie, 725 F.2d 695, 701 n. 7 (D.C.Cir.1984). In the present case, we again find it unnecessary to reach the issue, because Younger abstention would not be required here even if the doctrine applied to the District with full force.

In Younger and its progeny, the Supreme Court has established that federal courts may not interfere with pending state judicial or administrative proceedings. Although the Supreme Court has extended Younger abstention well beyond its original application to pending state criminal proceedings, the Court has never abandoned the core principle that the doctrine is applicable only "if the [federal] plaintiffs 'had an opportunity to present their federal claims in the state proceedings.' " Moore v. Sims, 442 U.S. 415, 425, 99 S.Ct. 2371, 2378, 60 L.Ed.2d 994 (1979) (quoting Juidice v. Vail, 430 U.S. 327, 337, 97 S.Ct. 1211, 1218, 51 L.Ed.2d 376 (1977) (emphasis in original)). The notions of comity underlying Younger abstention do not compel federal courts to refrain from hearing federal statutory and constitutional claims when the pending state proceeding is an inadequate or inappropriate forum for pursuing these claims.

This Court has previously applied this principle in a case concerning the Family Division of the D.C. Superior Court. Family Div. Trial Lawyers of Superior Court-D.C., Inc. v. Moultrie, 725 F.2d 695 (D.C.Cir.1984), involved the constitutional claims of three attorneys who regularly requested assignment of cases in the Family Division. In federal district court, the attorneys unsuccessfully challenged the practice by which the D.C. Superior Court appointed counsel to represent indigent parents in neglect proceedings without reimbursement. They appealed the adverse decision to this Court. Before this Court, the appellees argued that the district court should have abstained from deciding the merits of the appellants' claims, because these claims could have been raised and adequately dealt with in the individual neglect cases in which the appellants were counsel.

This Court rejected the appellees' abstention argument. It questioned "the need or wisdom of extending Younger to all constitutional claims that might be adjudicated in state as well as federal courts." 725 F.2d 695, 702 (D.C.Cir.1984). Instead, the court focused on whether the federal plaintiffs were "parties to any pending suit in the local courts in which their constitutional challenges could naturally be resolved." Id. at 702 (emphasis added). The panel...