Could an abusive foster parent be sued for fraud?

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I think the majority of foster parents are good people. Good people who really care and are trying to make a difference.

Unfortunately there are some who are not good people.

I've been following a couple of stories in our paper - one from a situation a few years ago where a foster dad did irrepairable brain damage to a child and was recently sentenced to six years in prison and another situation where history is repeating - only this child might not live.

I can't think of a bigger abuse of trust than a foster parent who hurts a kid. Trust from the kid. Trust from the state. Trust from the taxpayer.

Foster parents are paid to care for the state's most vulnerable kids. If they don't take care of the kids aren't they guilty of fraud?

Just curious.

Thanks for your reply.

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I suppose anything is possible but I'd have to guess that it would be extremely hard to win a case against someone like that for fraud.

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Winnable or not, they're guilty of fraud, aren't they?

They're taking money to preform a job, kind of like a sub-contractor, and if they don't do the job or they don't do a good job, that's fraud, isn't it?

They really don't get "fired" until they practically (or actually) kill someone.

I'm not a lawyer (obviously) but it seems to me that foster parents who abuse kids should suffer some additional penalty other than the criminal charge of injuring a person.

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I suppose when they become foster parents only with the aim not to fulfill that job, then it could perhaps be fraud.

But - at least here in Germany - no prosecution would try to bring such a case to court since it seems impossible to prove.

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boomerang wrote:

Winnable or not, they're guilty of fraud, aren't they?

They're taking money to preform a job, kind of like a sub-contractor, and if they don't do the job or they don't do a good job, that's fraud, isn't it?

Fraud requires that there be an intentional misrepresenatation of intentions or facts. As a contractor, if I sign a contract to remodel your kitchen next week and then get in a car accident and break my back and become paralyzed I haven't committed fraud. My intent was to do the work. Circumstances prevented me from completing it. (I'd owe you any prepaid monies back but that would be because of a failure to complete the contracted work...) If I over-state my skills it could be fraud - if I did so intentionally. If it is an honest misunderstanding between what I thought you wanted and what you actually wanted it isn't fraud.

To win a fraud case you'd have to be able to prove that the foster parent intended to abuse the child. I suppose that might be possible to do in some circumstances but they would be few and far between IMO.

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Why would it be so impossible to prove?

In one case here the foster father admitted to shaking the baby and "punching it in the face" to get it to stop crying.

If his duty was to protect the baby and he was hired by the government to do the job and he shakes it and hits it and admits doing it.....

He pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted assault and received six years in prison. ATTEMPTED assault.

A federal lawsuit was brought on the girl's behalf, which was settled for $960,000 - the expected cost of life time care for the girl. Oregon taxpayers are footing this bill because this man didn't do the job he was hired by us to do.

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Oh I see, fishin'. That makes sense.

So maybe fraud isn't the right word but surely there is some word that fits.

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boomerang wrote:

So maybe fraud isn't the right word but surely there is some word that fits.

They can obviously get charged with any of the many child protection laws as well as your standard assault and murder charges (if it gets that far).

They might even be able to get hit with civil charges if they have violated the terms of any contract they would have with the State Social Services Agencies.

On the practical side of it however, many foster parents have little income other than the state subsidies they get for taking in foster children. As a general rule of thumb, most foster parents aren't "rich" by any means. It ends up costing the state more to go after their assests than what the assests may be worth.

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fishin wrote:

On the practical side of it however, many foster parents have little income other than the state subsidies they get for taking in foster children. As a general rule of thumb, most foster parents aren't "rich" by any means.

Really? Here in Europe (I just checked the relevant Swiss and Ausstrian regulations as well), foster parents aren't accepted if they can't prove to give the child/children a decent home, education, etc etc
(I personally know that the income is in Germany [at least in our state] a major point which is looked at.)

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Most foster parents are amazing people. They take on a huge amount of responsiblity and get very little in return. I think they're positively heroic.

But there are some bad apples. Very bad apples.

I guess I just can't imagine the mindset that would allow someone to take in a traumatized child and then further victimize them.

I'm not a hang-em-by-their-thumbs kind of girl but it just seems to be that there ought to be severe penalties or punishment in cases like this.

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not responding (at the moment)

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

fishin wrote:
On the practical side of it however, many foster parents have little income other than the state subsidies they get for taking in foster children. As a general rule of thumb, most foster parents aren't "rich" by any means.

Really? Here in Europe (I just checked the relevant Swiss and Ausstrian regulations as well), foster parents aren't accepted if they can't prove to give the child/children a decent home, education, etc etc
(I personally know that the income is in Germany [at least in our state] a major point which is looked at.)

This is the standard criteria for becoming a foster parent in the U.S.:

- They must be 21 years or older. Additionally, some states do not accept foster parents who are older than 65.
- They must have room for a child in their home. Some programs require every foster child have his or her own room, while some only require that they have their own bed and personal storage space.
- They must already have the financial resources to provide for their own family.
- They must provide a home that meets certain safety standards
- They must be in good physical and mental health

Each state sets their own criteria on top of that.

In many cases the foster parents are family members. I know one woman who is single and has one child of her own. She takes care of 3 foster children that were taken out of homes of her family members (i.e. the children are her nieces/nephews). Her only income is the state stipend paid to her as a foster parent. (She is supposed to get child support from her ex-husband but he's never paid it...) She hasn't had any other income in at least 10 years now.

Fostering children "in family" (with a willing relative) has become the preferred method for finding foster homes over the last 20 or so years.

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I doesn't take much to become a foster parent in America.

I can't speak for the rest of the country but here it is a slip-shod mess; underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed with kids needing a place to go.

People go through minimal training, pass a background check and have kids in their homes right away. A caseworker is supposed to visit at least every 30 days but sometimes that visit is just a phone call.

I can't think of any other job where you are given so much responsiblity for so little pay with practically no oversight.

A recent study in my state show neglect cases at a 10 year high. It's a tremendous problem with no real solution in sight.

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Oh.... the "in family" thing.... Oregon is just now catching up on that. Up till now they would not pay family members a stipend to care for relatives children so most of them were placed outside the family.

My only contact with CPS here was after Mo had been left here for about three months. I thought someone ought to know where he was so I called for advice. They said "Do you want us to come pick him up?" I said "No. I just didn't know if someone needed to know what was going on." They said "We don't need to know. Good luck."

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The money, foster partens get, varies from state to state here, too. (Even from district to district.)
It's about §1,100/month plus various special grants (for vacancies, school stuff, communion, graduation, birthdays, christmas etc = about $150/month).

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boomerang wrote:

Most foster parents are amazing people. They take on a huge amount of responsiblity and get very little in return. I think they're positively heroic.

But there are some bad apples. Very bad apples.

I guess I just can't imagine the mindset that would allow someone to take in a traumatized child and then further victimize them.

I'm not a hang-em-by-their-thumbs kind of girl but it just seems to be that there ought to be severe penalties or punishment in cases like this.

Well, aren't penalties for severe assault, or murder, of a child severe?

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One would think, wouldn't one?

Six years doesn't sound very severe to me for punching a three month old baby in the face so hard you crack her skull and leave her permanantly brain damaged.

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boomerang wrote:

One would think, wouldn't one?

Six years doesn't sound very severe to me for punching a three month old baby in the face so hard you crack her skull and leave her permanantly brain damaged.

I think penalties may be lowered because there is judged to be no criminal intent, as such...ie it is an intense emotional reaction....just as killing a baby often becomes manslaughter.

Our foster system sucks, too....but I don't think anyone really goes into it for the money.

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dlowan wrote:

Our foster system sucks, too....but I don't think anyone really goes into it for the money.

I agree, with all.

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I can't say this with any real authority but I do think there is a small segment here who look at foster parenting as a "work from home" opportunity.

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Could an abusive foster parent be sued for fraud?

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