Plaintiffs drop four-year-old lawsuit that alleged misconduct in Alaska’s foster care system

(Getty Images)

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

A New York-based child welfare advocacy group has dropped a lawsuit against the Alaska Office of Children’s Services that alleged widespread misconduct by the state’s foster care system.

A Better Childhood, which represented 5 foster care children in the federal suit, told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week that it was seeking to voluntarily dismiss the case.

The firm’s motion was accepted by the court on July 31. 

The group of plaintiffs filed a class-action suit in 2022, alleging systemic problems within the foster care system — including chronic understaffing, overburdened caseworkers and failure to find adequate placements — were creating a danger to children. 

Judge Sharon Gleason presided over an 11-day trial late last year and ruled against the plaintiffs, finding none had standing to bring the case and that none of the plaintiffs were either harmed or faced risk of harm.  

A Better Childhood appealed Gleason’s decision to the 9th Circuit but chose to drop that appeal. It isn’t clear why. A Better Childhood did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday afternoon.

In other states, A Better Childhood has filed successful lawsuits that resulted in court orders requiring specific actions by foster care programs in those states. 

The Alaska Department of Law — which represented the state’s defense — said in a statement that A Better Childhood’s decision to drop the case will allow the state to direct the foster care system without a court mandate.

“There is always room for improvement in how we support children and families,” said acting Alaska Attorney General Cori Mills. “But meaningful reform happens through thoughtful policy and cooperative innovation here in Alaska, not through expensive lawsuits brought by outsiders that drain already scarce public resources. (The) dismissal preserves Alaska’s flexibility to continue pursuing creative, practical solutions to the unique child welfare challenges our state faces.”

During this spring’s session of the Alaska Legislature, state lawmakers voted by a wide margin to mandate tighter regulation of hospitals that treat foster youth and to require stricter oversight of any psychiatric treatment. 

A separate lawsuit, alleging that the state is not adequately supporting older foster children, continues to advance in state court.

• James Brooks Cascade is a longtime Alaska reporter who lives in Juneau. He previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.