Adoption – Negligent Adoption – Post Adoption Issues

Adopting a child is one of the most caring and selfless acts a person can perform. It can also be scary for adoptive parents grappling with fears about the health and well-being of their new child.  

Adoptive parents depend upon information provided by third parties to make informed decisions about adoption. Most of the time, adopted children do not have any significant physical or psychiatric conditions that would make them unsuitable for placement. However, there are unfortunate circumstances when adopted children have severe mental health disorders like reactive attachment disorder, sexual aggressiveness or have other psychological disorders that the adoptive parents did not know about when they adopted the children from DCF or other organizations. These untreated or undisclosed disorders can result in serious harm and disruption for the family of the adoptive parents and their bio-children. Due to these post adoption issues, the adopted child could also be surrendered causing them to be traumatized yet another time.  

 Adoption agencies are often barred from disclosing identifying information regarding the birth parents; but, this does not include medical or psychiatric information upon which adoptive parents may rely. 

 Negligent Adoption 

Negligent Adoption refers to a lawsuit brought by adoptive parents negligently or intentionally misinformed about the health or background of their adoptive child and have suffered harm as a result. Typically seen in the context of an adoption agency’s failure to disclose the behavioral and medical history of a child to the adoptive parents, this cause of action usually seeks a remedy for the physical, emotional, and/or financial losses associated with raising a disabled child. 

The lawyers at Justice for Kids® fight to obtain the financial resources parents and children desperately need to properly treat these children and preserve their families. Because many of these adoption disruptions are preventable, at Justice for Kids, where it is appropriate, we fight to increase adoption subsidies and to bring damage claims for negligent adoption issues that could have been prevented. Below are several cases dealing with negligant and wrongful adoption lawsuits:

-Parents Adopting Child Not Informed of Two Failed Adoptions Settled Pre-suit for Undisclosed Amount.
Two parents from Cocoa Beach, FL adopted a child but were not informed that the child had already been involved in two failed adoptions and had significant behavior problems, which resulted from her prior abuse and the traumas from being twice rejected. The previous adoption attempts failed because the child had explosive fits of anger and the proposed adoptive parents doubted that anyone would ever adopt her. After adoption by our clients, the child continued with her tantrums and even harmed the other two children in the home. The adoptive child was diagnosed with Disruptive Behavior Disorder and Reactive Attachment disorder. The case settled pre-suit and the settlement amount was sufficient to provide counseling, services, and other much-needed therapeutic intervention to avoid a third failed adoption and to save a family.

-Adoptive Parents Settle Lawsuit for Undisclosed Amount Against Child Welfare Agencies Responsible for Not Revealing Prior Abuse History in Foster Care.
The adoptive parents of two Jacksonville, FL area children filed suit in Duval County on behalf of themselves and their adopted children against child welfare agencies for negligence and wrongful adoption. The suit claimed that the agencies were negligent in-licensing and re-licensing a foster parent who had her own children removed from her due to abuse and that she had a criminal history for child abuse.  The minor Plaintiffs were subsequently severely physically, emotionally, and sexually abused by this foster parent and suffer from varying behavioral issues and mental health diagnoses, including Reactive Attachment Disorder.  The children’s mental health and behavioral issues were not disclosed to the adoptive parents prior to the adoption.  The case resolved for an undisclosed amount, which was placed into two special needs trusts so the children can receive the extensive therapeutic treatment they need over the course of their lifetime.

-Negligence and Wrongful Adoption Lawsuit Against Private Child Welfare Agencies for Failure to Disclose Children’s Sexual Abuse Histories and Sexual Behaviors to Adoptive Parents Resulting in Lack of Safety Plan and Child-on-Child Sexual Abuse.
The claim against the three agencies responsible resolved for undisclosed amounts. A Negligence and Wrongful Adoption lawsuit was filed in Hillsborough County, FL against private child welfare agencies for failure to disclose children’s sexual abuse histories and sexual behaviors to adoptive parents, which resulted in the lack of a safety plan and child-on-child sexual abuse.  The claim against the three agencies responsible resolved for undisclosed amounts.

-Child Welfare Agency Omits Foster Child’s Troubled Past From Adoption Registry.
Two Palm Beach County, FL parents adopted a foster child who was represented on the adoption registry to be a great student and athlete, however the child welfare agencies omitted to advise them that he was violent, had extraordinary mental health diagnoses and a criminal background. As a result, the boy destroyed more than $100,000 of the parents’ property. This case settled for an undisclosed amount that was placed in a special needs trust for the child’s life.

Justice for Kids^®

Fighting exclusively for children who have been physically, sexually, and emotionally abused or injured, or suffered a wrongful death, is the singular mission at Justice for Kids®. Our team of attorneys represents children and their families nationwide, including Florida and Illinois.

Justice for Kids® is a national premier law practice dedicated to representing abused, disabled, and catastrophically injured children who have been harmed in welfare and foster care, group home settings, and residential treatment centers, as well as children harmed in daycare facilities and the community at large. Our lawyers have earned their reputations nationally by achieving precedent-setting verdicts, rulings, and legislation, as well as securing multimillion-dollar settlements that help our clients and their families on their paths to recovery. 

Contact Justice for Kids®

It is important to take swift action. Evidence can be lost with delayed response times. Even if you don’t know if you have a case against your child’s daycare provider, we strongly encourage you to contact Justice for Kids® as soon as possible. If your child has suffered any type of injury or abuse while at a daycare facility, we want to help you and your family find justice, hold those responsible accountable, and make sure that another child is not harmed in the future.

At Justice for Kids®, we strongly believe that “justice delayed is justice denied,” especially with the life of a child. Litigation can take years, meaning a significant verdict may come too late to help a child in need. While we are trial lawyers, we also understand that the children we represent often have needs that cannot wait for a trial. Before any lawsuit or claim is filed, we provide expertise in seeking immediate care where necessary from skilled medical, mental health, and planning professionals. This can help prevent or minimize immediate or long-term harm from their trauma and possibly improve their prognosis.

At the same time, we are always preparing our cases in anticipation of trial while negotiating with the social service agencies, insurers, and potential defendants to obtain a fair and timely settlement, where possible. Years spent dealing with insurers have taught us that many prefer a timely resolution to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars or more defending claims. Our primary goal is to obtain justice for the children we represent and for them to begin healing as early as possible.

As true advocates for the children we represent, we help them establish life care plans and guide them through the process of creating trusts and other vehicles designed to protect the funds we recover for the damages they have suffered.

Here to Help You Every Step of the Way

The attorneys at Justice for Kids® have decades of experience fighting for the rights of children who have suffered serious personal injury, emotional harm, or wrongful death in Chicago, Illinois, as well as Jacksonville and Daytona, Florida, and all surrounding areas.

Justice for Kids® is a unique division of Kelley Kronenberg dedicated to providing legal services to abused and injured children. Kelley Kronenberg is a full-service, multi-practice, national law firm with over 400 employees, more than 200 attorneys, and 12 locations throughout Florida and the U.S.

Our team’s experience and unique approach to the representation of injured and abused children has not only secured millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements—our lawsuits, settlements, and case rulings have also helped change the law.