Eight Michigan families plan to file a federal lawsuit against Governor Rick Snyder and the Department of Human Services Thursday.
The lawsuit will allege DHS employees abused 19 adopted children who are handicapped. It claims there were several counts of negligence, fraud and wrongful adoption. They also face allegations of constitutional violations, violations of civil rights, violations of federal and state foster care and adoption laws, discrimination on the bases of handicap, race and age and violations of medicaid regulations.
The attorney says DHS also refused to give these families financial assistance once their children's handicaps were discovered.
The families reportedly will say they were told the children were physically and mentally healthy at adoption, but say that wasn't the case.
"It's heart wrenching when you hear the stories of these families. Many of them are going bankrupt trying to pay for the tens of thousands of dollars of costs for care and treatment and placement of these children and that's what this adoption subsidy is supposed to pay for and they're being denied that assistance," said Attorney David Kallman.
A DHS spokesperson says their counsel is looking into the allegations, but since the complaint hasn't been filed yet, they didn't have a comment.
The law firm representing the families will hold a press conference Thursday. 6 News will be sure to follow this story and bring you updates as they develop.
DHS later released this statement: "DHS has already prevailed in the majority of cases referenced by this attorney at the administrative level, and Michigan courts on review have repeatedly ruled in DHS' favor in most of these cases. Because DHS takes all issues of child safety seriously, the state Attorney General's office-- on behalf of DHS-- met with Mr. Kallman regarding his allegations this past August. Subsequently, the Attorney General's Office has requested information from Mr. Kallman to assist with this matter, thus far to no avail."
