Publications & Resources

This report covers the progress of the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) in meeting the requirements of the Final Settlement Agreement (FSA) entered in Michelle H., et al. v. McMaster and Catone, for the period April 1, 2024, through September 30, 2024. Approved by the United States District Court on October 4, 2016, the FSA includes requirements for the care and treatment of over 3,000 children in foster care in South Carolina and incorporates provisions ordered in a September 2015 Consent Immediate Interim Relief Order (the Interim Order or IO). The FSA outlines South Carolina’s obligations to significantly improve the experiences of and outcomes for children removed from the care of their parent(s) or guardian(s) and placed in DSS’s custody and reflects an agreement by the state to address long-standing problems in the operation of its child welfare system.

The report has been prepared by court-appointed independent Co-Monitors Paul Vincent and Judith Meltzer, with assistance from Shira Davidson, Molly Dunn, Lisa Mishraky-Javier, Gayle Samuels, and Rachel Paletta. It is presented to the Honorable Richard M. Gergel, U.S. District Court Judge; the Parties to the lawsuit (Governor McMaster, DSS, and Plaintiffs); and the public.

To make this report as useful as possible to the Court, the Parties, and the public, the Co-Monitors have also included information about developments beyond September 30, 2024 (the end of the monitoring period), including references to data DSS provided directly to the Court on October 11, 2024 (DSS’s Data Submission to the Court) and activities of the Richland County Child Welfare Improvement Task Force formed at the Court’s direction in late 2024.

The Kevin S., et al. v. Blalock and Scrase (“Kevin S.”) lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for New Mexico on September 22, 2018, on behalf of a class of children in the custody of New Mexico’s child welfare system (“Plaintiffs”) by Disability Rights New Mexico, the Native American Disability Law Center, Public Counsel, Pegasus Legal Services for Children, and associated counsel. The Defendants in the lawsuit include State officials responsible for administering and supervising New Mexico’s child welfare system – Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD) – and the system responsible for delivery of Medicaid services for eligible children as well as other behavioral health services for adults, children, and their families – Health Care Authority (HCA). Following months of negotiations among the Kevin S. parties, on March 17, 2020, the parties executed a Final Settlement Agreement (“FSA,” also referred to herein as “Agreement”), and on March 26, 2020, filed a Joint Stipulation of Dismissal of the lawsuit. In reaching this Agreement, the parties acknowledged their mutual commitment to the development of a trauma-informed system of care that meets the needs of New Mexico’s diverse children and youth and their families.

This is the fourth Kevin S. report produced by the Co-Neutrals on the State’s efforts to achieve the commitments of the FSA. The report summarizes the State’s performance on agreements in each FSA Appendix.