Kenny A v. Perdue Class Action

General Information

• Quick Overview of Case (we recommend reading this first)
• List of Case Accountability Agents with Contact Information
• Barton Clinic March 2008 Summary of Status of State Defendants' Compliance with October 27, 2005 Kenny A v. Perdue Consent Decree
  • Table 1: Kenny A v. Perdue State Consent Decree Monitoring Measures
  • Table 2: Kenny A v. Perdue System Improvements with Deadlines
  • Table 3: Kenny A v. Perdue System Improvements without Deadlines or Benchmarks

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Chronology (most recent events first)

• 8/19/2008: Plaintiffs' Contempt Motion to U.S. District Court on Measures 9 and 10 of the State Consent Decree
  • PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR ORDER FOR DEFENDANTS TO SHOW CAUSE WHY THEY SHOULD NOT BE ADJUDGED IN CIVIL CONTEMPT AND SANCTIONED (92KB, 32 page PDF)

• 8/1/2008: Period II (1/1/2008 to 6/30/2008) Fulton County Compliance Report Released
  • Compliance Report from William G. Jones, Kenny A v. Perdue Compliance Agent for Fulton County (3.9MB, 251 page PDF)

• 7/22/2008: Period III (9/15/2007 to 3/15/2008) DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center Compliance Report Released
  • Compliance Report from Karen B. Baynes, Kenny A v. Perdue Compliance Agent for DeKalb County (1MB, 34 page PDF)
  • Full Report with Attachments (8.9MB, 361 page PDF)

• 7/3/2008: Plaintiff Attorneys' Fee Award Upheld
  • U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling (320K, 91 page PDF)
  • Article from Law.com - Judge Calls Lawyers Greedy but Panel Approves Fees

• 5/15/2008: Period IV (7/1/2007 to 12/31/2007) Monitoring Report Released
  • Report from James T. Dimas and Sarah A. Morrison, Kenny A v. Perdue Accountability Agents (1.2M, 159 page PDF)

• 1/11/2008: Period I (7/1/2007 to 12/31/2007) Fulton County Compliance Report Released
  • Compliance Report from William G. Jones, Kenny A v. Perdue Compliance Agent for Fulton County (0.25MB, 73 page PDF)

• 12/19/2007: Period II (3/14/2007 to 9/14/2007) DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center Compliance Report Released
  • Compliance Report from Karen B. Baynes, Kenny A v. Perdue Compliance Agent for DeKalb County (348KB, 41 page PDF)

• 12/17/2007: Period III (1/1/2007 to 6/30/2007) Monitoring Report Released
  • Report from James T. Dimas and Sarah A. Morrison, Kenny A v. Perdue Accountability Agents (1.3M, 170 page PDF)

• 9/18/2007: Foster Care Needs Assessment Released
  • Fulton/DeKalb Foster Care Needs Assessment (623K, 74 page PDF)

• 8/8/2007: Period I (9/13/2006 to 3/13/2007) DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center Compliance Report Released
  • Compliance Report from Karen B. Baynes, Kenny A v. Perdue Compliance Agent for DeKalb County (1.5MB, 23 page PDF)

• 6/25/2007: Fulton County Child Advocate Office Workload Study & Monitor's Interim Report Released
  • Interim Report from William G. Jones, Kenny A v. Perdue Compliance Agent for Fulton County (128KB, 25 page PDF)
  • Child Advocate Attorney Representation and Workload Study by Governmental Services Division, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia (1MB, 199 page PDF)

• 6/18/2007: Period II (7/1/2006 to 12/31/2006) Monitoring Report Released
  • Report from James T. Dimas and Sarah A. Morrison, Kenny A v. Perdue Accountability Agents (1.3M, 182 page PDF)

• 11/3/2006: Period I (10/27/2005 to 6/30/2006) Monitoring Report Released
  • Report from James T. Dimas and Sarah A. Morrison, Kenny A v. Perdue Accountability Agents (1M, 135 page PDF)

• 10/3/2006: Plaintiff Attorneys Awarded $11.3 Million in Fees
  • U.S. District Court Judgement (12K, 1 page PDF)
  • U.S. District Court Opinion (part 1) (1.2MB, 35 page PDF)
  • U.S. District Court Opinion (part 2) (2.1MB, 59 page PDF)

• 5/16/2006: Settlement Agreement with DeKalb County Defendants is Final
  • Barton Clinic Summary of DeKalb County Consent Decree
  • 3/23/2006: Proposed DeKalb County Consent Decree with Signatures
    • Notice to class
    • Appendix A -- Core Principles for Providing Quality Deprivation Representation through DCCAC Advocacy Delivery Systems
    • Appendix B -- DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center Performance Standards for Juvenile Advocacy Representation
    • Appendix C -- DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center Policies and Procedures

• 5/16/2006: Settlement Agreement with Fulton County Defendants is Final
  • Barton Clinic Summary of Fulton County Consent Decree
  • 2/14/2006: Proposed Fulton County Consent Decree with Signatures and Appendix
    • Notice to class

• 10/27/2005: The 7/5/2005 Settlement Agreement with DFCS Defendants is Final
  • Order for Final Approval of Consent Decree

• 9/21/2005: Fairness Hearing, Oral Comments to U.S. District Court
  • Karen Worthington's comments stressing safety concerns
  • Andy Barclay's comments answering plaintiffs' 9/19/2005 brief
  • Barton Clinic 10/3/2005 letter to the Court stressing safety concerns

• 9/19/2005: Joint (Plaintiff-State Defendant) Motion for Approval of Proposed Settlement
  • Joint Motion for Final Approval
  • Plaintiffs' Brief Submitted to the Court (132K, 32 page PDF)
    • page 16: Partial costs listed: State: $5M, Plaintiff: $1.8M
    • Responses to GAHSC comments:
      • page 19: Restrictions on Emergency Shelter Placements
      • page 20: Restrictions on Placements in Distant Group Homes and Institutions
      • page 21: Uniform Standards for Foster Care Providers
      • page 22: Objections to Specialized Case Managers
      • page 23: Reimbursement Rate Task Force
    • Responses to Barton Clinic comments:
      • page 23: Objections to Outcome Measures 4, 8 & 9
      • page 27: Criticism of Protection for Children Who Come to the Attention of DFCS, But Are Not Taken Into Custody
  • Defendant's Brief Submitted to the Court (84K, 7 page PDF)

• 9/1/2005: Written Comments to U.S. District Court on Fairness, Reasonableness, and Adequacy of the Proposed DFCS Settlement
  • Georgia Assocation of Homes and Services for Children (GAHSC) Comments Submitted to the Court (680K, 10 page PDF)
  • Barton Clinic Comments Submitted to the Court (84K, 29 page PDF)

    Settlement Reference	Parties' Target	Barton Clinic Request
    Outcome #4, page 32	Reentry = 8.6%	Change to 5%, based on past performance.
    Outcome #8a, page 32	Permanency from entry cohort = 40% at 12 months	Change to 60%, based on recent performance.
    Outcome #9, page 33	24-month-backlog = 35% permanent at 12 months	Change to 45%, matching recent performance.
    Outcome #16, page 35	-	Reword so siblings are placed together throughout period, not just while they are in the shelter or assessment center.
    -	-	Add definition of "sibling".
    Outcome #17, page 35	Placement stability = 86.7% at 12 months	Federal target, 86.7%, is used, so the cohort definition should match the federal definition: children in care less than 12 months.
    Item (C)(4), page 15	Placement standards	Children reentering placed in last appropriate placement.
    -	-	Add 6-month recurrence of substantiated maltreatment = 2002 rate, but <= 6.1%.
    -	-	Add 6-month recurrence of unsubstantiated maltreatment or diversion = 2003 rate.
    -	-	Add runaway discharge target of <= 3%.
    -	-	Value and encourage community input through transparency.

  • Over 30 written comments were submitted by concerned organizations and individuals, but, unfortunately, we cannot list them all here.

• 7/5/2005: Proposed Settlement Agreement (aka the "Consent Decree") with the DFCS Defendants Announced
  • Proposed DFCS Settlement Agreement Document (132K, 51 page PDF)
  • Proposed DFCS Settlement Agreement with Signatures and Attachments Submitted to the Court (472K, 64 page PDF)
  • Barton Clinic Announcement of Proposed DFCS Settlement Agreement
  • Press Releases: State Department of Human Resources, Children's Rights (Class Counsel)

• 2/7/2005: Denial of County Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment
  • Barton Clinic Summary of Children's Right to Representation Addressed in the Order
  • Judge Shoob's Order

• 1/19/2005: February 14, 2005 State Trial Date Reset Indefinitely
• 12/11/2004: Denial of State Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment
• 8/18/2003: Class is Certified by the Court
• 2/14/2003: DeKalb County Children's Shelter is Closed
• 12/27/2002: Fulton County Children's Shelter is Closed
• 6/6/2002: Filing of Original Complaint
  • Complaint (112K, 76 page PDF)

Barton Clinic summaries and other documents related to Kenny A v. Perdue have been compiled and edited by the following: Karen Worthington, Director; Elizabeth Reimels, Managing Attorney; Jessica Gordon, 2005-2007 Post-Graduate Fellow in Law; Rachel Davidson, 2005-2006 law intern; Turquoise Haskin, spring 2006 law intern.

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