C.L.G.; C.N.G., by and through their guardian ad litem, A.G. v. South Carolina Department of Social Services; Kerry Register
June 2, 2026·25-1728·Per Curiam·By Aisha Johnson
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment to a social services employee. The court held that the employee was entitled to qualified immunity because the law was not clearly established that children of foster parents have a constitutional right to be free from harm caused by the placement of a foster child with a history of sexual misconduct.
Background
A.G. filed suit on behalf of her two minor sons, C.L.G. and C.N.G., seeking damages under Section nineteen hundred and eighty-three of Title forty-two of the United States Code. The plaintiffs alleged that Kerry Register, an employee of the South Carolina Department of Social Services, violated their substantive due process rights by knowingly placing a foster child with a history of sexual misconduct against other children into their home. The district court awarded summary judgment to Register on the ground of qualified immunity.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the case de novo and determined that the right alleged was not clearly established. The court explained that while the state has a duty to refrain from making foster care placements that are deliberately indifferent to the safety of a child in its custody, this duty does not extend to the children of the foster parents who were never in the state’s custody. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the violation was obvious, noting that the law must provide specific warning to officials that their conduct violates an established constitutional right.
What it means going forward
State officials are shielded from civil liability for placing foster children with known histories of sexual misconduct into foster homes where they may harm the biological children of the foster parents, absent a specific precedent clearly establishing such a right.
