Ramsey County will pay $875,000 to settle a data practices lawsuit brought by a Little Canada couple who had their foster care license revoked and planned adoption terminated following allegations the woman abused one of their foster children.
The county received a report in May 2019 that Amy Waters injured one of the three foster children placed with Waters and her husband John Waters on a pre-adoptive basis, according to the county.
According to the lawsuit, the county charged Amy Waters with gross misdemeanor malicious punishment of a child at the urging of Kathryn Fiega, a child protection investigator employed by Ramsey County. Fiega also regularly contacted Clay County officials urging them to remove the children from the Waters home, according to the complaint.
The Waterses allege Fiega failed to follow statutory interview procedures or county guidelines to investigate the injury.
The criminal charge eventually was dismissed. But the couple’s foster care license was revoked and the children were removed from their home, according to the complaint; the Waterses never regained placement of the three foster children, who now live in different states.
Following the abuse report, the Waterses made multiple requests under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act for information related to the report and the county’s criminal and child protection investigations, according to the lawsuit. The couple said it took the county three months to respond and that the records provided were incomplete and heavily redacted.
“There is clear and convincing evidence that Ramsey County had knowledge that the CPS record contained facts that would have been vital to Ms. Waters defending against the criminal charges and to Plaintiffs in their (Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings) appeal,” the complaint said.
“The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office dismissed the criminal charges against Ms. Waters on December 17, 2019, after reviewing the records disclosed by Ramsey County, on the grounds that the State could not prove the criminal charges against Ms. Waters beyond a reasonable doubt,” said the complaint.
As part of the settlement agreement, county officials agreed to provide the Waterses with a copy of the criminal case file on Amy Waters, as well as other documentation of the abuse investigation. The parties also will work on a letter stating the factual circumstances of Amy’s maltreatment appeal, and the Waterses will get a summary of the actions the county takes to improve CPS investigative methods and train its staff on data practices.
The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners last week unanimously approved the settlement, which admits no liability.
County officials declined to comment on the settlement Monday and the Waterses’ lawyer could not be reached.
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