Smith v. Organization of Foster Families for Equality & Reform
Headline: Court reverses lower ruling and allows New York’s existing foster-child removal procedures to remain in force, limiting automatic pre-removal hearings for foster parents and children.
Holding: The Court reversed the District Court and held that New York’s procedures — agency conferences, administrative hearings, §392 judicial review, and New York City’s independent review on request — satisfy due process and do not require automatic pre-removal hearings.
- Allows New York to continue using existing foster removal procedures without automatic hearings.
- Keeps judicial §392 review for children in foster care 18 months or longer.
- Limits guaranteed pre-removal procedure to those already provided by state and city rules.
Summary
Background
A group of foster parents and an organization sued New York State and New York City officials, arguing that state statutes and regulations governing removal of foster children violated the Fourteenth Amendment. The District Court certified a class, appointed independent counsel for the children, and held that children living with foster families a year or more were entitled to automatic pre-removal hearings before any transfer. The State and City appealed that judgment to this Court, which reviewed the statutory scheme and the District Court’s order.
Reasoning
The Court examined whether foster families have a constitutionally protected liberty interest and assumed, for argument’s sake, that such an interest might exist. The opinion emphasized that foster care is a state-created, temporary arrangement and reviewed New York’s procedures: a required agency notice and prerelease conference (18 NYCRR §450.10), a post-removal administrative fair hearing (§400), a Family Court review available after 18 months (§392), and New York City’s pre-removal independent review (SSC Procedure No. 5) available on request. Applying the Mathews balancing standard, the Court held these procedures adequate and concluded the District Court erred in requiring automatic hearings in every case involving children in a foster home for one year or more.
Real world impact
The immediate practical result is that New York may continue to use its existing mix of conference, administrative hearing, and judicial-review remedies rather than holding an automatic, full pre-removal hearing in every case. Foster parents retain opportunities to contest removals through local review procedures and §392 Family Court petitions for children in care 18 months or longer. The Court’s ruling is procedural and does not finally resolve the broader question whether foster families generally hold the same constitutional status as biological families.
Dissents or concurrances
A concurrence (Justice Stewart, joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Rehnquist) would have gone further and held that foster families do not possess a Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest, stressing that the foster relationship is wholly a creation of state law and contracts.
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