Opinion ID: 2060464
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 21

Heading: Hodge v. Carroll County Department of Social Services

Text: The United States District Court for the District of Maryland already has held that the AMF and CIS constitute central registries within the meaning of section 5-715. In Hodge v. Carroll County Department of Social Services, 812 F.Supp. 593 (D.Md.1992), rev'd on other grounds, Hodge v. Jones, 31 F.3d 157 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1018, 115 S.Ct. 581, 130 L.Ed.2d 496 (1994), the plaintiffs, individually and on behalf of their son, Joseph Hodges, filed a federal section 1983 [11] claim against the Carroll County Department of Social Services (CCDSS). The claim arose out of an incident in which the Hodges took their son to the Carroll County General Hospital to examine and treat swelling in Joseph's right arm. The doctor who initially diagnosed Joseph's condition believed it to be a broken right ulna `without adequate historical explanation,' and referred the case to CCDSS as an incident of suspected child abuse. Hodge, 812 F.Supp. at 597. The next day, a CCDSS social worker began an investigation of the reported abuse. After interviewing the Hodges and other individuals, and finding no evidence of abuse, the social worker classified the Hodge case as unsubstantiated and ruled out, and filed a report with CCDSS. CCDSS then filed its report on the AMF. Not satisfied with first diagnosis of Joseph's condition, the Hodges took their son to another doctor. This doctor diagnosed the condition as osteomyelitis, a bacterial bone infection, and treated the condition. Mrs. Hodge later contacted CCDSS and notified them of Joseph's infection, pointing out that child abuse could not have caused the injury to Joseph's arm. The Hodges later requested that CCDSS permit them to inspect their case files in order to ensure that CCDSS correctly noted the disposition of the case. Instead of allowing them to review the file, the Assistant Director of CCDSS forwarded to the Hodges a summary of the case and notified them that their names had been entered on the AMF. Skeptical of the CCDSS, and how the Assistant Director handled the case file, and also concerned over the ramifications of their inclusion on the AMF, the Hodges asked the Director of DHR for assistance. She responded that according to Maryland's confidentiality provisions, she could not disclose to the Hodges the case file's contents. In evaluating whether the procedural safeguards provided in section 5-715 applied to the AMF system, the federal district court made specific findings as to why the AMF was a central registry [12] under Maryland law: The individual defendants insist that the AMF is not a central registry because it is not a system designed solely to list the names of adjudicated child abusers, and because it does not identify any person as a suspected child abuser.... [T]hat argument apparently confuses the general term central registry with the specific [Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry]. Clearly, any computerized data base that includes records of cases of suspected child abuse is a central registry under Maryland law. Of course, the [Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry] is an example of a central registry. Similarly, the AMF also is a central registry. .... The defendants argue further that because the AMF does not identify any persons as suspected child abusers, the AMF is not a central registry and [section] 5-715 does not apply. Under Maryland law, however, the AMF is a central registry. Additionally, with regard to the defendants' initial position, exactly the opposite conclusion follows from the facts presently in the record. CCDSS provides [child protective services] only in cases of suspected child abuse. See COMAR 07.02.07.03A. Further, applicable regulations define child abuse generally as physical injury or sexual molestation inflicted on a child either by a parent or by a guardian. COMAR 07.02.07.02B(3).[ [13] ] Therefore, every record of [child protective services] on the AMF is a record of a case of suspected child abuse. Indeed, several of the documents in the Hodges' physical case file labeled Report of Suspected Child Abuse leave no doubt about the nature of [the DSS social worker's] investigation in this case. Finally, even in a record of unsubstantiated child abuse, it requires no great leap of faith to conclude that at least one of the parents or guardians listed in the record is suspected of child abuse, regardless of whether the record identifies them explicitly in that way, and the plaintiffs have submitted affidavits from several former DSS employees to support such a conclusion. Id. at 603-04. [14] Although we are not bound by the federal district court's interpretation of the term central registry, we find its definition in its opinion persuasive. We also cited this case without disapproval in C.S., 343 Md. at 22 n. 2, 680 A.2d at 474 n. 2. More importantly, the Legislature also apparently found the federal court's interpretation persuasive. The Legislature stated that it devised the Chapter 318 hearing procedures and created a mechanism aside from the appeal procedures to be provided prior to listing individuals on a central registry because of the circumstances surrounding the Hodges' plight. Specifically, Chapter 318's enactment was intended to more fully protect persons who are wrongly accused of child abuse or neglect by allowing them to avoid placing sole reliance on Hodge and by creating another mechanism by which they can contest the findings and investigations carried out by local departments of social services. Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, Floor Report for House Bill 617, at 2 (1993); Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, Bill Analysis for House Bill 617, at 2 (1993). What is more, the legislature not only was aware of the federal district court's interpretation of central registry, it did not alter any of the bill's wording to contradict that interpretation. In a letter from Delegate Donald B. Elliot, a sponsor of the bill, to the Members of the Judiciary and Judicial Proceedings Committees, with a copy of the Hodge opinion attached, Delegate Elliot wrote: Kindly notestarting on page 8 Judge Herbert Murray's reaffirmation of the fact that the Automated Master File (AMF) at DHR is a central registry and those persons on the file are entitled to the protections of Family Law Article 5-715 which includes a fair hearing. Letter from Delegate Donald B. Elliot to Members of the Judiciary and Judicial Proceedings Committees of Feb. 8, 1993. Likewise, in the Floor Report and in the Bill Analysis of House Bill 617, after noting that the defendants in Hodge asserted that the AMF was not a central registry, the documents went on to state that [t]he federal court, however, found that the AMF should be considered a `central registry.' See Floor Report at 2; House Bill at 2. Had the Legislature decided to reject this definition and choose a different definition of the phrase a central registry, it clearly could have done so. The local departments aver our interpretation would render the Legislature's provision for Chapter 318 hearings meaningless and nugatory because any entry on the AMF or CIS would require the departments to hold both Chapter 318 hearings and contested case hearings. Although it is true that one found responsible for indicated or unsubstantiated abuse or neglect and also listed by a local department on the AMF or CIS would be entitled to both forms of hearings, that hardly renders Chapter 318 hearings, as codified in sections 5-706.1 and 5-706.2, useless. The purpose of the Chapter 318 proceeding has been made clear: to allow an individual to contest the local department's findings of indicated or unsubstantiated abuse or neglect. If the local departments choose not to list an alleged perpetrator on the AMF or CIS, then the only hearing required is one pursuant to sections 5-706.1 and 5-706.2. Stated another way, Chapter 318 hearings are intended to more fully protect persons who are wrongly accused of child abuse or neglect by allowing them to avoid placing sole reliance on Hodge and by creating another mechanism by which they can contest the findings of investigations carried out by local departments of social services. This bill stands apart from the notice and hearing provisions concerning central registries, thereby giving persons a clear and independent basis from which to contest findings of investigations into alleged child abuse and neglect. Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, Floor Report for House Bill 617, at 2 (1993); Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, Bill Analysis for House Bill 617, at 2 (1993) (emphasis added). Chapter 318 merely provides to the suspected abuser another means for review; it was not intended to replace section 5-715 rights afforded individuals. The primary impact of House Bill 617, passed by the Legislature as Chapter 318, upon 5-715 was to change the terminology the central registry to a central registry. In making this change, the Legislature may well have anticipated the Department's attempt to avoid the necessity for such hearings. The local departments also argue that our holding in this case means that CPS workers will not be able to enter any data into the AMF or CIS relating to an open investigation until after giving notice of and completing an evidentiary hearing. As a result, CPS workers will have no ability either to alert other staff when they have begun an investigation or to determine whether another investigation is already underway. This result ... would cripple the local departments' ability to protect children from abuse and neglect. We believe the Legislature has spoken on the issue, and it is clear it sought a balance between the critical need to investigate and prosecute child abusers and neglectors and the equally critical need to allow persons accused of abuse and neglect the opportunity to clear their names before dissemination throughout the entire state. Accordingly, the departments' arguments are unpersuasive.