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Estate of Joshua T. v. State12/29/2003
Grafton
Argued: October 8, 2003
The plaintiffs, Estate of Joshua T., Dale and Patricia T. as administrators of the Estate of Joshua T. and as next friends, appeal an order of the Superior Court (Burling, J.) granting summary judgment to the defendants, the New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families and its various employees (DCYF, collectively), on the plaintiffs' claim that they negligently caused the suicide of Joshua T. We affirm.
According to the undisputed facts, in 1983, when Joshua T. was two years old, he and his younger sister were removed from the home of their biological mother and placed into the custody of DCYF. Joshua and his sister were subsequently placed into the foster care of Dale and Patricia T., who permitted visitation between the children and their biological mother with the permission of DCYF. During one such visit, Joshua was tied up and forced to watch his sister being sexually molested by their mother's boyfriend, who had been entrusted to watch them. By the early 1990s, Joshua was having significant emotional and behavioral problems. He ran away from home several times and was known to use drugs and alcohol. Dale and Patricia T. adopted Joshua and his sister in 1993, and DCYF continued to work with Joshua using social workers, counselors and psychologists to help determine what was in his best interests.
In 1994, Joshua stole a gun and believing it to be loaded, attempted suicide by pulling the trigger. A week later, Joshua stole his adoptive parents' van and crashed it while attempting to elude police officers in a high-speed chase. Later that year, Joshua again attempted suicide by ingesting his adoptive father's heart medication. He suffered multiple strokes that left him with permanent physical impairments to the left side of his body. Due to the alarming nature of his actions, the adoptive parents, without relinquishing parental rights, agreed to place Joshua in DCYF's care so that he could receive necessary health services. During the next few years, Joshua resided in different placements. Finally, in March 1997, he was placed in the foster home of Philip and Susan S. Even though the S. foster parents had indicated their unwillingness to accept a foster child who had a history of attempted suicide or sexual abuse, DCYF placed Joshua in their care without disclosing his history.
In late January 1998, the Haverhill Police Department received a report of a burglary from Joshua's brother-in-law by adoption. Joshua had previously lived in his home, and the brother-in-law informed the police that he suspected Joshua had stolen the missing items, which included two handguns and ammunition. The police arranged to meet later that evening at the S. home with Mr. S. and a local police officer.
Mr. S. arrived home at 5:30 p.m. and spoke with Joshua in his bedroom. He noticed empty beer cans as well as a half-full beer can in Joshua's room and believed Joshua had been drinking. While Joshua went to the bathroom, Mr. S. looked around the room for guns and found none. Knowing that the police would arrive shortly, Mr. S. chose not to confront Joshua about the alleged burglary. Mr. S. went upstairs to discard the beer he had confiscated and heard a gunshot. He ran to Joshua's room, forced open the door and found that Joshua had shot himself in the head. At the time of his tragic death, Joshua was sixteen years old.
Joshua's adoptive parents, as administrators of his estate, filed suit against DCYF and several of its employees, alleging their legal responsibility for Joshua's death. In their writ, they claimed, inter alia, that the defendants were negligent by failing to place Joshua in an appro
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