F.D. v. Indiana Department of Child Services

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court considered whether the Indiana Department of Child Services and the Evansville Police Department were immune from negligence claims arising from their handling of child-abuse information. The court held that the Police Department was immune under the Indiana Tort Claims Act for its investigative and law-enforcement decisions, but that the Department of Child Services was not immune under either the Tort Claims Act or the child-abuse-reporting statute for allegedly failing to notify the parents. The court affirmed summary judgment for the Police Department, reversed it as to the Department of Child Services, and remanded.

Holdings

1. ITCA section 34-13-3-3(6) did not immunize DCS because the plaintiffs' alleged loss did not result from the initiation of the delinquency proceeding. Their claims were based on DCS's alleged failure to notify them about the molestation of F.D., and the same alleged harm could have occurred even if no proceeding had been initiated.
2. Indiana Code section 31-33-6-1 did not immunize DCS from the plaintiffs' claims because the alleged liability arose from DCS's inaction and failure to provide information concerning a separate report of abuse, not from DCS's participation in a judicial proceeding.
3. EPD was immune under ITCA section 34-13-3-3(8) because the plaintiffs' claims challenged EPD's investigation of an alleged offense and its failure to pursue delinquency charges, conduct constituting an attempt to enforce or a failure to enforce the law.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Indiana Tort Claims Act section 34-13-3-3(6), granting immunity for losses resulting from the initiation of a judicial or administrative proceeding, immunized DCS from claims based on its failure to notify the plaintiffs about information concerning the alleged molestation of F.D.
2. Whether the child-abuse-reporting immunity statute, Indiana Code section 31-33-6-1, immunized DCS from claims based on its alleged failure to disclose information concerning a separate report of abuse.
3. Whether Indiana Tort Claims Act section 34-13-3-3(8), granting law-enforcement immunity for losses resulting from the adoption, enforcement, or failure to adopt or enforce a law, immunized EPD from claims based on its investigation and failure to pursue separate delinquency charges.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded