Luzerne County wants a federal judge to dismiss a suit that accuses its child protection agency of ignoring warnings about letting a baby boy’s birth parents have custody after he was born.
County Children, Youth & Families caseworkers could not have foreseen the boy’s multiple skull fractures weeks later at his biological father’s hands, the county’s response to the suit says.
The boy’s adoptive parents, Keith and Danielle Medash, filed the original suit in September and updated it in late November.
The county, through its lawyer, attorney Tamara S. Grimm, of Philadelphia, responded to the original suit Nov. 3 and the updated one on Dec. 12.
Attorneys Louis Tumolo and James Beasley Jr., of Philadelphia, the Medashes' lawyers, filed a response Monday challenging the request for dismissal.
County: Only biological father is to blame
A month after his May 2020 birth, the boy was hospitalized with skull fractures, a broken jaw, sepsis, brain hemorrhages and swelling, severe bruising and symptoms including vomiting, a loss of appetite and wheezing, according to the suit. Now 5 years old, the boy suffers from brain damage and developmental delays. The Medashes seek damages to pay for his care.
The county says only the biological father is to blame for the boy’s injuries, and the Medashes have not stated a valid claim that the county agency or its caseworkers were responsible, the response says.
Contrasting claims from Medashes, county
The Medashes’ suit contends agency officials knew the high risk of leaving the boy with his birth parents, Andrew Carter and Brittany Cooper, because the agency:
Had a caseworker’s risk assessment from two days after the boy was born. The assessment determined leaving him with his birth parents was highly risky.
The county's response says the high-risk assessment was only because Carter and Cooper had not completed court-ordered services.
“These court-ordered services had nothing to do with (the boy’s) parents being violent to their children,” the response says.
Dealt with Carter and Cooper before over the way they cared for two earlier children. Dawn Medash called to remind the caseworkers of that.
The couple lost their parental rights to both children. Carter involuntarily lost his rights to parent both children, Cooper lost parental rights to one child involuntarily and voluntarily surrendered her rights to parent the other, according to the suit. That happened between August 2018 and November 2019, not long before the third baby was born.
The county says the Medashes have not alleged they told the caseworkers about the lost custody rights to the earlier children.
“(The Medashes) do not allege that (the boy’s) parents lost custody due to child abuse,” the response says.Knew Carter had “a history of substance abuse and domestic violence as well as an extensive criminal history.”
“This knowledge is not attributed to any (caseworker), and it is unclear at what time the (county and caseworkers) purportedly obtained this knowledge and how,” the response says.
Repeatedly, the county's response says, the Medashes claim the caseworkers knew of the birth parents’ circumstances and history without showing they actually did know.
The suit says Danielle Medash months earlier told one caseworker Cooper was pregnant with the boy and “relayed her significant concerns” the parents “were incapable of parenting.”
Carter was later charged and pleaded guilty to multiple charges in connection with the boy's beating. He is serving time in state prison.
The Medashes' attorneys on Monday filed a brief opposing dismissal of the case, which is before Senior U.S. District Judge Malachy E. Mannion.
