- Last Modified: September 1, 2026
Children placed in foster care depend on caregivers and state agencies to protect their safety and well-being. When that protection fails, families may have legal options.
Hite Law Firm represents children who have experienced abuse, neglect, or serious injuries while in foster care. Our child abuse lawyers investigate what happened and who may share responsibility.
Foster care abuse claims can involve foster parents, caregivers, group homes, or government agencies responsible for a child’s placement and supervision. Depending on the circumstances, a civil claim may seek compensation for injuries and other resulting harm.
At Hite Law Firm, your child comes first. Contact our team to discuss what happened and learn how we may help protect your child’s rights.
Concerned About Your Child’s Safety in Foster Care?
Talk with a legal team that can help you understand your child’s rights and potential options.
Speak With Our AttorneysLawyers for Children Abused in Foster Care
There are thousands of children living in foster care in South Carolina. Foster care should provide children with a safe and nurturing environment. However, too often, children are abused in foster care.
If your child is abused in foster care, our lawyers want them to have healing and justice.
At Hite Law Firm, we advocate for abused and injured children. With a focus on representing minor children who have been abused, hurt, and mistreated, we understand how to help children access the legal system. A legal claim is a way to acknowledge what has happened. A child may receive financial compensation that can help them rebuild their life.
If your child is a victim, we may be able to help. To see how a foster care abuse lawyer from Hite Law Firm can represent them, contact us to discuss your child’s situation.
Examples of Foster Care Abuse
Here are some examples of ways children may be abused in foster care:
- Assault and battery
- Sexual assault and sexual abuse, whether by adults or other children
- Preventing access to medication and medical care
- Unsanitary living conditions
- Death in foster care, such as drownings or suicides that could have been prevented
- Withholding food, poor quality food, starvation
- Caseworkers who have overwhelming caseloads
- Solitary confinement, cruelty, unusual punishment, discipline methods, and isolation
- Poor mental health care, lack of access to mental health care
- Emotional abuse, including insulting, demeaning, and threatening
Abuse in foster care can be physical, mental, social, or emotional. A child may suffer physical injuries like broken bones, brain trauma, cuts, bruising, and internal organ damage. They may have mental injuries, including anxiety, a decline in school performance, avoidance of social situations, and other harm.
Children with disabilities may face additional barriers to recognizing, reporting, or communicating abuse. When those vulnerabilities contribute to how abuse occurs or remains undiscovered, additional considerations may arise in a special needs child abuse claim.
If your child has been hurt in foster care, we invite you to contact us to talk about what has occurred and how we can help.
Who May Be Liable for Foster Care Abuse in South Carolina?
Responsibility for foster care abuse depends on who caused the harm and who had responsibility for protecting the child.
A potential claim may involve:
- Foster parents or other caregivers
- The South Carolina Department of Social Services
- Caseworkers or other individuals involved in the child’s care
- Group homes or residential facilities
- Private organizations involved in foster care services
- Other individuals or entities whose conduct contributes to the child’s harm
A claim may also examine placement decisions, supervision, prior complaints, reported dangers, or responses to known concerns.
Our attorneys investigate each potential source of responsibility and determine which claims may apply under South Carolina or federal law.
Questions About What DSS Knew?
Our attorneys can investigate reports, placement decisions, and other evidence surrounding your child’s care.
Discuss Your Child's CaseLegal Claims for Foster Care Abuse in South Carolina
Most legal claims for foster care abuse in South Carolina fall under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, S.C. Code § 15-78-60(25). The law says that a unit of government may be held liable for gross negligence regarding the supervision, protection, control, or confinement of a student, patient, or client of any government entity. Courts have ruled this law applies to children in foster care, making gross negligence the standard for most legal claims for foster care abuse. (Bass v. S.C. Department of Social Services, 414 S.C. 558, 2015).
Gross negligence is the failure to exercise even slight care. It may also be an intentional, conscious failure to do something someone should do or intentionally doing what someone shouldn’t do.
If abuse occurs in a group home or institution, the child may have a claim against the facility itself.
Gross negligence under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act
In Bass v. S.C. Department of Social Services, a pharmacist accidentally mixed the children’s medication incorrectly, causing the children to need emergency medical attention. DSS removed the children from the home and declared the parents unfit.
Even though the pharmacy error became known, D.S.S. continued to make unannounced visits to the home for the rest of the year. They refused to change the official designation in their file that the parents had harmed their children. The family brought a lawsuit for gross negligence by DSS. They also sued the pharmacy.
Sometimes DSS fails to protect children in their own homes when the reports of danger to the children go ignored. When DSS is on notice of a danger to a child, they have certain duties and responsibilities under South Carolina law and DSS policy. Children can suffer serious injuries or lose their lives when DSS fails to protect them from abusive or neglectful caregivers. If the evidence shows that DSS acted with gross negligence, the child may recover compensation for those injuries.
Lawsuits for Foster Care Civil Rights Violations
In addition to a claim based on the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, a claim may be based on a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights violation. In Doe ex rel. Johnson v. South Carolina Dep’t. Soc. Serv., 597 F.3d 163, 175 (4th Cir. 2010), the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals explained that when a state involuntarily removes a child from her home, thereby taking the child into its custody and care, the state has taken an affirmative act to restrain the child’s liberty, triggering the protections of the Due Process Clause and imposing “some responsibility for [the child’s] safety and general well-being.”
When abuse occurs in foster care, the state may file criminal charges against those responsible. Individuals responsible for harming a child may face charges such as assault and battery, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, or other criminal offenses. However, the absence of criminal charges does not prevent you from pursuing a civil case.
You may still seek compensation under South Carolina or federal law, even if prosecutors decline to bring charges or the criminal case ends in a dismissal. Our lawyers can help you determine the appropriate cause or causes of action for the abuse your child has endured.
Experience Handling Foster Care and Child Abuse Claims
Foster care abuse cases can involve government agencies, complex records, and questions about what responsible parties knew before a child was harmed.
Hite Law Firm has experience representing children in serious abuse cases. Our case results include a confidential jury verdict involving sexual abuse of a foster child.
Our lawyers investigate placement decisions, reports, records, and other evidence that may establish responsibility. We prepare each case around the individual child and the circumstances surrounding the abuse.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every foster care abuse claim depends on its individual facts and applicable law.
Talk to a South Carolina Foster Care Abuse Lawyer
If you believe your child experienced abuse or neglect in foster care, Hite Law Firm is here to listen. Our attorneys can help you understand the legal options that may be available.
We can investigate what happened, explain the legal process, and answer your questions about pursuing a potential claim. Your child’s needs and interests remain at the center of our approach.
Consultations are free, and there is no obligation to pursue a claim. Contact Hite Law Firm to speak with a South Carolina foster care abuse lawyer.
Your Child Deserves Strong Advocacy
Hite Law Firm represents children and families seeking accountability after abuse or neglect in foster care.
Schedule Your Consultation
