PHOENIX, Arizona — The Arizona Supreme Court ruled on May 22 that a lawsuit against the state tied to a child welfare case cannot move forward.
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Stephanie Stephens sued the State and Department of Child Safety employees (collectively, “DCS”) after the juvenile court dismissed a dependency case involving her two children. DCS had removed the children from both parents’ care before the children were later placed with Stephens.
Later, the children said their father had coached them to make false claims about Stephens and her boyfriend, records show.
A dependency case is a court proceeding focused on a child’s safety and well-being, typically when the state believes a parent may not be providing proper care.
Stephens argued that DCS should be held responsible, saying the agency pursued the case without probable cause, meaning without enough evidence to believe the claims could be proven in court reasonably.
But the Arizona Supreme Court found that earlier rulings in the dependency case established probable cause, unless those rulings were obtained through fraud, perjury or similar misconduct. Even without the earlier ruling, DCS had enough information at that time to reasonably seek removal and pursue the dependency case, Court officials said.
The court said Stephens did not present enough evidence to show DCS knew the children’s claims were false when it relied on them.
The Supreme Court vacated the court of appeals’ decision and affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of Stephen’s complaint.
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