Case review : Alexa
A mother and her husband retained me to challenge DCS substantiations of sexual abuse against the husband (the child's stepfather) and neglect against the mother. The allegations were made in December 2022 by a teenage child with low cognitive functioning and a documented history of lying and attention-seeking behavior.
DCS has 40 days to complete an assessment (i.e., investigation) into allegations of abuse or neglect and then determine whether the allegations are substantiated or unsubstantiated. In this case, DCS substantiated both allegations in less than a week and after minimal investigation. In January 2023, the stepfather was criminally charged based on the same allegations.
The clients exercised their right to an administrative appeal of the substantiations, which was stayed while the criminal case against stepfather was pending. I was retained in November 2023 to represent both the mother and stepfather in the administrative appeal. After reviewing the evidence, it became clear that the child had a lengthy history of making false allegations against men—facts she herself admitted—yet DCS failed to meaningfully consider her credibility when making its determination.
In April 2025, the criminal charges against the stepfather were dismissed, allowing the administrative appeal to proceed. An evidentiary hearing was held in November 2025 before an Administrative Law Judge. Earlier this week, we received the ALJ's recommendation. After hearing testimony and reviewing the evidence, the ALJ found that the child's credibility was so lacking that DCS failed to meet its burden of proving either sexual abuse by the stepfather or neglect by the mother.
The matter now goes to DCS's Final Agency Authority, which will review the record and the ALJ's recommendation and issue a final decision. That decision will either adopt the recommendation—reversing the substantiation and expunging the records from the Child Protection Index—or override it and leave the substantiations in place.
As you might imagine, the fact that DCS has the final say raises concerns about fairness, and this case highlights the lack of meaningful checks and balances within the system historically. So, if the DCS Final Agency Authority decides to disregard the ALJ's recommendation and affirm the substantiations against my clients, we will then file an appeal which will kick the matter out of the administrative law process and into an actual trial court. While the law has since changed so that the ALJ has the final determination for all cases filed after 7/1/2024, our matter is still under review by the DCS's Final Agency Authority.
While this week's recommendation is a significant victory, the final outcome is still uncertain. I'm hopeful DCS will adopt the ALJ's findings, but it's difficult to predict.
