Suter v. Artist M., 503 U.S. 347, 7 (1992)

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Cite as: 503 U. S. 347 (1992)

Opinion of the Court

Johnson, 726 F. Supp. 690, 691 (ND Ill. 1989). The District Court denied a motion to dismiss filed by petitioners, holding, as relevant here, that the Adoption Act contained an implied cause of action and that suit could also be brought to enforce the Act under 42 U. S. C. § 1983. 726 F. Supp., at 696, 697.

The District Court then entered an injunction requiring petitioners to assign a caseworker to each child placed in DCFS custody within three working days of the time the case is first heard in Juvenile Court, and to reassign a caseworker within three working days of the date any caseworker relinquishes responsibility for a particular case. App. to Pet. for Cert. 56a. The 3-working-day deadline was found by the District Court to "realistically reflec[t] the institutional capabilities of DCFS," id., at 55a, based in part on petitioners' assertion that assigning caseworkers within that time frame "would not be overly burdensome." Id., at 54a. The District Court, on partial remand from the Court of Appeals, made additional factual findings regarding the nature of the delays in assigning caseworkers and the progress of DCFS reforms at the time the preliminary injunction was entered. App. 28-50.

The Court of Appeals affirmed. 917 F. 2d 980 (CA7 1990). Relying heavily on this Court's decision in Wilder v. Virginia Hospital Assn., 496 U. S. 498 (1990), the Court of Apa home under DCFS supervision by an order of Juvenile Court and who are now or will be without a DCFS caseworker for a significant period of time. "Class B: Children who are or will be the subjects of neglect, dependency or abuse petitions filed in Juvenile Court who are or will be placed in DCFS' custody and who are or will be without a DCFS caseworker for a significant period of time." Artist M. v. Johnson, 726 F. Supp. 690, 691 (ND Ill. 1989).

The "Class B" plaintiffs only raised a constitutional due process claim, which was dismissed by the District Court. See n. 2, supra.

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