G.S. v. Department of Human Services

The opinion of the court was delivered by

GARIBALDI, J.

This appeal arises out of a medication overdose administered to a child by a caregiver at a facility for retarded persons. The child was hospitalized after G.S., the caregiver, failed to follow the facility’s medication dispensation procedures and administered a dosage seventy-eight times the prescribed amount. Although the child recovered and the incident was, by all accounts, an accident, the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) concluded that G.S. had committed an act of child neglect within the meaning of N.J.S.A 9:6-8.21. G.S.…