Department of Human Resources v. Hutchinson

Beasley, Chief Judge.

A juvenile was declared delinquent and committed to the custody of the Department of Human Resources (“Department”), whereupon a screening committee determined that noninstitutional placement would be appropriate and placed him in a group home. He was removed from the home after being accused of taking the house parent’s car keys. He was eventually placed in a “contract home” operated by Hutchinson, which was considered an alternative to institutional placement. She kept a loaded handgun under her mattress, which the juvenile found and used to shoot Hutchinson.

She sued…