H.B.H. v. State

*487¶ 1 Former foster children KMH, HBH, SAH, KEH, and JBH brought this case against the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), alleging negligence in failing to protect them from the tortious or criminal acts of their foster, and later adoptive, parents. At the close of the evidence, the trial court granted DSHS's CR 50 motion and dismissed the children's claims of negligence concerning the preadoption, foster care period. Division Two of the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that DSHS owes a common law duty to protect dependent foster children from foreseeable harm based on the…