KATHRYN CARRUBA v. STATE OF ILLINOIS (2011)

ORDER

This case coming before this Court on Respondent's Motion to Dismiss, and this Court being fully advised in the premises:

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

Respondent's Motion to Dismiss is granted and Claimant's Complaint is dismissed for the following reasons: 1) Claimant has failed to exhaust all available legal, equitable, and administrative remedies prior to the filing of this suit; and 2) this claim is time-barred by the two-year statute of limitations as required under 705 ILCS 505/22(h).

The Claimant in this matter, Kathryn Carruba, was a foster parent of a minor child when the Claimant alleges that the child caused her home and garage to be damaged in the amount of $7,900.00. The Claimant alleges that on Sunday, November 28, 2004 a foster child that was in her care was verbally inappropriate to her grandson and to herself and then caused damage to her property. The Complainant alleged that the foster child said racist remarks to the Claimant's bi-racial grandson. The foster child allegedly continued with this behavior until it escalated into a fist fight between the Claimants 12-year old grandson and the foster child. The Claimant broke up the altercation.

However, during the altercation, the foster child began kicking and punching holes in the Claimant's wall. The foster child also broke a window light and threw several items around his room and down the stairs.

The Claimant called a Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (“LSSI”) On-Call worker to report the problem. After the incident, the foster child eventually went to sleep as told to by the Claimant.

In an attempt to recover the costs of the repairs, the Claimant filed an insurance claim, as well as a claim with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (“DCFS”). However, both claims were denied. The Claimant's insurance coverage did not cover the type of damage alleged, and DCFS informed the Claimant that she needed to properly proceed with her claim by providing all necessary documents. The Claimant failed to comply with DCFS' requirement and, therefore, they closed their case file on the incident.

As a result of the aforementioned denials, Claimant now seeks reimbursement from the State in the amount of $7,900.00 for the damages alleged. The Respondent has filed a Motion to Dismiss alleging 1) that Claimant failed to exhaust administrative remedies as required by law; and 2) that Claimant failed to file her claim before the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations.

It is well-settled that a claimant must exhaust all administrative, legal, or equitable remedies prior to filing suit in the Court of Claims. 705 ILCS 505/25. The Court has stated that “[t]he requirement that Claimant exhaust all available remedies prior to seeking a determination in this Court is clear and definite in its terms…. We believe that the language of section [505/25] of the Court of Claims Act [citation omitted] and [Section 790.60] of the Rules of the Court of Claims quite clearly makes the exhaustion of remedies mandatory rather than optional.” Lyons v. State, 34 Ill. Ct. CI. 268, 271-272 (1981). The Court of Claims has held that claimants must exhaust all administrative remedies, including appeals available within DCFS in order to meet the burden of exhausting all administrative remedies before seeking relief in the Court of Claims. See Gaston v. State, 51 111. Ct. CI. 221, 224 (1998) (Claim dismissed because Claimant failed to appeal DCFS decision; failed to exhaust all administrative remedies available).

In the case at hand, DCFS has a reimbursement program to compensate for damage caused to foster homes by foster children. This is known as the Foster Parent Reimbursement Program. The Claimant submitted a claim pursuant to this provision but failed to follow through on said claim. She thus failed to comply with the guidelines established for reimbursement by DCFS. DCFS informed the Claimant, via a letter dated July 23, 2008, that in order to proceed with the claim, DCFS needed:

(1) three competing written estimates showing the costs of repairs to the Claimants property, each of which specify which areas are damaged or destroyed; and which breaks down the work in terms of time and materials;

(2) the dates of the incident(s) and what triggered each incident and what was done as a consequence;

(3) copies of the unusual incident report; and police department reports filed in connection with each incident; and

(4) photographs to help determine the loss.

The Claimant failed to comply with the requirements. Based on this failure, DCFS informed the Claimant in September 2008 that DCFS was marking the claim as “closed-did not respond” and the file was thereby closed. The Claimant states in her Complaint that she was unable to obtain estimates for the repairs, but she does not provide any further details to explain. The Court finds, therefore, that the Claimant has failed to exhaust the remedies available to her, i.e., the Foster Parent Reimbursement Program, and that this claim must be denied.

Further, under 705 ILCS 505/22(h), any claim involving personal property must be filed within two years after the claim first accrues. Therefore, when a complaint is filed after the statute of limitations has expired, the complaint should be dismissed pursuant to 735 ILCS 5/2-619(a)(5).

In this case, the Claimant's Complaint stated that her home and garage were damaged on November 28, 2004. However, Claimant filed her Complaint with the Court of Claims more than five years after her property was allegedly damaged. Since Claimant's claim accrued more than two years prior to the date she filed her Complaint with this Court, this claim is also barred by the statute of limitations.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED the motion of the Respondent is granted and the claim herein is dismissed with prejudice.

BURNS, J.