05/02/14 DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN
AND FAMILIES, DIVISION OF
CHILD PROTECTION AND PERMANENCY
VS. G.R.
A-4594-12T4
The Division of Child
Protection and Permanency (the "Division") informed G.R. that she
neglected her two-year- old son by leaving him unattended in her minivan while
shopping in a Target store. G.R. immediately requested an Office of
Administrative Law hearing to resolve numerous issues of disputed material
facts. Five years later, the Division placed her name on the child abuse
registry and issued its final agency decision, summarily concluding that G.R.
neglected her son by failing to exercise a minimum degree of care as required
by N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.21c(4)(b). This substantial delay was caused by agency
inaction and by the misplacement of G.R.'s file by a deputy attorney general.
Although G.R. timely disputed the Division's initial substantiation of neglect,
she lived with the uncertainty of the outcome of her administrative challenge
during the entire five years. We reversed without
prejudice, remanded, and directed the OAL to conduct a hearing to resolve the
disputed issues of fact, and we gave G.R. the opportunity to argue on remand
that the case should be dismissed as a matter of fundamental fairness.
