When it comes to family law, children are often powerless over their own circumstances. Whether it's a case of child support, custody or foster care, usually a child must rely on adults to ensure their best interests are served, and sometimes those adults can fail them.

But the Colorado Court of Appeals has put some power into small hands by ruling that social workers can be held responsible for failing to protect children from abuse, and cannot be shielded by the state government's immunity law in cases where they acted recklessly.

The ruling results from a case involving three siblings who had a history of incest. The siblings said social workers failed to protect them from abuse that was going on, first in their mother's home and later in foster care. They also charged that workers deceived the siblings' adoptive parents about the extent of the problems. The parents lost a lawsuit claiming that the stress of the children's problems led to the end of the couple's marriage. The appellate court expressed shock that a social worker supported the adoption, yet hadn't prepared the adoptive parents to address the emotional needs of the children, and therefore put the children at greater risk of harm.

The decision is the second such ruling this month. In an earlier case, a federal judge ruled that social workers in Denver were not immune to being sued for the starving death of a 7-year-old boy by his foster parents in May 2007. The judge said the boy's neglect was "conscious shocking," especially considering that a teacher's aide filed an abuse complaint a month before his death that was not fully investigated.

Children have the expectation and the right to be protected by the adults who are charged with caring for them. Those adults who actively neglect that responsibility can no longer expect to be held immune from lawsuits or punishment.

Source: Insurance Journal, "Colorado Court Says Children Can Sue County Over Abuse," Associated Press, Jan. 9, 2012