Special Report: A young girl placed in the hands of danger wins a million–dollar award from DHS. Her mother awaits an apology.

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, December, 2006 | by Ken Dilanian

It was a victory, but to Vanessa, not a satisfying one. Sitting in a windowless federal courtroom at Sixth and Market Streets, the 41-year-old librarian quietly absorbed the news. The City of Philadelphia had agreed to pay her adopted daughter $1 million for the harm she'd suffered while under the supervision of the Department of Human Services.

In the careful language of such arrangements, the city admitted no wrongdoing. But to Vanessa, who had taken the girl known in court records as T.J. into her home three years before, the seven-figure number spoke for itself. It was one of the city government's biggest civil-rights awards in memory. The money, in addition to $1.85 million T.J. had received from two city-funded private agencies involved in her care, would ensure that...