In the United States Court of Appeals For the Second Circuit ______________

August Term, 2022

(Argued: December 7, 2022 Decided: August 3, 2023)

Docket No. 21-2447 ______________

J.S.,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

–v.–

NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION,

Defendant-Appellee. ______________ B e f o r e:

CABRANES, CARNEY, and ROBINSON, Circuit Judges. ______________

Plaintiff-Appellant J.S. appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Sinatra, J.) dismissing for failure to state a claim his suit against Defendant-Appellee New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (“DOCCS”) for attorneys’ fees and costs under 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B)(i), the fee-shifting provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). See J.S. v. N.Y. State Dep’t of Corr. & Cmty. Supervision, 557 F. Supp. 3d 403 (W.D.N.Y. 2021). This provision permits a court, in its discretion, to award reasonable attorneys’ fees and related costs to “a prevailing party who is the parent of a child with a disability.” 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B)(i)(I). The IDEA defines “parent” broadly to include, inter alia, foster parents, guardians, individuals “acting in the place of a natural or adoptive parent . . . with whom the child lives,” and “individual[s] who [are] legally responsible for the child’s welfare.” Id. § 1401(23). On de novo review, we conclude that the IDEA permits a court to award fees and costs to J.S. as “an individual who is legally responsible for the child’s welfare” because, as an adult “child with a disability” and without representation by a guardian, natural parent, or appointed individual, he prevailed in his action on his own behalf seeking required educational services from DOCCS. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the district court denying him an award of fees, and we remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Judge Cabranes joins the judgment of the Court and files a concurring opinion.

REVERSED and REMANDED. ______________

JULIE M. KEEGAN (Benjamin Taylor, on the brief), Disability Rights New York, Rensselaer, NY (Andrew Stecker & Maria E. Pagano, Prisoners’ Legal Services New York, Buffalo, NY, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellant J.S.

KEVIN HU (Barbara D. Underwood, Victor Paladino, Jennifer L. Clark, on the brief), for Letitia James, Attorney General for the State of New York, Albany, NY, for Defendant-Appellee New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Ellen Saideman, Law Office of Ellen Saideman, Barrington, RI, for Amici Curiae Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates; National Disability Rights Network; Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund; Disability Law Project, Vermont; Disability Rights Connecticut.