I figured the bio mom would sue child services for negligence, which of course begs the question of why Patrick went there to begin with, i.e. bio mom's legal problems.
all that aside, there are a few obstacles in her path before she can see any $$$.
if her beef is the fact a judge placed Patrick under the care of the system, as far as I know there is something called judicial immunity that means the judge (and the court system) is not liable for the decisions made in court. so she cannot collect money because the judge "made the wrong decision".
if her beef is that the foster mother lost track of Patrick, then the question becomes should child services have entrusted her with Patrick. it has been claimed by child services that this woman had been a foster mother for like 20 years without incident. IF THAT IS TRUE, and I have no idea if it is, then how would child services be negligent for using her? ordinarily negligence would be just the opposite - entrusting a child with a newbie, someone whose background was not properly checked, or someone who had a questionable track record with placements.
by filing a federal action, I am assuming bio mom is claiming that the placement of Patrick in the system deprived her of some constitutional right of parenthood. the problem with that (if that is the crux of her suit) is that she seemingly had due process of law, i.e. she had notice of the intended action and she had the opportunity to be heard. that she lost is not by itself a basis for a civil rights action.