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The attorneys who sued the state over its treatment of foster children took the case back to court last week, saying the Department of Health and Social Services hasn’t lived up to the terms of a settlement reached in 2004.
In a motion filed in Whatcom County Superior Court, the attorneys who represented Jessica Braam in a class action lawsuit say DSHS’s Children’s Administration has fallen short in four areas: The department is failing to make the monthly visits required for more than 60 percent of foster children, they say. Caseloads are averaging 25 children per worker — higher than the 18 called for in the agreement. Less than half of all siblings in foster care are getting the twice-monthly visits with each other that DSHS is supposed to provide. And more than two-thirds of foster children aren’t getting the health and education screenings required in 30 days, letting time lapse, the plaintiffs say, before a mental health issue can be identified and treated.
“We shouldn’t have ever gotten to this point, but the lack of urgency and insufficient commitment by the state to keep the promises it made to Washington’s children has made [this] action necessary,” plaintiff attorney Casey Trupin of Columbia Legal Services says in a statement.
“We are disappointed with this back-to-court strategy, which ignores the steady progress we are making to keep foster children safe from abuse and neglect,” Cheryl Stephani, assistant secretary for the Children’s Administration, responds in a news release. “We have an obligation to protect all vulnerable children who come to the attention of Child Protective Services, not just those who are in foster care.”
The progress includes the fact that the final 95 of 400 new caseworkers will be hired by the end of May, Stephani says, and their caseloads are down to 21 per worker — lower than the plaintiffs claim. She adds that nearly 80 percent of the children in state care who are living with their parents do receive a monthly visit, up from 56.4 percent in April, and that 79 percent of incoming foster children receive a screening within 90 days.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to order DSHS to fully comply with the settlement in 60 days or impose a fine within 90. |
