Why An Attorney May Not Be Enough In Child Welfare Cases

Jason Bragg was confused. He felt angry. But more than anything, he wanted his son back.

Washington authorities removed the 4-year-old from his father’s custody in January 2012 after receiving reports of drug use by Bragg. It took 20 months for the ensuing child welfare case to be dismissed and for Bragg to fully regain custody of his son.
More >> Why An Attorney May Not Be Enough In Child Welfare Cases

Families together: Yakima reunification celebration honors longtime advocate

Sheets of purple and large purple butterflies brightened the austere concrete block walls of the Yakima County Juvenile Justice Center courtroom Thursday. Bouquets of purple flowers decorated long tables.

LaShaunda Harris, the community advocate and champion for families who wore purple almost every day and chose butterflies as her emblem of rebirth after overcoming adversity, would have loved it, friends said. Harris likely knew — and probably helped in some way, big or small — all of the parents and children honored at the 10th annual reunification celebration that afternoon.

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Adoption scammers: A new breed of wolf

“She is 18 years old and she’s scared. She’s getting on a plane today at 1pm on her way to Washington DC to have an abortion…unless she can find a willing family to adopt her baby. If someone will take it, she will have it.”

This is the scenario that a pregnancy center presented to my wife and me on the phone one Wednesday afternoon while we were sitting in a hospital parking lot, unsure if we were possibly pregnant and experiencing a miscarriage. Our hearts were drawn in the midst of our frustration and uncertainty. Of course we would take the child… we wanted this baby to live.

More >> Adoption scammers: A new breed of wolf

Washington state to pay $1.7 million to settle woman’s claims that social workers ignored child abuse, neglect she suffered

She first met him at a corner store 30 years ago, when she was 13 and wandering the streets of Tacoma’s then-notorious Hilltop.

The 37-year-old man, a convicted drug dealer, took her home, forced her into sex and before long, had the girl living with him, she said. And soon, he allegedly was plying the girl’s drug-addicted mother with crack cocaine as part of an unspoken arrangement.

More >> Washington state to pay $1.7 million to settle woman’s claims that social workers ignored child abuse, neglect she suffered

Justices Decline to Review Case Involving Strip Search of 4-Year-Old at School

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a case involving the warrantless strip-search at school of a 4-year-old student by a county caseworker looking for evidence of abuse.

The case of I.B. v. Woodard (No. 18-1173) raised several important legal questions for educators, including whether a child welfare caseworker requires a warrant to strip-search a child and whether it was clearly established that such conduct was barred in Colorado under relevant federal court rulings.

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Washington's Junior Village was created as a refuge for needy kids. Instead they were raped and drugged

The children's home was a must-stop destination for the powerful.

In the 1960s, first lady Jackie Kennedy, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and Vice President Hubert Humphrey were just a few of the important figures to pay visits to Junior Village, Washington's renowned refuge for impoverished children. Lady Bird Johnson and Pat Nixon sponsored Christmas and Thanksgiving parties at the White House for handpicked Junior Village children, according to The Washington Post.

But the cheerful newspaper photos of those visits and holiday celebrations didn't capture what happened when the cameras were gone: harrowing abuse.

More >> Washington's Junior Village was created as a refuge for needy kids. Instead they were raped and drugged

Senators concerned about abuse allegations at shelters

The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are questioning whether the Trump administration is neglecting its duty to protect unaccompanied immigrant children in its care amid allegations of misconduct at federally funded shelters.

Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon asked for data from U.S. Health and Human Services on occupancy, incident reporting, sexual abuse prevention and federal and state regulation of children’s shelters. Their request on Thursday follows a report that thousands of allegations of sexual abuse and harassment were logged over the past four years and as the number of migrant children crossing the border is rising dramatically.

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Charges: Foster parent injured 4-month-old several times

He was trying to do a favor for his wife.

She hadn’t been sleeping well since both of their foster sons caught pneumonia. On April 12, after returning from the hospital, he said he would sleep with the 4-month-old downstairs at their Lake Stevens house, while she got some rest.

More >> Charges: Foster parent injured 4-month-old several times

No Washington caseworkers held accountable despite violating multiple policies in horrific child abuse case

In the state of Washington when a foster child is abused to the point of nearly dying, there are steps in place to get to the bottom of what went wrong.

In 2015 Governor Jay Inslee signed “Aiden’s Act” into law. It mandates that after a near-fatality in the foster care system, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is to conduct a review of the files of caseworkers assigned to the child. If it’s found that the caseworkers violated a policy, rules, or state statute, “the department is to conduct a formal employee investigation.”

More >> No Washington caseworkers held accountable despite violating multiple policies in horrific child abuse case

Charges dropped against fired Tacoma cops who told grandmother to beat boy with belt

Charges against two fired Tacoma police officers who told a woman to beat her 9-year-old grandson with a belt were dismissed Thursday.

Jesse Jahner and Damion Birge had been charged with a felony of third-degree child assault as well as gross misdemeanors of coercion and official misconduct in Pierce County Superior Court.

Judge Jerry Costello dismissed the charges without prejudice.

More >> Charges dropped against fired Tacoma cops who told grandmother to beat boy with belt

Foster parent, frustrated, allegedly shakes 2-month-old baby

A foster parent in Lake Stevens is accused of shaking a 2-month-old boy under his care, causing a brain bleed, according to a police report filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Because babies have weak neck muscles, violently shaking a baby can result in permanent brain damage, or death, according to the Mayo Clinic.

More >> Foster parent, frustrated, allegedly shakes 2-month-old baby

Concerns spark over abuse in the adoption&foster care system after Washington couple drives family off a cliff

A jury determined a Washington state couple committed murder suicide when they drove off a cliff killing their six adoptive children.

When you look at a picture of the Hart family and their six adoptive kids, you see nothing but huge smiles.

More >> Concerns spark over abuse in the adoption&foster care system after Washington couple drives family off a cliff

Youth often become homeless just after leaving juvenile detention. Can Washington state really stop it?

By the age of 17, David Vanwetter had been in and out of detention perhaps a dozen times.

Often homeless when he went in, he would be right back on the streets when he got out.

More >> Youth often become homeless just after leaving juvenile detention. Can Washington state really stop it?

NW Parents Challenge Schools' Handling Of Students With Disabilities

Thousands of times a year, Oregon and Washington students have been physically restrained or isolated from peers. Parents say what's meant as a last resort happens too often, without their knowledge.

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Twin girls: starved and tortured by their mother sue the State of Washington, DCYF

Twin girls, age 12, have sued the State of Washington, Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) on Monday.

Tamaki Law says that the girls are suing after alleging that social workers negligently removed them from a loving and safe foster home, where they had lived from birth to age 7, and then placed them in the home of their drug-addicted, physically abusive biological mother.

More >> Twin girls: starved and tortured by their mother sue the State of Washington, DCYF

Twin girls: starved and tortured by their mother sue the State of Washington, DCYF

Twin girls, age 12, have sued the State of Washington, Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) on Monday.

Tamaki Law says that the girls are suing after alleging that social workers negligently removed them from a loving and safe foster home, where they had lived from birth to age 7, and then placed them in the home of their drug-addicted, physically abusive biological mother.

More >> Twin girls: starved and tortured by their mother sue the State of Washington, DCYF

DCYF trying to keep foster kids out of juvenile detention

The tent encampments scattered across Seattle do not just contain adults — behind many canvas flaps and under many overpasses can be found foster kids who have run away from their place of care.

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Washington handles runaway foster kids with handcuffs, shackles and jail. Is there a better way?

"I've done nothing wrong," said a 14-year-old after she landed in jail for the fourth time. Many agree, and are trying to stop Washington state from arresting runaway foster kids. The head of the agency responsible says he wants to, but faces a "moral conundrum."

More >> Washington handles runaway foster kids with handcuffs, shackles and jail. Is there a better way?

WA FOSTER KIDS SENT TO OUT-OF-STATE GROUP HOMES WITH CHECKERED RECORDS

Just three days after arriving at the Clarinda Academy in rural Iowa, Jesus Lopez lay unmoving in his bed, bruises across his forehead, arms, legs and back. Investigators would later report that staffers at the group home for foster kids and other troubled youths had repeatedly picked up the 17-year-old, dropped him onto his buttocks and pushed him forward until his face hit the floor.

Lopez says he blacked out. He remembers a nurse trying to wake him. One of the workers who had restrained Lopez told investigators he had checked on Lopez throughout the night, concerned because the boy didn’t move for hours.

More >> WA FOSTER KIDS SENT TO OUT-OF-STATE GROUP HOMES WITH CHECKERED RECORDS

Fired Tacoma cops accused of telling woman to beat 9-year-old plead not guilty to assault

Two fired Tacoma police officers pleaded not guilty Friday to charges they told a Tacoma woman to beat her 9-year-old grandson with a belt.

Damion Birge and Jesse Jahner are both charged with third-degree child assault, coercion and official misconduct in Pierce County Superior Court.

More >> Fired Tacoma cops accused of telling woman to beat 9-year-old plead not guilty to assault