Sen. Pam Roach, R-rural Auburn, has set Thursday for a special legislative hearing on “DCFS: Agency Problems.” The meeting begins at noon in the John A. Cherberg Building on the Olympia Campus, Senate Hearing Room 1.
“The Division of Children and Family Services is fraught with problems,” Roach said. “They fail to protect children by not following the law requiring placement with good, biological relatives and too often do not remove children in harm’s way. They have systemic problems with inaccurate reporting on the ground level.”
In January, State Ombudsman, Mary Meinig, released a scathing report citing deficiencies in the department. The report states that the ombudsman reviewed more than 150 child fatalities or near fatalities during its two year study. DCFS had an increase in citizen complaints against the department, often used foster providers who had not been given background checks, and had a 62% increase since 2006 in issues involving inappropriate permanency plans or delays in permanency.
“This report finds that our children are in danger,” Roach added, “and nothing is changing at this agency to turn its unsafe culture around.”
Another report released by Stevens County Prosecuting Attorney, Tim Rasmussen, who will attend the meeting, finds serious problems within the department. It states that relatives of the child are not notified or considered for placement, and that DCFS workers have developed a pattern of “shopping” for health care providers and counselors supportive of their objectives.
“I have come to believe a pattern of misconduct exists within the local department that has resulted in corruption,” Rasmussen said. “The department uses the confidentiality requirement as a shield to disclosure and discovery of misconduct by the workers.”
“The report from Stevens County is indicative of a system wide problem that must be addressed,” warned Roach. “The purpose of the hearing is to identify specific organizational problems within the agency in hopes of giving guidance for future, more lawful interactions with the public.”
“Simply put, this system needs help saving children,” said Roach. “Money isn’t the answer. The answer is accountability and lawful involvement.”
“There is a growing degree of interest by legislators regarding the outcomes within DCFS,” Roach added.
“We need to shine light on this agency, and the public needs to be involved in order to correct its deficiencies.”
