Tuesday, December 2, 2008

CPS Leader Abdicates Throne...

DSHS Cheryl Stephani, Assistant Secretary over Children's Administration has announced she is leaving her post effective December 31st.


All I can say at this time is that she will be making one hunk of money in retirement...over $100,000 a year so why stay with the program?

She leaves a department in shambles. There is no accountability. There is no openness to public scrutiny. There is no following of the legislative directive to "place with families first." She offered a draconian form of leadership that has no place in government.

And to Robin Arnold Williams.....Go back in and reevaluate the way you do business. I would be happy to bring along many of my senate colleagues who have been just horrified by the department's actions. While there are good people who try to help children in trouble...your policies have created a monster. Steponme's departure is welcome and overdue. She was past any understanding of what she was doing. She allowed some employees to lie (they did so to me!!!)without repercussion. She hid positive in-home studies from judges. She allowed an out-of-control CASA to over-step his authority and made no mention of it. She failed to bring public trust to the department. She never took responsibility for what her employees did. She was one disaster and caused so much anguish for innocent family members.

Robin...let's get it right. No more promotions from your institutions. Let's get new blood into this department. Let's get some citizen over-sight. My God...It is Christmas after all.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like her prepping went well.Her thoughts were something like this "Might as well bail on this job because I don't know what I'm suppose to do anyways!"Kudos to the "prepping" session...Who can be taken down next?

Anonymous said...

This has to be the best prepping I've ever seen!

Anonymous said...

This just proves the old adage "If you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen!" Maybe now more "heads" will roll and this will be a properly
run system..."By the people and for the people." I agree with Jan Smith that this should be an elected position.
Pam it has taken your intervention in the case for little Lisa that has turned the tide. Please keep helping the families who need you. You are the best!

Anonymous said...

OMG!
I am proud to know you.

No accountability when Stephani's Field manager lied to the Senate Committee. Not a word in public, and he probably retired with full retirement.

Anonymous said...

It doesn't really matter to me. They will put somebody just like her in the position, and nothing will change; or maybe somebody who really wants to change the system but gets lied to constantly by division directors covering up what their employees are doing.

On the other hand-- Lisa is still suffering at the hands of foster mother who won't even take her to the doctor. I just wonder how easy it is for her protruding bowel to become infected and the subsequent infection becoming systemic causing her death.

Anonymous said...

Dear Ms. Roach,

We are waiting with baited breath for some more information..No posts from you yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Dear Pam, hmmm, reminds me of rats jummping off a sinking ship...
It is starting to sink, lets just hope no more children are taken down with CPS when they go under!
Now if we could just get the rest of the criminals out of there, things might change for the better. The caseworkers, GAL, supervisors, and even a CPS hired psychologist lied in my grandson's case to cover up their negligence and failure to protect him from his father. They not only covered up alleged sexual abuse by the father during "supervised" visits, they failed to investigate this claim, even after the child gave a statement to CPS stating what the father had done to him in a bathroom. Then they took him from me, after praising me for three years about the excellent care, love and nurturing I gave this precious, developmentally disabled, special needs child! Three weeks later, CPS returned this child to his non-compliant parents who have not only blown off the court orders from the dependency hearing, but have open criminal cases and warrants for their arrest! They will not allow anyone in his family to see him, including me. It has been 92 days. CPS does a fine job of protecting...themselves!

Anonymous said...

Our 4 year old developmentally disabled relative was taken from his parents 3 years ago after suffering terrible abuse and neglect for 15 months. CPS KNEW he was being neglected, knew his mother was a meth addict, knew she was using during his pregnancy, knew she was using when he was 6 months old and she became pregnant with child #2--CPS KNEW and did nothing until Child #2 was born addicted to Meth. Then they removed the children and placed them in wonderful, praiseworthy care for three years. And while the children were living their lives in safety, health, love and nurture, the parents were doing nothing, abandoning their children, failing to take counseling, anger management, domestic violence, drug treatment. And the outcome? The happy ending? Look somewhere else for happy, we don't sell that in Washington. Our precious child, so dear and fragile and sweet, was returned to his abusive and non-compliant, angry and violent, substance-abusing parents in October. His sibling will follow any day now. Cheryl Stephani...hope you are proud of your legacy of maimed, wounded, dead children. Robin? Got your bags packed yet, I hear your bus leaving. How lucky for all of us that we can name laws after murdered children in Washington--children who were placed in the care of CPS.

Anonymous said...

There is absolutely no accountability in this department. Each employee, from the caseworker to the supervisor all the way to Stephani or Arnold-Williams can leave wreckage in their wake--broken families, devastated relatives, damaged children--and absolve themselves by uttering the magic words...I believed it was in the best interest of the child. Isn't there anyone, anywhere in this system who can and will insist that the laws of the state and federal governments must be followed in dependency cases? What good are RCWs, laws like Sirita's or Rafael's or Braam when CPS violates them and "it just doesn't matter? Governor Gregoire got her start working for CPS. Isn't it about time we heard from her directly about the carnage coming from this bloated and unchecked department?