The Spokesman-Review
March 25th 2009
Our View: Report On DSHS In Colville Warrants Review
Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen was asked by state Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, to look into repeated complaints about the child-protection workers in the Department of Social and Health Services office in Colville, which serves Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties. What he discovered after several months is contained in a sharply worded letter sent to the governor, attorney general and about 30 lawmakers and state workers.
The blunt report is sure to raise temperatures, but cooler heads need to focus on the substance to determine whether the allegations are accurate. Rasmussen accuses the office of a pattern of abuse in which foster children are taken from homes for questionable reasons. To accomplish this, DSHS workers in the Colville office are accused of selectively choosing doctors and counselors who were amenable to the office’s agenda.
Rasmussen was the prosecutor who worked out the plea deal in the case of Tyler DeLeon, who died of dehydration in 2005 after undergoing long-term abuse from his adoptive mother, who is serving a six-year sentence. In that case, Rasmussen was critical of the state for acting too slowly, or not at all. His just-released report often alleges that DSHS is too aggressive in removing foster children from homes. He notes a judge’s outrage at the agency for removing five children from a family and a request to remove two more for what appeared to be financial reasons. He also accuses the state of conducting sexual abuse examinations of children when no allegations have been leveled and ignoring the advice of court-appointed advocates.
The reality of Child Protective Services is that case workers can be accused of being too intrusive or too hands-off. Whether children should be removed from homes is always going to be an emotional issue. Still, criticism should be taken seriously to bring about the best balance. DSHS hasn’t had much time to look at Rasmussen’s complaints, so it has yet to offer a substantive answer. Kretz isn’t convinced that the agency’s self-evaluation is working.
It is too soon to decide whether the Colville office is in need of a serious shake-up based on these latest allegations. But the office certainly came up short in the DeLeon case, so these charges merit a close look. Plus, the agency does have an ombudsman who hasn’t shied from leveling criticism in the past. For the sake of children, the adults need to set aside hurt feelings and embark on an objective review of the allegations. And the results of that inquiry should be made public.
(Thank you to those who sent this in to me. PR)
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3 comments:
yes Colville is in need of a shake up just like most other counties in Washington, its time to take all the cps to task and stop letting them hide it under the rug. We will be watching you Governor. Maybe the state wouldn't be in such bad shape if so much of the money didn't go out to pay law suits for the inept dept of cps.
We really admire and respect Pam Roach for her efforts to help families that are being destroyed by CPS.
The prosecutor's allegations against Colville DSHS are perfectly consistent with the Standard Mode of Operation by CPS throughout the Westernized World.
As far as we are concerned, it's IMPOSSIBLE to say anything evil enough about CPS that isn't true.
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
Until Every Child Comes Home ©
The Voice of America's Families ©
We need to ask the victims of CPS how they feel. This is the missing link. No one wants to acknowledge that we have feelings too. No one wants to talk to us, ever. They just keep hiding what they have done to us. And if it continues to run on without honest input by victims of CPS, it will never get better.
We do not have a voice. We need one.
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