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March 21, 2009 in City
Prosecutor rakes DSHS office
‘Misconduct’ alleged in Colville
A “pattern of misconduct” plagues the Colville office of the Department of Social and Health Services and has resulted in the wrongful removal of foster children, in one instance described in a court ruling as a “draconian solution” to a financial dispute, according to the county prosecutor.
The sharply worded letter, sent Wednesday to Gov. Chris Gregoire, Attorney General Rob McKenna and more than 30 state legislators and state employees, follows months of investigation by Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen and accuses the DSHS office of “shopping” for doctors and counselors to support its agenda, ignoring rules regarding the removal of foster children and contradicting recommendations from health care providers.
Rasmussen’s letter, which calls for state intervention, includes a complaint from a doctor who said a baby became addicted to drugs after Child Protective Services ordered it be placed on a morphine drip, despite the doctor’s assurances that the child did not have methamphetamine in its system as state workers suspected.
“It is really unfortunate that this child was put through this degree of trauma at such an early age and I believe it can only be laid at the feet of the CPS workers,” Dr. Barry J. Bacon wrote in a letter dated Nov. 18.
Bacon said Friday that he stands by the letter.
“I believe that there are some serious problems” with the department, Bacon said.
State Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, asked Rasmussen to investigate after receiving what he called “an inordinate” number of complaints about the office.
Kretz spoke with department ombudsman Mary Meining last August and she looked into complaints, but Kretz said Friday he’s hoping for drastic changes in how such complaints are handled.
“I don’t think conventional means are going to get to the bottom of this,” Kretz said. “There’s a culture in that Colville office that needs to be weeded out and have some light shown on it.”
The Colville office serves Stevens, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties.
Connie Lambert-Eckel, deputy regional administrator for the DSHS children’s administration, said she received the letter yesterday and couldn’t comment on specifics.
The department has been working with Rasmussen on his concerns for some time, Lambert-Eckel said, but his letter contains new claims.
“We will be diving into these concerns very appropriately, very responsively, very quickly and very early next week,” she said.
Rasmussen was openly critical of the agency following the high-profile death of Tyler DeLeon, who died of dehydration in 2005 at the age of 7. DeLeon’s adoptive mother, Carole DeLeon, was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty in a plea deal to charges of criminal mistreatment.
Rasmussen at the time said caseworkers failed to act on signs that the boy was malnourished.
“I think lots of people did let Ty down, starting with the people in the Department of Social and Health Services,” he said in 2007.
The state of Washington recently paid a settlement of more than $6 million to children who were under Carole DeLeon’s care, including $180,000 to the estate of Tyler DeLeon.
Rasmussen’s letter, which doesn’t mention the DeLeon case, details one instance in which a judge blasted the department for removing five foster children on what the court ruled was a “very questionable basis.”
“The court found that removal by the department was done primarily for financial reasons,” Rasmussen wrote. “The court noted its ‘displeasure and sense of outrage at the department having operated the way it did in removing the children,’ and speaks of the department ‘having done a grave disservice’ to the children.”
When social workers tried to remove two other foster children from the same home, the judge refused and called their request “child abuse,” the letter reads.
“Something is very wrong,” Rasmussen wrote.
The letter includes accusations that children have been subjected to forensic examination for sexual molestation when no allegations of abuse existed and ignoring recommendations from Court Appointed Special Advocates.
“I hope something comes of it, but we’ll just have to see,” Rasmussen said Friday.
Kretz said the department hides behind bureaucracy and privacy laws.
“We’ve gotten case after case that I can say I have not had my questions answered,” he said. “There needs to be another method to look into problems rather than self-examination by an agency.”
Meghann M. Cuniff can be reached at (509) 459-5534 or at meghannc@spokesman.com.
Sex trafficking suspects released as probe continues 
steveeugster on March 21 at 6:56 a.m.
It is heartening to know that a county prosecuting attorney is doing his job. Too often prosecuting attorneys are lackadaisical and care only for keeping a low profile. Seemingly for the very most part, all they do is take on winning cases against petty criminals. Meanwhile greater wrongs are overlooked. Mortgage fraud in Spokane is a classic example of a greater wrong ignored by law enforcement. And ask yourself, when was the last time a county attorney convened a grand jury in Eastern Washington.
infinity on March 21 at 11:55 a.m.
DSHS needs to be thoroughly investigated! My daughter age 4 months was fallen on by a relative in front of 5 witnesses. Cheryl grim of cps told us we would never see our child again, she tried to trick my fiance and I into giving our child to foster care when we had 4 family members ready to take her in at any time. We had to notarize papers and send them to her supervisor in order to get our daughter placed with a family member, but guess what! with ought our consent she still had our daughter placed in a foster home. Is this right??? Anyone who has ever had a child taken by cps should know it is against the law for a person of cps to do this. We have been lied to from the beginning mislead and treated like we are meaningless. DSHS makes us feel like we are not in control of our daughter any longer . We are tired of being lied to and we need a bigger network to take them down. What they are doing is wrong and we have proof. For further questions contact me . chadgiddings@ymail.com
jamie_girl on March 21 at 12:16 p.m.
I wanted to add some minnor details regarding the previous comment. i happen to be the mother of the infant described above. yes, there was an accident and my daughter was hurt and yes, there were several witnesses to the incident. i was told by the investigateing officer the reason why were were being criminaly investigated in his own words “because the 6 written statements from the witnesses lined up”. Hello!! we were all there and we all saw what happened. what the hell is wrong with that?? secondly, i was informed by the cps case worker that i would never be able to see my daughter until i changed my story. ive been telling the sworn to God truth from the beginning as have my relatives and witnesses. this is not right. we have been lied to and mislead throughout the whole investigation. they believe that since we are young parents that we will tolarate the mistreatment. we are pleading for support from anyone and everyone. for more information you can contact me joanna.murphy@rocketmail.com thanks for your time.
LeonardH on March 22 at 4:52 p.m.
This NOT happening in just one office in Washington state. It is a NATION-WIDE pandemic of malfeasance and evil.
CPS is an Organized Criminal Operation that commits Federal Capital Crimes against American citizens every day and in every case.
“There is no crueler tyranny than that which is exercised under color or law, and with the colors of justice.” U.S. v. Janotti, 673 F. 2d 578, 614 (3d Cir.1982)
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
Until Every Child Comes Home ©
The Voice of America’s Families ©
juliehowe1975 on May 11 at 12:43 p.m.
hello, I’m a mother of 3 that had my children taken and placed in foster adopt by colville cps. I have been cruelly punished for crimes that their father did..he was an alcoholic and a batterer..I was never offered help for emotional problems all they wanted to do was stick me into facilities to take care of drug and alcohol abuse and give my children to foster parents that want to adopt them instead of helping with the real issues…I remarried and help my own self with my problems (Which made cps really upset because they had no control over me) and when I went to court when they wanted to take away my parental rights I was 2 years clean and sober and was married to a wonderful man and his supportive family lived in a beautiful home had a good job. The judge still took away my parental rights stating that I did a good job for my self but my 2 girls are in a good foster family with people that want to adopt them and that it has been to long of a time for me that they don’t want to break the bond that my 2 girls have..and my son hasto many issues that they are not even gonna ask him if he wants to come home to his mom..Now 5 years clean and sober…3 years later the foster family has decided not to adopt my girls and I can’t get them back because my rights are terminated and they still say that no one can have contact with my son and he is in long term foster care..I just want my family back
BT on October 23 at 11:55 a.m.
I’m sorry, but CPS is not worth tax payers money anymore. They place children in meth houses, abusive situations, and think they are above the law. Sheila Thorn CPS case worker in Spokane thinks she can manipulate the situation in her best interest only to find that she is totally out of line, and should be arrested herself for disobeying the law.
CPS use to take care of really abusive children, but all I hear anymore is the fact they think every teenager is the victim, but yet keep children in dangerous situations. Give me a break, I love the CPS case workers who actually see these teenagers for who they are: Lying, stealing theives, but yet CPS thinks they are victims because really parents ground their children.