Keeping Focus On Kids New Ombudsman Position Tackles Complaints About State Agencies That Deal With Children

Disputes over child abuse and foster care often wind up in court: Seventy-five people are suing the state now, seeking a total of nearly $300 million in alleged damages.

But the state has a new watchdog - at the Office of the Family and Children’s Ombudsman - to try to resolve complaints before they reach that stage.

Vickie Wallen, an attorney and former Princeton basketball star, was appointed by former Gov. Mike Lowry to mediate squabbles between families in crisis and the overwhelmed social-service system.

“We’re the place to go if you feel a government agency ignored your complaint and you feel that a child or family has been harmed as a result,” said Wallen, 36.

State lawmakers, who hear all about the problems from their constituents, are eager for her to get started. They unanimously approved the law in March 1996, making Washington one of three states that have such an office, along with Michigan and Rhode Island.

“Our involvement has brought about scores of safer children,” said Richard Bearup, Michigan’s first child and family ombudsman since 1995.

Wallen, a school principal’s daughter from Flint, Mich., clerked for the Washington State Court of Appeals before joining Lowry’s staff. She took over the governor’s policy team for human services, crafting programs to curb youth violence and track down runaways.

In her new $73,800-a-year job - she was appointed shortly before Gov. Gary Locke took office in January - Wallen hopes to implement policies she helped create but which have not taken hold “in real life.”

“There’s a disconnect between what’s going on in Olympia and what’s happening in the field,” she said.

Wallen has the job for three years. She will report to a legislative oversight committee that can help carve her recommendations into law.

She and her five-member staff say they’ll look into complaints from citizens and whistle-blowers about the Department of Social and Health Services and other agencies that deal with children. She has access to confidential case records that are off-limits to news media and even lawmakers.

Critics of the handling of the 1994-95 Wenatchee-area child-abuse cases are urging her to investigate how officials dealt with the families and children in state custody.

“It’s the best avenue we have available,” said Olympia attorney Kathryn Lyon, who has written an upcoming book on the controversial Wenatchee child-sex-ring cases. Lyon contends that some of the children whose parents were prosecuted were pressured to testify while in foster care, or locked in psychiatric hospitals and given psychotropic drugs.

Wallen said she may not have enough staff to tackle the Wenatchee case. She noted that seven Washington State Patrol detectives were assigned to investigate abuse at the OK Boys Ranch, an Olympia group home under contract to the state.

Still, Wallen said, “if we were to get a complaint, and if it did involve the conduct of a government agency that affected kids, it would be something we’d look at and review.”

Some unhappy citizens have already found Wallen’s office in a Tukwila office park.

“We’ve had to tell people we’re not open yet,” she said.

During her first six months on the job, Wallen hired three assistant ombudsmen and set up a data system to highlight patterns of complaints.

“It’s been a very slow process,” said Rep. Suzette Cooke, R-Kent, one of the sponsors of the ombudsman bill. “Am I impatient? I’d say I’m full of patience - it is stretched to the max!”

Wallen said her office will not be able to handle every citizen complaint.