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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

New leader for troubled state agency

The state’s Department of Social and Health Services chose a longtime state employee to head its troubled Children’s Administration on Wednesday.

Cheryl Stephani, a veteran manager in the state’s Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, will take charge of the agency and its $460 million budget on May 16.

In a phone interview, Stephani said she would work to ensure that decisions made at state headquarters in Olympia will result in positive changes for children.

“One question I’m going to be asking is, ‘How is this decision good for children and families?’ ” she said. “We will have difficult decisions to make.”

The Children’s Administration, which oversees dozens of state programs for children and their families, has been beset by financial problems and a string of recent child deaths. Those issues led to the resignation last month of Uma Ahluwalia, a respected child welfare leader who held the job for just 19 months.

In announcing Stephani’s appointment, DSHS Secretary Robin Arnold-Williams said the agency “must have sound business practices and services that are effective in meeting specific needs of the children and families we serve.”

Stephani will step down as assistant secretary for the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, where she led the implementation of several new treatment programs in the past five years, according to a state press release.

The Children’s Administration has suffered numerous embarrassments in recent years, including a failing grade from a federal review board for its child welfare system, a lawsuit that forced the agency to reform foster care, and a projected $12 million budget shortfall.

In addition, recent reviews of two high-profile child fatality cases have criticized the agency for ignoring, dismissing or otherwise mishandling complaints that social workers received before the children died.

Last month, Gov. Christine Gregoire ordered the agency to conduct face-to-face investigations into all reports of life-threatening abuse or neglect within 24 hours. Previously, the agency allowed social workers up to 10 days to investigate.

“I believe Cheryl can help in our mission to keep children safe through statewide consistency in back-to-basic, solid child welfare work,” Arnold-Williams said in a press release.

Jon Gould, deputy director of the Children’s Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group, said Stephani’s experience and background will be valuable.

“She has seen how children are served under multiple systems within DSHS, and she has been a force in trying to bring those systems together to work in the interest of children and families,” Gould said.

Stephani, who will earn $99,960, said she appreciated the complex and challenging decisions faced by social workers each day.

“People enter the child welfare arena because they care deeply about children and families,” Stephani said in a statement released Wednesday. “They need the best support the department can provide.”