Wiener Lambka Deutscher, P.S., Attorneys at Law

The State if Washington has a legal responsibility to conduct reasonable investigations into the backgrounds of foster parents and any complaints about abuse of foster children. Obviously, with children involved, the responsibility to insure thier safety is of great importance as they are uniquely without the ability to protect themselves. There have been several recent cases brought to light that show our state is having difficulty doing a reasonably good job in these cases.

Recently, the secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services announced a full review of how her department handled close to a dozen referrals in just one case. Excerpts from Debora Feldman?s article in the Seattle Times follow:

“The system failed this child,” said Robin Arnold Williams, secretary of DSHS. “And as the secretary of this department, I take responsibility for the actions and the decisions that have been made on this case.”

Lori and Remil Venegas were charged with assaulting Remil’s 12-year-old grandson, who came to live with them when their mother was killed in a car crash.

Gene Breedlove says an ongoing feud he had with his neighbors became so bad he began secretly videotaping activities in front of his house from two hidden cameras.

On Tuesday, he handed over several hundred tapes to Pierce County deputies who now want to examine them. They’ll look for proof of child abuse Greenlove may have captured inadvertently of Lori and Remil Venegas.

Court papers allege a stunning spectrum of abuse over a period of years - most at the hands of his step-grandmother.

The accusations include bruises on the boy’s face, and a tooth knocked out of his mouth, an allegation that she sliced his legs with a fork and poured vinegar on the wounds, beat him with bamboo sticks and forced him to mop up urine with the clothes he was wearing.

She acknowledges at least nine referrals were made to Child Protective Services since 2004 regarding the child, and says she understands the frustration law enforcement has expressed that CPS chose to leave the boy in the home.

“This case also clearly highlights the need to have clear, consistent and effective protocols with how we and law enforcement work together on these cases,” Williams said.

DSHS says it will release the findings of their internal investigation within a week, and says both the department and individuals will be held accountable.

Meanwhile, the 12-year-old boy has now been removed from his grandfather’s home.

(end of article)

Making sure that the system does work properly, especially when doing so involves the protection of children, is one of the most important roles of trial lawyers in America. Please contact our office if you believe that the system has let someone down in their responsibility to protect a child. Steps can be immediately taken to preserve that child’s safety and hold appropriate parties accountable. Only by bringing these horrible instances to light can the child be properly protected and, at the same time, the system be fixed to limit these problems in the future.

There is a bill in the Washington State Legislature that proposes to change the current law concerning parent’s legal rights to compensation for the wrongful death of an adult child. Currently, the law in Washington is that when a child turns 18, the age of majority, the parents no longer have any legal right to compensation for their loss of their relationship with their child should that child be killed due to someone else’s negligence. If the parents were dependant upon the child for financial support then they may make a claim for that loss. It is probably apparent to the reader that this is a very arbitrary cut off in age. While it can be argued that the older a child is, the measure of that loss to his or her parents is diminished, there is no current opportunity to actually look at the quality of that relationship on a case by case basis because there is no legal claim allowed for that emotional loss in Washington once the child has turned 18.

The new bill, ESHB 1873, sought to change this inequitable situation. Unfortunately, a ‘floor amendment’ to this bill has set the age of 25 (unless the child was decelpmentally disabled) as a new cut off. Should the bill pass, if your child is killed by the negligence of another person, or business entity, or government, then you will not be able to obtain any compensation for the taking of your child away from your life unless the loss occurred prior to your child’s 26th birthday. Why the age of 25? This isn’t known. This cut off is almost as arbitrary as the current cut off at age 18. While the proposed bill is a step in the right direction, this new cut off will elminate many parent’s ability to seek justice in these tragic situations. If you believe that this bill should not contain the arbitrary age cut off, please contact your State Senator as the bill will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 27, 2007.