Lawsuit: Oregon DHS

“An attorney for three Spanish-speaking children who were placed with a foster family that did not speak their language – and that allegedly sexually abused and beat them — has filed a $12.2 million lawsuit against the state of Oregon.

The suit makes the unusual allegation that a language barrier caused the three siblings to suffer such profound isolation that they developed attachment disorder.

The children — who are now ages 7, 8 and 9 — were placed in the Gresham foster home in 2013 and lived there for eight months, said Portland attorney David Paul, who is representing the children. The children were rarely spoken to and they didn’t understand the conversations carried on in English around them, he said.

The suit claims that child welfare workers with the Department of Human Services were aware the foster parents didn’t speak Spanish, but nonetheless allowed the children to live with them.

A spokeswoman for the agency, which is empowered with the care of thousands of foster children across the state, declined comment about the lawsuit.

Spokeswoman Andrea Cantu-Schomus, however, said DHS doesn’t have a policy prohibiting the placement of children in foster homes where their language isn’t spoken. Cantu-Schomus wrote in an email that the language spoken “is one of many considerations when making a foster placement decision.”

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

By far, the language barrier isn’t the most serious of the allegations in the lawsuit. Paul, who is the children’s attorney, said the children’s biological mother noticed “dramatic differences in her children” after they started living in the Gresham foster home and she immediately began reporting her concerns to DHS caseworkers about physical and sexual abuse as she learned about them over a period of months.

The children’s biological mother had temporarily lost custody because of allegations that she’d failed to protect her children from another person. But she had visitation rights.

According to Paul, one of the children told their biological mother that a grandmother in the foster home would pull their ears, hit them and yell at them.

The biological mother also noticed that her children had started playing with dolls by placing them in sexual positions and making them kiss, Paul said. One of her children ultimately confided that the foster dad and another foster child in the home made him do “icky things” that included performing sexual acts, Paul said.

The lawsuit states that the children also were offered such minimal care that they weren’t regularly bathed and had nothing to wear but “dirty clothing smelling foul of urine and unclean in the extreme.”

Paul said DHS only removed the children from the home after months of complaints from the children’s biological mother, as well as complaints from school officials about the children’s hygiene and academic struggles in the classroom.

An investigation ultimately found that the children’s claims of physical and sexual abuse were founded, Paul said.

Paul doesn’t know if the foster parents or grandmother were charged with any crimes — or if the foster parents are still allowed to care for foster children.

Paul said six or seven children were living in the home at the time of the abuse and neglect in this case.

Paul is still in the process of trying to find out the foster parents’ names. The filing of the lawsuit will pave the way for Paul to acquire DHS records about the case.

The three children have been returned to their biological mother, after it was determined that she could safely parent them, Paul said.

The suit estimates the costs of medical care, counseling and vocational therapy for each of the children at $200,000 each. The suit also estimates that because of traumatic stress and other psychological damages, the children have each suffered a decreased loss of earning capacity of $160,000 over their lifetimes.

The suit also seeks $1 million each for the children’s pain and suffering — stating that they have difficulty forming bonds with others because of the abuse and isolation in the home.

The suit seeks triple the amount of damages suffered by the children, under Oregon’s “vulnerable persons” law.”

Spanish-speaking Foster Kids were placed in English-speaking home,ignored and abused,suit claims[Oregon Live 4/1/16 by Aimee Green]

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