Bittersweet Justice: Washington

Occasionally there is justice for those negatively affected by the child welfare and adoption systems. Unfortunately, it is usually bittersweet and much too late. This will serve as REFORM Talk’s justice files.

“We may never know her name. In court documents, she’s known simply as the Plaintiff, ‘V.O.’

But, there’s one thing we do know and it’s that V.O. is a survivor.

“She has made incredible strides, in dealing with what she is going through, what she’s gone through,” her attorney Jeff Kreutz from Tamaki Law in Kennewick said.

It all started in Kennewick, in 1995. V.O., just three and a half years old, became a ward of the state, who was eventually placed into a foster family’s home in the city, by state officials.

This happened even though CPS had already received complaints about the foster father.

“Another foster child who was a teenage girl at that time, complained to her social worker that she was being sexually assaulted by the foster father,” Kreutz said.

Still, V.O. was placed into the home as a toddler.

Court documents tell the shocking stories of physical and sexual abuse which spanned for over a decade.

The foster mom forced the children to drink hot sauce when they misbehaved while the foster dad repeatedly assaulted V.O. and other children, according to the complaint.

What’s even more eye-opening, is reports show CPS was told multiple times.

“There were other relatives of the foster family; cousins and nieces that came forward and said ‘we too were being assaulted by this particular foster father,’ but the state still did not remove our client from the home,” the attorney said.

Kreutz said in this case, the state of Washington failed an innocent child and others.

KAPP KVEW reached out to the Department of Children, Youth and Families, who released this statement:

The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) settled a lawsuit brought by a young woman who alleged that former Children’s Administration failed to protect her from maltreatment. Originally filed as a $50 million tort claim, the suit settled for $2 million. Although the facts of the lawsuit remain disputed, DCYF hopes the settlement will allow the woman to receive the services and support necessary for her well-being.
DCYF’s mission is to protect children and strengthen families and the agency takes its mission seriously. DCYF has policies and practices for investigating allegations of abuse and neglect of children in out-of-home care. The agency and its leadership are committed to reviewing the effectiveness of these practices and adopting new ones when needed to protect children.”

Documents said in 2003, the foster family accepted services from CPS but still, the abuse continued.

“There is just an absolute obligation by the state to make sure that these children are protected,” Jeff said.

It wasn’t until V.O. was a teenager, when she was finally placed back in foster care.

In 2018, V.O. filed a tort claim against the state for $50 million but just last week, before the trial even began, the state settled for $2 million.

Kreutz said as unfortunate as the case is, it’s situations like this that make change.

“That the state policy makers actually take notice and say ‘hey okay we need to make differences, we need to make changes in policies, we need to make legislative changes, we need to make training changes, and we need to make enforcement changes,’ and it has to happen, it just has to happen,” Kreutz said.

If you or someone you or someone you know is suffering from any type of abuse, please contact police or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

** Since V.O.’s abusers have not been charged with any crimes yet, we have chosen to keep them anonymous. ”

State of Washington settles $2 million sex abuse lawsuit before trial starts
[YakTriNews 12/10/2020 by Madeleine Hagen]