This settlement bears a resemblance to the 3.5 Million dollars that was spent to build the mental health facility in Red Lake MN after Jeff Weise murdered his grandfather and killed and wounded 14 others after writing and speaking about homicide & suicide and how his mother told him how she wished he’d never been born.
Why put people through this?
In my experience as a guardian ad-Litem, it is apparent that spending a fraction of this money on the front end, making sure that the suspicions of child molestation, providing drugs to minors, and other heinous acts against his very young child were unfounded, would have been a much better investment. For the county, for the child, and for our larger community.
But the reality was, all the charges were true, but case was closed, & the incest continued for years making a normal life for this child impossible (regardless of the money involved).
Now, just like at Red Lake, a great deal of money has been spent, terrific damage has been done, and no one is happy.
Support child protection programs, train social workers & give them reasonable caseloads & the resources that they need to conduct effective investigations.
Anything less is a waste of money and a direct assault on the weakest and most vulnerable among us.
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Lights & Sirens
Go behind the yellow tape with The News Tribune
State agrees to pay $2.85 million to woman in child abuse lawsuit
Post by Stacey Mulick / The News Tribune on May 4, 2012 at 11:52 am with 17 Comments »
The state has agreed to pay $2.85 million to a 21-year-old woman who allegedly endured physical and sexual abuse after a child abuse investigation conducted by the state Department of Social and Health Services.
The judgement was announced and accepted in Pierce County Superior Court today, the woman’s attorneys reported in a press release. The case had been scheduled to go to trial later this month.
“DSHS believes that the agreement fairly compensates this young woman, who can use the proceeds to meet any special needs she may have in the future,” agency spokesman Thomas Shapley said in a press release.
The woman sued the state in 2009, alleging a state social worker failed to properly investigate allegations of abuse and neglect.
According to the complaint, the woman had been living with her father in 2004 when he was arrested by police in Pierce County on suspicion of child molestation, providing drugs to minors, attempted child molestation and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
He was jailed and temporary custody of the then-13-year-old girl was given to her paternal grandmother. DSHS also was notified of the arrest and opened an investigation.
The lawsuit claims the social worker allowed the father to visit his daughter after he was released from jail. He later asked if he could have his children and the social worker said he “could not prevent him from getting an apartment with his children,” the lawsuit states.
The social worker then closed the referral as unfounded.
In a press release, DSHS said the referral was closed after the girl denied the abuse had taken place and a forensic exam for evidence of sexual abuse was inconclusive.
A short time later, the father left Pierce County and took his daughter to Pacific County to live with him.
The lawsuit claims the girl was physically and sexually abused by her father nearly every day. She ran away from home in May 2005 and reported the abuse.
Her father was later charged with 14 counts of incest, molestation and rape. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison.
The lawsuit claimed DSHS took no steps to protect the woman despite “a litany of warnings from members of the community including concerned neighbors, local law enforcement and no less than five other children who report that they too were molested by (the same) abuser.”
DSHS reported that best practice would have been for the social worker to follow up with law enforcement and pursue other information before closing the initial referral.
The state says it has made several changes in the years since, including
* Not just taking a child’s word that they are not being abused or neglected.
* Conducting a more thorough follow-up before closing a case. That includes interviewing family members and others.
* Implementing a higher level of review for all safety plans and improving supervisor training.
* Changing the protocol for responding to critical incidents.
* Strengthening the emphasis on child safety through comprehensive assessments in all child protection and child welfare programs.