Report critical of Colville CPS

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

DSHS releases new plans for Colville office after Ombudsman’s report BY SOPHIA ALDOUS S-E Staff Reporter     Last summer, state Om¬budsman Mary Meinig arrived in Stevens County to take stock of accusations and complaints against the De¬partment of Social and Health Services Child Protective Services office in Colville.     The Colville office covers Ferry, Pend Orielle and Ste¬vens counties, where resi¬dents, including a gradpar¬ents’ support group and local health care and mental health providers, have protested child placement decisions.     Over the past two years, Meinig’s office has received over 62 complaints regarding child welfare practices in Northeast Washington. In 16 of those cases, Meinig found what she referred to as “vio¬lations of law, policy, proce¬dure; clearly unreasonable actions; or simply poor social work practice.”     Meinig also noted in her in¬vestigation a “culture of dis¬trust” between CPS workers and the community.     “Our report says the kids are at risk and families are at risk because of the lack of trust, cooperation, collabora¬tion and communication that’s going on within the community,” stated Meinig.     According to the report, the following recommendations were made in regards to the Colville office, including:     A diverse community board advises the Division of Chil¬dren and Family Services.     That an outside professional mediation service address is¬sues needing repair in the Colville area.     That local judiciary takes leadership in addressing ac¬countability, particularly in the appointment of mutually agreed-upon care providers. ‘This is not about picking on our local CPS office…’     Meinig’s report also put an emphasis of keeping children with relatives in the absence of abuse or neglect, a clear violation of a court order, or imminent risk of harm.     “This is not about picking on our local CPS office,” said Stevens County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Rasmussen, who has been investigating com¬plaints against the CPS office for several months. “This is about doing what’s best for our children and making sure CPS honors that, which is their job.”     Rasmussen, who is working in conjunction with Repre¬sentative Joel Kretz on inves¬tigating the complaints against the CPS office, sent a letter outlining his concerns to Governor Gregoire and Washington state lawmakers in March.     The Colville office has an¬swered by implementing plans for changing operations and improving relationships in the community, including 30-day and 60-day corrective action plans.     According to John Wiley of DSHS Communications, the plans incorporate responses to many of the recommenda¬tions made by Meinig,     “The remaining recommen¬dations require action by other community partners,” said Wiley in a DSHS press release. “Included in these ac¬tion plans is a request for me¬diation between the Division of Children and Family Serv¬ices staff and the Stevens County Court Appointed Spe¬cial Advocate, assignment of a full-time area administrator for Colville and renewal of a Child Welfare Overview Com¬mittee.”     But is the attempt to extend the proverbial olive branch too little, too late?     Meinig reiterated in her re¬port that everyone involved in the placement and welfare de¬cisions of a child need to do a better job of working with one another.     “The situation needs to im¬prove, of that there is no question,” said Meinig.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 June 2009 )