An agreement signed Monday will require changes over the next two years in the way Washington social workers deal with the 9,000 children in the foster care system in the state.
The agreement will increase the number of caseworker visits, reduce the number of times a child is moved from home to home, and help keep biological siblings together.
It is part of the state Department of Social and Health Services settlement of a Whatcom County foster child lawsuit known as the Braam case, The Seattle Times reported in Tuesday’s newspaper.
Jessica Braam was bounced through 34 foster homes by the time she was 12.
The lawsuit was filed in 1998 on behalf of 13 children who cumulatively had been moved 208 times. A settlement was first reached in 2004, and foster-care changes were supposed to be instituted by July. But a three-month extension, expiring on Monday, was granted by the court.
“This really is a win for children in the foster-care system,” said Denise Revels Robinson, head of the state Children’s Administration, which oversees foster care. “Children will be visited; more brothers and sisters will be placed together. We will have a continued focus on keeping children safe in out-of-home care.”
Other changes as a result of the settlement will improve training for foster parents and the physical and mental health screenings for children entering the system. The settlement also requires that each caseworker oversee no more than 18 children.
Casey Trupin, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, said the state hasn’t moved as swiftly as some would like. In 2008, the plaintiffs took the state back to court after it repeatedly failed to uphold its end of the settlement.
On Monday, DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus defended the time frame and said other states typically spend far longer entwined in class-action litigation. Dreyfus called Monday’s agreement a “model exit strategy.”
“There’s no question the Braam settlement will improve our state’s public child-welfare system,” she said. “There are a lot of good things in this child-welfare system that need to get recognized.”
Trupin said he’s confident the state is on track to meet the settlement requirements.
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