She was allegedly abused for years. Lawyers say her Pierce County home was warning sign
A 23-year-old developmentally disabled Pierce County woman was allegedly abused and neglected for years by family caretakers while state agencies entrusted to protect her repeatedly ignored warnings and tell-tale signs, according to a recently filed lawsuit in Superior Court.
There were a dozen known referrals regarding concerns about the woman’s well-being since 2018, and one that dated back to when she was younger than 2 years old, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on her behalf on June 13.
The News Tribune isn’t naming the woman, who now lives in an adult family home, because she is the alleged victim of sexual abuse.
The lawsuit claims that case workers allowed the plaintiff to remain in her mother’s care, didn’t investigate allegations and took no meaningful action to shield her from potential harm. That despite repeated questions about her reportedly squalid living situation at home, where drugs were present and social workers refused to visit without law enforcement presence, the lawsuit states.
“But time after time they leave (her) there,” attorney Ian Bauer with Seattle-based Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala, who is representing the plaintiff, said in an interview.
The state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and the state Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF), which are named as defendants in the lawsuit, declined to comment, citing an inability to talk about pending litigation. Sub-agencies of each are also being sued.
On DSHS’s website, the agency says its mission is to “transform lives.” DCYF’s website notes that it follows guiding principles such as “a relentless focus on outcomes for children.”
“Our vision is to ensure that Washington state’s children and youth grow up safe and healthy — thriving physically, emotionally and academically, nurtured by family and community,” DCYF’s website states.
The woman, who has a court-appointed guardian and conservator, was born with microcephalus — a condition in which the baby’s head is smaller than normal — and was diagnosed with moderate to severe intellectual disability, according to the lawsuit. She is essentially non-verbal, has moderately impaired vision and hearing, and requires routine supervision.
She lived with her mother, who had a history of drug addiction, and her grandmother until their deaths last year and in 2018, respectively.
The plaintiff was 20 months old when DSHS received the first Child Protective Services referral in regard to concerns over her care after her mother brought her to a doctor. The doctor reported that the plaintiff’s mother’s eyes were glassy, her speech was slurred and she was lying on the floor, according to the lawsuit. The legal filing states that the doctor “found it necessary” to perform a tracheotomy on the plaintiff but it doesn’t specify why.
The suit claims that the doctor refused to release the plaintiff to her mother, believing her to be incapable of taking her daughter home and that DSHS determined the allegations in the referral to be founded but didn’t intervene.
After the woman’s grandmother died in 2018, leaving the mother as the sole caretaker, the complaints escalated.
Over the next four years, state agencies responsible for child or adult welfare received 12 referrals that expressed concerns that the plaintiff was being neglected, sexually abused or exploited for disability benefits while living in her home, according to the lawsuit.
Most often, state workers did not investigate but instead “screened out” the referrals, the suit claims. By definition under Washington state law, to screen out indicates that a department has determined a complaint “does not rise to the level of a credible report of abuse or neglect.”
Alleged failure to act
Drawing on previous court filings and Pierce County Code Enforcement records, the lawsuit notes that the home was dark and smoky and in disarray, with debris all around and garbage that attracted rats and other animals. There were also concerns that people were living in vehicles on the property, using drugs and exiting the home with swords and other weapons.
After receiving a referral alleging neglect in May 2021, an Adult Protective Services (APS) case worker who interviewed the plaintiff noted the “horrible” condition of the home, according to the lawsuit. There was drug paraphernalia and a handgun on a table. The plaintiff had a bruise on her forehead and arm, and her hair was unwashed.
It was the ninth referral regarding concerns over the plaintiff’s care within a three-year span, according to the lawsuit. The suit also claimed APS had confirmed that law enforcement, at that time, had made nine visits to the home in the past month and that there were four prior APS investigations into the plaintiff’s care. Those were related to claims of neglect, physical abuse, improper use of a restraint and sexual abuse — the latter which had been closed as “inconclusive,” according to the suit.
After the visit in May 2021, the plaintiff was taken to a hospital for evaluation, but APS “failed to take any meaningful action” upon learning two days later that she was being discharged to her mother, the lawsuit claimed.
Bauer said that doctors, neighbors and multiple family members reported warnings to state agencies regarding the plaintiff’s well-being, and others such as county code officers raised concerns about the condition of the home. That constellation of concerns, he said, should have been an indicator of the severity of her situation.
In January 2022, a final referral was made alleging neglect: The plaintiff’s mother was “dope sick,” screaming outside and seeking help after “somebody stole (her) drugs,” according to the lawsuit. She was taken to a hospital and first responders also insisted on taking the plaintiff to receive medical attention, the suit states.
After being adamant she be discharged, the plaintiff’s mother was found dead in the home the following day, according to the lawsuit.
Bauer said that while his client is now in a safe place, there are significant concerns about what her future holds since she can’t navigate daily life on her own. As for what allegedly occurred in the past, he characterized child and adult welfare agencies as having passed the buck.
“Nobody steps up. Nobody does their job,” he said. “It’s really just this 20-year-plus failure on the part of social workers and the state.”
