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Cheryl Schaefer, 28, and three siblings suffered years of abuse in a foster
home under DSHS supervision in northeastern Washington. She was
angered to learn from a reporter there was no apparent record of
discipline for her social worker. (Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times)
Over the past eight years, the child-welfare division has
been hit with scores of lawsuits, paying $141.4 million for
failing to protect children under its care.
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By
Will Drabold
Seattle Times staff reporter
Source: DSHS
I cant do my job
Complaints about how DSHS handled foster kids
and reports of child abusehave tagged the agency
for years. In 1998, lawyers for 13 foster kids filed
a class-action lawsuit against the state, saying
foster children were being harmed across the
board by inadequate care. The state Supreme
Court, in the landmark 2003 Braam decision
(named after one of the plaintiffs), upheld a lower
court and put Washingtons child-welfare system
under judicial oversight.
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