Washington State has agreed to pay $3.25 million for a young girl who suffered years of horrific physical and sexual abuse in what some are calling one the most egregious failures of the state’s child welfare system ever. The settlement follows years of work led by Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala PLLC. attorneys Ian Bauer, Darrell L. Cochran, and Michael McNeil.
The young victim, referred to as J.B., suffered unimaginably from the time she was born. Her mother was a daily drug user and prostitute, and regularly abused, neglected, and abandoned J. B. as a baby. Despite numerous reports to the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and Child Protective Services (CPS), no one took action. The assigned investigator made minimal effort to investigate, relying primarily on a couple of phone calls, and eventually closed the case without taking any protective action.
A Preventable, Devastating Failure
Lead attorney Ian Bauer says, “the most profound sacred duty of DSHS and Child Protective Services is to step in and intervene and help children when they’re in harm’s way. And in this case, what we saw was a pattern where our client, from almost the time of her birth, was in harm’s way. The Department kept getting told over and over, and over again, nobody’s caring for her. She’s being abused. She’s being neglected. And they never intervene. They never step up and do their most basic job.”
It was only when the Seattle Police Department intervened and physically removed the baby from her abusive family that the state began to take action.
But DSHS’s failures led to even more heinous and grievous abuse of the child. For some inexplicable reason, case workers placed J.B. in the home of a couple whose foster care license had been previously revoked because their adult son sexually abused another foster child, and had no relationship with J.B. whatsoever.
Almost immediately, severe signs of abuse emerged. J.B.’s daycare reported bilateral facial bruising, a clear indicator of physical abuse. The investigation by DSHS was perfunctory, accepting the unlicensed foster parents’ implausible explanations and closing the case without further action.
The following year, J.B. suffered a fractured tibia. The couple claimed the young girl merely slid into her foster father on a playground slide. DSHS again failed to protect J.B., accepting the abusers’ dubious account and not conducting a thorough investigation.
The abuse continued. Reports surfaced that J.B. had black eyes, scratches, and bruises all over her body, and was being beaten with a belt. Yet DSHS ignored the facts and failed to do anything.
It wasn’t until a year later that the police intervened again. They found J.B., then three years old, covered in numerous bite marks and other signs of “severe” and “ritualistic” abuse. Only then was she finally removed from the unlicensed foster home.
“Words can’t begin to describe the unfathomable trauma this child suffered. It’s enraging and nauseating,” Bauer said. “The one agency who has the power and who has the responsibility to intervene and protect her completely failed her. Many people knew. It boggles the mind that none of them stood up for this little girl.”
Years Of Systemic Failures Continue
The settlement is just another in a long line of failures by DSHS to fulfill its legally mandated, non-delegable duty to investigate reports of abuse thoroughly and to protect children in its care. The state’s repeated failure to act on credible reports of abuse and neglect constituted a grave breach of this duty.
Bauer, speaking on behalf of the legal team, underscored the chronic issues within the Department brought to light in this case. “CPS forgets that most basic aspect of its job: all things being equal, protect the child,” Bauer said. “Their most important job is to step in and protect this child who can’t protect herself. Instead, they throw up their hands and say, ‘we don’t know what to do.’ Therefore, we’re not going to do anything.”
The settlement paid by the State for failing in its fundamental duties is one of many negotiated on behalf of victims by Bauer, Cochran, McNeill and other attorneys at PCVA spanning several decades.
Bauer suggested some of the systemic failures that lead to the frequent Department failures include low pay, a lack of competence by case workers, and overwhelming case loads that often leave even the most competent social workers overwhelmed and unable to do their jobs effectively. But that doesn’t make this case and countless others excusable, Bauer emphasized.
“When they forget that most basic fundamental aspect of Child Protective Services, that’s when you see lawsuits like this happen.”
“The problems we see in this case are the same problems we see in the Department’s practices over decades to the present day. These are chronic, systemic issues that have yet to be addressed. Despite decades of advocates like myself pointing out the flaws, the same mistakes are still happening. The Department is still failing to live up to its most basic responsibilities. Unless and until they do, we’ll continue to bring these cases on behalf of survivors,” Bauer said.
The $3.25 million settlement, while significant, can never make up for the years of suffering J.B. endured due to the State’s negligence, and the lifetime of damage that has resulted. This case underscores the need for systemic reform within DSHS and other child welfare agencies to ensure that no child has to endure the horrors that J.B. experienced. The legal team at PCVA Law remains committed to holding these institutions accountable and advocating for the victims of such profound failures.
About PCVA Law
At Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala, we are proud to be one of the leading law firms in the United States fighting for the rights of sexual abuse survivors, representing more than 1,000 people who have filed lawsuits under the Child Protective Services (CPS), Child Victims Act, and Adult Survivors Act as well as many more people who are survivors of abuse and injury in Washington, New York, and California.
If you or someone you know has been or is believed to be the victim of sexual abuse while in the care of an institution, we encourage you to speak to a PCVA lawyer for free by completing our online form or calling us at (206) 462-4334 or (253) 777-0799.
Our Case Results
PCVA has a lengthy history of pursuing damages for individuals who were put into the foster care system and experienced child sexual abuse at the hands of approved foster parents. This includes cases involving Child Protective Services (CPS) failure to thoroughly investigate claims of abuse or neglect, a lack of oversight, or allowing unqualified applicants to become foster parents. See below for links to some of our case results involving improper foster care treatment in the states of Washington, New York, California, and elsewhere. You can see some of our case results here:
$25M Jury Verdict in Sexual Abuse Case Against the State of New Jersey
$16.95M Settlement in Landmark Child Abuse Case Against Washington State
$9.5M Settlement in Sexual Abuse Cases Against University Place School District
$9.35M Settlement for Foster Care Child Sexual Abuse Case Against Washington State
$7.5M Jury Verdict in Sexual Abuse Case Against YMCA
$6.75M Settlement in Sexual Abuse Case Against the State of New Jersey
$3.9M Settlement for a Child Sexual Abuse Case Against the Tahoma School District
See a more detailed list on our Case Results page.