Allegations cast severe doubt on DSHS foster care licensing

Published August 30, 2011

Allegations cast severe doubt on DSHS foster care licensing

THE OLYMPIAN

Four former foster children who allegedly were forced to live in a “house of horrors,” where they were subjected to sexual, physical and psychological abuse, have filed suit against the state Department of Social and Health Services.

If even a fraction of the allegations in the lawsuit are true, it’s a horrendous indictment of the state’s foster care licensing and oversight program at DSHS. The lawsuit names 21 current or former state employees as defendants.

These are only allegations at this point. It’s important to remember that the facts will be disclosed at the time the case comes to trial. In keeping with their long-held policy of not commenting on pending litigation, DSHS officials have declined to offer a defense.

But the case laid out by attorney Jeremy Johnston on behalf of the four plaintiffs, all now adults living in Tacoma, is gut-wrenching in its detail.

Jose and Juanita Miranda, the two foster parents accused of abusing the four children, are not around to defend themselves. Jose Miranda was convicted of child rape, child molestation, and assault of a child and sentenced to 131 months to life in prison. He died of congestive heart failure two years ago in prison at the age of 55. Juanita Miranda died at 49 nearly five years ago of a drug overdose.

“It was not a home. It was a house of horrors,” said Johnston. His clients are Alexander Gonzalez, Michelle Harris, Elizabeth Tapia and Aurora Tapia – all either 19 or 20 years old. They seek an undisclosed amount of damages, but claim, among other things, that they were:

• Forced to have sex with Jose Miranda or with each other while he watched.

• Made to eat expired food and then their vomit if they threw up.

• Beaten with a broomstick, cane, frying pan, electric cord and stick with small nails in it.

Jose Miranda allegedly kept a locked room in the house where he had sex with his foster children, the lawsuit states.

“Jose routinely drugged the children with sleeping pills and forced them to engage in multiple sex acts with him and other children in the home,” according to a statement issued by attorney Messina Bulzomi Christensen.

The attorneys claim that Juanita Miranda had been arrested at least 50 times in California where Child Protective Services had removed her two biological children from her home because of drug addiction and neglect. She also served jail time in Pierce County for illegal drug use and theft and was under the supervision of Washington’s Department of Corrections when she received her foster care license, according to the plaintiffs’ attorney.

That certainly draws the state’s foster care licensing system into question.

The oversight division of CPS is also drawn into question when the attorneys claim that DSHS received over 35 reports and complaints against the couple over a seven-year span, which were either not investigated or were found “inconclusive.”

The complaints came from teachers, neighbors, social workers, relatives, coaches and the children themselves.

The lawsuit says that DSHS failed the four children by giving the Mirandas a foster care license when their backgrounds should have prohibited it, and giving them a license although they were physically and financially unable to care for the children. The suit claims DSHS failed to investigate the multiple reports of abuse and neglect and permitted the children to remain in the home even after abuse was verified.

Granted, Child Protective Services caseworkers have the worst job in state government. If they remove a child from a home, they are accused of breaking up the family. If they leave a child in a questionable situation and something bad happens, they are accused of not protecting the child. It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

That said, the allegations of abuse contained in this lawsuit – backed up by Jose Miranda’s criminal conviction and Juanita Miranda’s felony history – demand a thorough review of DSHS policies and procedures to protect the state’s most vulnerable children.

If these allegations are proven true, it’s a horrible indictment of the state’s foster care licensing and oversight responsibilities.