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Kidjacked | Jacked Up
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American Indian and Alaska Native children are about three times more likely than Caucasian children to be placed in out-of-home care.
Washington CPS News Archive
The Washington news section is your source for the latest in family rights news items,
CPS reform efforts, open court demands, abolition of confidentiality laws that judges
hide behind, foster care deaths and issues, legal cases and more... Please
Email Kidjacked
with news and information from the state of Washington and I will include it here in our
coverage.
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[National & International News]
Washington News Coverage
Foster children placed with abuser in Custer win lawsuit
by Steve Guntli
Two young girls who were placed in a foster home in Custer with a boy accused of sexual assault were awarded an $8 million settlement this week.
On February 10, jurors in Whatcom County Superior Court awarded $4 million each to the two girls, who were placed into foster care in 2003 at the ages of 6 and 3. Judge Ira Uhrig ruled that the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) was liable for the damages for placing the girls in the home in which a 12-year-old boy had recently been accused of abusing a 5-year-old relative.
thenorthernlight.com
February 20, 2016
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Court orders new trial in case against CPS
by Andrew Binion
TACOMA - A judgment that found Child Protective Services was not responsible for an infant's debilitating injuries at the hands of his Kingston birth father in 2008 has been reversed.
The civil case against CPS and wider state Department of Social and Health Services will be sent back to Pierce County Superior Court for a new trial after the state Division II Court of Appeals found Tuesday that jurors were given incorrect instructions during deliberations. The agency, which is represented by the state Attorney General's Office, might appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
kitsapsun.com
December 24, 2015
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In One State, Thousands of Kids Aren't Returning to School
A teachers strike in Washington state has left 53,000 students without a classroom.
"There's a big irony here right now in Seattle," said Liv Finne, director of Education for the Washington Policy Center, which advocates for charter schools in the state. "The teachers are on strike in the traditional schools-there's nobody going to school. Yet, the three charter schools that are in Seattle are open for business."
dailysignal.com
September 14, 2015
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Yakima woman charged with abuse after malnourished twins are found
by Donald W. Meyers
Two 8-year-old twins who Yakima police say were so malnourished that they weighed less than 44 pounds each are recovering, while their mother remains jailed on multiple abuse charges.
Police said the girls told them they'd been abused, starved and locked in a bedroom at their home in the 300 block of North Ninth Street before relatives took them and called authorities Feb. 6. "In my 13 years of law enforcement experience, I have not observed children so severely malnourished," Yakima Detective Michael Durbin wrote in an affidavit.
yakimaherald.com
February 25, 2015
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Foster mom says she's willing to lose infant over flu shot mandate
by Keith Eldridge
Foster families are under a new mandate that everyone in their house needs a flu shot if they have foster kids under two years of age.
Seven other babies have come through her home, including Bonnie, who is now 4-years old and adopted by the Smith family. But the little 2-week-old may get taken away by the state unless Smith and all the members of her house get a flu shot. That includes the older foster kids in her care. She's not going to comply.
komonews.com
January 12, 2015
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Man charged after leaving toddler son in car
by Phone
A Spokane man is being charged with abandoning a child after leaving his 2-year-old son alone in a car on the South Hill for more than five hours in freezing temperatures.
Officers located the car with the boy inside around 9:45 p.m. According to court documents, the boy was wearing nothing but pants and a t-shirt. He was shivering, had bright red feet and did not respond to officers. His skin was cold to the touch and his diaper was soaked through.
spokesman.com
January 7, 2015
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Single mom left her small children home alone for five days while she was stuck in jail
by Carol Kuruvilla
A Washington state mom has been accused of letting her two small children live in filth and fend for themselves while she was stuck in jail.
Cops say 23-year-old single mom, Qiara Emerson, abandoned her 1- and 3-year-old children for five days in an Auburn condo. Neighbors pitched in to give the kids a bath. before they were taken into custody by Child Protective Services. The kids are now in foster care.
nydailynews.com
June 26, 2014
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Island Homeschoolers Face Transportation Discrimination
Confusion over state policy is preventing an HSLDA member family from receiving discount ferry boat tickets for education-related trips. We are working to resolve the situation.
Recently a member family from the Puget Sound contacted HSDLA about being unable to obtain the educational discount rate for the Washington State Ferry (WSF). For years, homeschoolers in the area had received a reduced rate by providing a letter stating that a specific ferry trip was for an education-related purpose. Recently, WSF began instructing homeschoolers to include their local school district number on the letter. Our member family was contacted in May by their local school district demanding that they stop utilizing the district number.
hslda.org
June 25, 2014
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Bothell police investigating assault of 4-month-old girl
Detectives in Bothell are investigating the assault of a 4-month-old child. Bothell police were contacted by Child Protective Services at 10 p.m. on May 29 about a girl who was brought to Harborview Medical Center with serious injuries.
Medical staff who evaluated the 4-month-old girl's condition said her injuries appeared to be the result of an assault. According to a search warrant, the girl has broken ribs, a fractured arm and no brain activity. The girl was later transported to Children's pediatric intensive care unit where she is in protective custody.
kirotv.com
June 12, 2014
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New bill aims to help foster kids tansition into adulthood
by Elisa Hahn
It was a bill everyone thought was dead in the water, but squeaked through in the last hour of the legislative session.
The bill aims to help foster kids transition into adulthood. For foster child Mykell Daniels, turning 18 was a scary concept. "I wasn't sure if I was going to stay with my foster family, if I was just going to be alone, and not know what to do," said Daniels.
king5.com
March 18, 2014
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Booze prices could go up again in Washington
Booze prices at bars and restaurants in Washington may go up this year as multiple interests fight over rules following the voter-approved privatization of the state's liquor system.
Since the end of Prohibition in the 1930s the state had tightly controlled the distribution and sale of liquor. But in 2011 Washington voters approved a privatization initiative that was supported by Costco and other retail interests. Costco spent more than $20 million backing Initiative 1183 and distributors also provided millions.
king5.com
February 25, 2014
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Man dies in Bremerton fire; dog dies trying to save him
BREMERTON, Wash. -- Firefighters in Bremerton are investigating a fatal house fire Sunday morning.
It happened just before 5 a.m. in the 6600 block of NE Wellsly Place. When crews arrived at the scene, the home was completely engulfed in flames.
king5.com
February 25, 2014
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Thurston Co. deputies investigate 2-year-old's death as suspicious
by Renay San Miguel
Thurston County deputies are investigating the death of a 2-year-old child as suspicious. Medics transported the child to St. Peters Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Medics transported the child to St. Peters Hospital where she was pronounced dead. The child was named as an abuse victim in an earlier complaint to Child Protective Services. The Thurston County Sheriff's Office said that investigation is still open.
king5.com
February 25, 2014
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Bill to help foster kids in hands of Senate committee
by Susannah Frame
OLYMPIA, Wash. - The Senate Ways and Means Committee has not yet scheduled a hearing on a bill aimed at protecting the rights of abused and neglected children in Washington state. If that doesn't happen by Tuesday, the landmark bill will die.
The proposal, SB 6126, sponsored by the Chair of the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee, Sen. Steve O'Ban (R-University Place) was drafted after reporting by the KING 5 Investigators. The series of reports, "Fostering Justice," exposed how Washington law lags behind the country in providing legal advocates for foster children.
nwcn.com
February 9, 2014
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Police continue search for endangered 5-month-old boy
by Emily Gillespie
Vancouver police continue the search this morning for a missing and endangered 5-month-old boy. Jaxon Smith was ordered into the custody of Washington Child Protective Services on Nov. 27.
However, during the custody transfer, the boy's father Kasey McKernan, 31, assaulted an agency employee and snatched the child, police said. He then reportedly fled with Jaxon in a black 1996 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck driven by the boy's mother, Summer B. Smith, 36. The vehicle's license plate is A11272U.
columbian.com
December 5, 2013
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Judge throws woman & 2 kids in jail for refusing to testify against husband
In a domestic violence case, a judge made an unexpected decision to jail the victims, while the accused abuser was released.
The innocent family was shackled and chained until they agreed to testify against their family member. In an incident back in April, Joel Darvell, 36, allegedly choked his wife while drunk, causing his son to tackle him and stop the assault. Darvell allegedly pistol-whipped his son and then fired a .45 caliber round into the wall of their home. No injuries were sustained. Darvell was charged with assault and assault with a firearm. Prosecutors moved forward with a trial, but Darvell's wife and children - a 17-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter - all refused to testify.
policestateusa.com
October 14, 2013
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Moms turn dried fruit into organic baby-food empire
by Chanie Kirschner
ave you ever tasted jarred baby food? It isn't that good. So why feed it to your little one? That was the quandary facing new mom Caroline Freedman when she was pregnant with her first child.
Today, NurturMe's dried baby food line includes yummy organic first fruits and veggies like Scrumptious Squash and Crisp Apple right up to NurturMeals blends like Carrots, Raisins, and Sweet Potato for older babies. Quinoa is all the rage with foodies these days, thanks to its protein-packed punch in the guise of a delicious carb.
tri-cityherald.com
September 23, 2013
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Fixing WA foster care, one bill at a time
by John Stang
Six foster care-related bills went into the Washington State Legislature's hopper last session. Three passed. Two were set aside because they were duplicative. The sixth stalled, but has a chance at passing in 2014.
Both House and Senate overwhelmingly passed House Bill 1566 (from Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle), which requires that a parent, foster parent, a relative or another person be designated as a formal education liaison to make sure that every foster child has an advocate in the education system. Lawmakers also enacted Senate Bill 5389 (from Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane), which mandates that siblings who are placed in separate foster homes be allowed to visit each other as often as possible. (Families of four or more siblings are more likely to be split among two or more homes.) Billig's bill passed both chambers overwhelmingly. A version of it (HB 1204) from Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, D-Mukilteo, passed the House unanimously, but was set aside to avoid duplication.
crosscut.com
September 23, 2013
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Wash. officer rescues baby in need of medical care
by Jeremy Pawloski
YELM, Wash. - A pregnant Yelm woman tested positive for methamphetamine, so she tried to hide the fact that she gave birth to her daughter in a bathtub at her home earlier this week, according to a sheriff's sergeant.
The woman tried to keep the birth a secret because she feared - correctly - that authorities would take the child away after the positive meth test, according to Thurston County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Brady. "She was very aware that authorities knew she had tested positive for methamphetamine," Brady said.
policeone.com
August 19, 2013
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Yelm woman allegedly gives birth to baby at home to avoid CPS involvement
A Yelm woman allegedly addicted to meth gave birth to baby at home to avoid alerting Child Protection Services to the baby's birth.
The Thurston County Sheriff's Office received a tip from CPS Aug. 13 at 6:47 a.m. that a 31-year-old woman may have given birth at her home "without required medical care in an attempt to keep CPS from taking her baby into protective custody," according to a press release from the sheriff's department.
yelmonline.com
August 19, 2013
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The rise of homeschooling
by Ashley Davidson
The two-story, brick house is tidy, inside and out. Nary a stray Barbie shoe or Lego lurks to pierce the soft underbelly of feet as homeschooling mother of four Brittany Thomas gives a tour of her 1920s-era home.
Self-described as "green" and "crunchy," Thomas and her family live in Seattle. He works and she stays home, but little else about them adheres to the now-aging stereotype of homeschool families. Instead of a frazzled mother on the fringes of suburbia, Thomas is collected and organized, with a laid-back, yet purposeful, approach to the home education of her children.
queenannenews.com
July 17, 2013
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Mother, grandparents charged in beating of 9-year-old Tacoma boy
by Erik Lacitis
The mother and grandparents of a 9-year-old Tacoma boy who weighed 45 pounds when examined by a doctor, and who authorities say was beaten with a spatula and coat hangers, and thrown off a porch, were charged Friday with assaulting a child.
The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office also charged the mother, Maria Lynn Isler, 31, with criminal mistreatment in the second degree. The documents filed in Pierce County Superior Court said the boy has been placed in protective custody by Child Protective Services.
seattletimes.com
July 13, 2013
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Kinship care keeps families together
by John Dodge
More than 44,000 children in this state are being raised by grandparents or relatives other than their parents, outside the formal child welfare system.
Add in all the children who rely on extended family in more informal ways to stay fed, clothed and sheltered and the number swells several times over. I met a few of these kids whose parents are unable or unwilling to care for them, along with their kinship caregivers, at a small, but moving, ceremony Thursday at the state Capitol where six children were honored for submitting winning essays about their experiences.
theolympian.com
July 13, 2013
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Democrats to Hold Forum on Genetically Modified Foods
The Lewis County Democrats along with the 19th and 20th Legislative District Democrats are presenting a public forum on genetically modified organisms, which will include information regarding Initiative 522 to require GMO food labeling in Washington.
Guest speakers will include state Sen. Maralyn Chase, of the 32nd Legislative District, Steve Hallstrom, a local farmer who is opposed to GMO foods, Tristan Vaughn, of Garden Raised Bounty, and a representative from I-522.
chronline.com
May 14, 2013
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Label GMO Foods
I-522: The People's Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act. Labelitwa.org is an anti-GMO activist organization that has put together a piece of legislation that would mandate labelling for foods containing genetically modified ingredients.
In the United States, 24 states have an initiative process. If the people want a law and they cannot get their legislators to enact it, the people may gather a certain number of signatures stipulated by the state, within a limited amount of time, to put a proposed law on the ballot for people to vote on directly. Every state has different requirements. Do you know if it's GMO? Genetically engineered foods are not proven safe and the long-term health risks on humans have not been investigated adequately. Accumulating research has prompted a growing number of countries to require mandatory labelling.
commonground.ca
April 8, 2013
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Alert Kidjacked to Washington CPS news!
Child Protective Services' out of control? Who is watching?
by Annette M. Hall
A 12-year-old adopted boy with a history of serious mental and emotional problems went to school one day and told his Garfield-Palouse middle school counselor his mother beat him up. He said she slugged him in the nose, choked him, socked him in the chest, threw him up against the wall, sat on him and hit him 150 times with a board.
Kidjacked
September 8, 2023
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Jacked Up: Washington Rally
by Annette Hall
I come from a long line of military veterans. Each male member of my family has served in the military in one fashion or another. My father and husband both served in the Navy, my Uncle served as a Marine in South Korea.
Kidjacked
May 15, 2010
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Jacked Up: Nationwide Mother's Day Protest
by Annette Hall
Help bring national attention to CPS abuse, legal kidnapping, child trafficking, and corruption of epic proportions. Participate in a national event to put CPS on the media hotseat.
Kidjacked
May 15, 2010
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Jacked Up: Accidents Happen
by Annette Hall
Question: When is an accidental injury considered abuse? Answer: Any time state Child Protective Service workers are called in to investigate a family. How do caseworkers get away with this? Our federal government is paying them to rip our children from our arms. Teisha has experienced this travesty of justice first-hand...
Kidjacked
May 15, 2010
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Jacked Up: Someone Playing Games?
by Annette Hall
Back in July a story ran on KPTV's Fox 12 out of Oregon about a father who was accused of kidnapping his own child.
Kidjacked
May 15, 2010
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Jacked Up: Alaska's War on the Family
by Annette Hall
I really need some help here. I have been accused of fracturing my infant's skull, although I have reports saying that doctors don't suspect child abuse.
Kidjacked
May 15, 2010
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Jacked Up: WA: Infant Stolen by CPS
by Annette Hall
My name is Kathy A., I live in Tacoma, Washington with my husband. In 2006 I involuntarily lost my rights to my daughter to C.P.S.
Kidjacked
May 15, 2010
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Jacked Up: I Want to go Home!
by Annette Hall
My name is Bre'anna I am 12-years-old, me and my 2 sisters and my 1 brother were taken from my mom a year ago from Washington State.
Kidjacked
May 15, 2010
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Jacked Up: Public Education
by Annette Hall
Washington Public Education Opportunity - at Cabelas in Lacey, Washington on Thursday, January 31, 2008
Kidjacked
May 15, 2010
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