Litigation Success: WA Supreme Court shoots down DCYF’s Racism & Classism

In June, 2020, we teamed up with the ACLU to advocate on behalf of KW, as Amicus Curiae. KW is a Black child who was abruptly & forcefully removed from his home because the Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) inappropriately refused to give preference to relative placement. KW was forced into 3 foster homes as a result of the departments reckless, arbitrary, racist, and classist decision. The history of racism in State child welfare organizations is no secret. Historically these agencies have actively perpetuated violence against Black & Indigenous communities.

“53% of Black children in the U.S. will be investigated as potential victims of child abuse by age 18, as compared to 37% of all children. Once in the system, Black children also are more likely to languish in foster care, less likely to be reunified with their families, more likely to be placed in group care, age out in greater numbers, and become involved in the criminal justice system.” https://www.childrensrights.org/racism-in-child-welfare-and-juvenile-justice-systems/.

In February 2022, after 2 years of litigation, and multiple appeals leading to the WA Supreme Court, the Supreme Court delivered justice for the family & determined:

“The Department abruptly removed K.W. from a relative placement with no prior safety concerns without conducting sufficient inquiry into the plans for his care,” the ruling states, “subjected him to three different foster homes in a few weeks, prevented him from attending an important annual family and cultural event, and then refused to return him to the care of his relatives, despite his and his family’s many requests.”

We argued:

“Forced family separation—of which the foster care system is the most recent iteration—is a relic of slavery, wherein the State through its laws allowed whites to rip Black families apart and ignored their pleas of reunification.”

Justice Montoya-Lewis delivered the brilliant opinion of the Court:

https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/993017.pdf

Article on the Decision from the Olympian: https://rb.gy/gt3bii