Don't save money by cutting off compensation for WA abuse survivors

Don't save money by cutting off compensation for WA abuse survivors | Opinion In the last several decades, children and others in Washington state care have been subjected to unfathomable abuses. Kids placed by the Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) in state group homes suffered physical, sexual and mental abuses. Other children were placed, by the state, with foster families where they were sexually assaulted. Shortcomings in sexual abuse prevention standards have allowed ongoing abuse in schools. These harms do not end when the abuse does. Survivors carry the impacts for decades, with lasting consequences for physical and mental health, employment, housing and more. We should all be horrified that the most vulnerable among us experienced abuse in the state-run systems charged with protecting them. While those abuses may never fully heal, some who've survived them have pursued remedies in court. Now some state leaders have decided it's too much — that compensating survivors who were abused in state care is too big a burden on our budget. Placing the burden on survivors is backwards. We should instead address the state's past, present and future liability costs by fixing our custodial care system. In last year's session, legislators proposed capping restitution (which the Supreme Court ruled is unconstitutional), forcing survivors into arbitration and making them pay exorbitant fees to participate. A governor's committee — where no known abuse survivors are present, and their advocates are underrepresented — is studying the issue. So far, the committee, too, is placing the burden on survivors rather than seeking meaningful solutions. We need reform. But reform must include legal, judicial and legislative solutions to protect our kids, not remove the one mechanism survivors have to hold abusers accountable. Most importantly, we must address the state's liability costs by reforming how we handle those in the care of our schools, in our youth prisons and in DCYF. That agency, which includes the state's child welfare, juvenile rehabilitation and early care and education programs, accounted for 80% of settlements last year. We know better staffing, lower caseloads, stronger monitoring and safer placements of children will reduce harm and litigation. According to a recent report, DCYF plans to ask for funding for a 17-person team to focus on accountability and compliance for childcare providers. This is the kind of solution we should be exploring. Stripping survivors of their right to hold the state accountable only protects an abusive system. Let's not forget: a threat to the rights of survivors is a threat to us all. Denying anyone the right to a trial is a dangerous precedent. Yes, Washington has a budget problem. But the deeper problem is that the state is not protecting kids in its care. And then it has the audacity to say those same survivors should be the means for saving the state money? This is not who we are in Washington. We are caring and creative people. We have the solutions to protect kids and address the budget crisis. We're calling on lawmakers, advocates and civic leaders to hold ourselves to one fundamental standard: every child placed in our care should be safer than they were before, not hurt again. Riddhi Mukhopadhyay, J.D., is executive director of the Sexual Violence Law Center. Rhea Yo, J.D., is executive director of Legal Counsel for Youth and Children.