Embattled child-welfare leader resigns

The head of the state's child-welfare system has resigned amid growing criticism for blowing the budget at a time the agency is under fire for a series of high-profile child deaths.

Uma Ahluwalia was seen by many as a smart, energetic newcomer when she arrived 19 months ago to oversee 9,000 foster-care children and a $450 million budget at the Children's Administration, a division of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).

But just two days into her new job, 2-year-old Rafael Gomez of Ephrata died of child abuse. More deaths followed, including the starvation and dehydration of Kent brothers Raiden and Justice Robinson last November. A recent report into the brothers' deaths points to critical lapses by Child Protective Services (CPS), which is under the Children's Administration.

But the most damaging blow to Ahluwalia's personal leadership occurred last month when it became clear she overspent the budget by $12 million. That prompted DSHS leaders to announce spending cutbacks and to take the unusual step of removing Ahluwalia's budget authority.

The resignation is expected to be announced this morning at a joint news conference by Gov. Christine Gregoire and Robin Arnold-Williams, the newly appointed DSHS secretary.

Neither the department nor Gregoire's office would discuss Ahluwalia's resignation before today's announcement, though several sources in and outside DSHS yesterday confirmed the resignation, which is effective today.

"Uma was gone as of the end of the day" Tuesday, said Charlotte Booth, executive director of the Institute for Family Development, a service provider for children and families. "I think it's tragic. It's never good to have this kind of chaos and turnover in the Children's Administration."

Reached at her home yesterday, Ahluwalia said, "I really can't talk about it now." She would not say anything until after today and would not be attending the news conference, she added.

"I feel bad for Uma," said Charles Shelan, who chairs the Washington State Coalition of Children's Residential Services. "She's very bright, very articulate, but this problem, this entire cascade of events, just overwhelmed her."

Quick climb

When Washington state went looking for a child-welfare director after the unexpected death of 54-year-old Rosie Oreskovich in early 2003, Ahluwalia's bosses and national child-welfare groups described her as a quick study and an aggressive agent for change.

Ahluwalia began by visiting each of the agency's 44 offices, from Clarkston in Asotin County, to Forks in Clallam County. She soon launched an ambitious agenda called Kids Come First 2. She pushed for everything from speedier child-abuse investigations to better foster-care recruitment.

Some of the changes became mandatory when a critical federal audit put Washington in the bottom third of all states. And Ahluwalia agreed to make some of the changes in settling a 6-year-old class-action lawsuit on behalf of foster children.

But Kids Come First 2 called for 1,180 tasks to be completed in four years, and some staff complained that it was too much, too quickly.

"There's some rule of thumb about how many things you can change at once. Uma didn't know that number," said one state government official on the condition of anonymity.

Costly changes

The changes also were costly. Last fall, Ahluwalia hired 19 new people to implement some of the foster-care changes. The hiring binge ended when the budget crisis became apparent.

As a result of the shortfall, child-welfare social workers across the state now are being ordered to cut back on everything from psychological services to clothing vouchers.

In King County, a Crisis Residential Center for runaway youth is closing, and social workers no longer can send parents at risk of losing their children to a family-preservation program, according to an e-mail sent to staff this week.

"It will take 12, 18, 24 months to get the systems back in place and (to get) the discipline and the accountability for the Children's Administration to manage its resources," said Stan Marshburn, the chief financial officer at DSHS who has taken over Ahluwalia's budget. Marshburn said there has been inadequate tracking of expenses between department offices.

Pressure on Ahluwalia, who makes about $100,000 annually, mounted in recent weeks. Gregoire spoke out against the budget problems, and The Olympian newspaper ran two editorials demanding her resignation.

But many will miss her promise of a fresh start.

"One of the things about Uma that gave us optimism was that she came from the outside," said Bill Grimm, an attorney who negotiated the foster-care settlement. "She had no institutional agency history she had to defend. It allowed her to look more freely at reforming the agency."

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com; Jonathan Martin: 206-464-2605 or jmartin@seattletimes.com