"System failed" allegedly abused boy, DSHS chief says

OLYMPIA — The head of the state Department of Social and Health Services on Tuesday called for a full review of her agency's decision to put a 12-year-old Pierce County boy back into the care of his grandparents even though his stepgrandmother was suspected of repeatedly abusing him.

"The system failed this child," said Robin Arnold-Williams, secretary of DSHS.

Arnold-Williams announced the review a day after a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office leveled unusually harsh criticism against the agency for its handling of the alleged abuse case.

Arnold-Williams said she has given Cheryl Stephani, head of the Children's Administration in DSHS, one week to provide a "complete accounting" of what decisions were made in the case and who made them. She indicated disciplinary actions might follow that review.

Pierce County deputies and Child Protective Services (CPS), a part of the Children's Administration, in June pulled the boy from his home, suspecting his stepgrandmother was abusing him.

The deputies intervened in the case again this month after learning that the state's "safety plan" for the boy had him living in a travel trailer in his grandparents' backyard.

Arnold-Williams, during a hastily called news conference at her office Tuesday, said she shared the concerns raised by law enforcement.

"The safety plan that was done for this child was not appropriate," she said. "It did not provide for the safety of this child."

Loni Venegas, the boy's stepgrandmother, was charged last week with seven counts of assault of a child. The boy's grandfather, Remil Venegas, also was charged with assaulting the boy.

After his mother was killed in a car accident in 2001, his grandfather and stepgrandmother won a lengthy custody battle and the boy was sent to live with them.

Dating back to 2004, the state received repeated calls from school officials and others who suspected the boy was being abused. It wasn't until last month, after the boy showed up at a neighbor's house with a swollen face, that CPS decided to pull the boy from the home.

But two weeks later, CPS officials decided to have the boy live with his grandfather in the trailer. After learning of that decision, Pierce County sheriff's deputies stepped in and removed the boy.

Detectives now believe the suspected abuse — mostly by Loni Venegas — included beatings with a bamboo stick, choking and scalding.

Previous complaints

In interviews with the media, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said deputies would have acted sooner if they had been better informed of all the previous complaints to CPS.

Troyer lamented that people have been "brainwashed into calling CPS" when they suspect a child is being abused and suggested it might be better to call police.

Arnold-Williams agreed the case "clearly highlights" the need for better communication between CPS and law enforcement. She called Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor to discuss the problem.

Aside from reviewing the Venegas case, Arnold-Williams said she has ordered CPS officials to check a sampling of similar cases statewide to see whether the state's process for screening cases — and deciding which to act on — is adequate.

"Let's fix the problem"

She said the state does formal investigations into about half of the 80,000 abuse and neglect complaints it gets each year. And she said the agency has made dramatic improvements in how fast it responds.

But quicker response times mean nothing if CPS botches screening decisions. "I don't want this to be the symbol of how we deal with cases," she said.

Troyer, who listened by phone to Arnold-Williams' news conference, said he was encouraged.

"I think they said all the right things. Hopefully, we'll all be able to follow through and fix the problems," he said. "It might be a real simple fix if we're sitting in the same room."

To that end, Troyer said a meeting between law enforcement and state agencies, including CPS, is now being planned for sometime in the next few weeks. Part of that discussion will be how to better use technology to communicate between agencies.

"The war's over now, so let's fix the problem," Troyer said.

Staff reporter Sara Jean Green contributed to this report. Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com