Equity WA relying on hotels, state offices to house foster kids more than ever With nowhere else to go, the state’s most at-risk kids — and their caseworkers — are faced with limited options. by Rachel Nielsen InvestigateWest / September 7, 2020
Equity Foster parents say ‘retaliation’ by caseworkers means fewer families to help kids in need Records portray a culture of fear, even as Washington state attempts to respond to a flood of new cases. by Rachel Nielsen InvestigateWest / January 15, 2020
Politics Social workers fleeing troubled foster care system Lousy pay, a toxic workplace and excessive workloads are driving away the people who serve vulnerable kids and their families. by Susanna Ray for InvestigateWest / December 7, 2016
Politics Foster parents abandoning troubled system Washington state lost nearly one in five foster homes between 2008 and 2015 amid complaints of discord and disarray. by Susanna Ray for InvestigateWest / October 27, 2016
Equity State’s foster system sets kids up for failure When foster children spend the night in a hotel or in a foster home that agrees to keep them for only one night at a time, they typically don’t make it to school the next day. by Susanna Ray for InvestigateWest / September 20, 2016
Politics Foster Care Crisis More than a decade after the courts ordered the state to clean up its foster care program, kids are still left rootless, vulnerable. by Susanna Ray for InvestigateWest / September 19, 2016