Follow-up interviews with deaf families who won settlement against Washington CPS

A month ago I did a news brief that the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Family Services, which runs the state’s Child Protective Services (CPS), reached a $300,000 settlement with two deaf families after the Justice Department found that it violated their ADA rights by failing to provide interpreters on over 100 occasions. I was able to interview the families.

The first family is Kimber Douglas and Brent Babb. Their young daughters were wrongfully taken away by the CPS and the family was separated for over 20 months.

What happened? According to a complaint, in February 2017, Kimber and Brent were at a business parking lot one early morning to try and collect scrap copper while their children were asleep in a car. A police officer showed up and assumed that the children were cold and called an ambulance. An ER doctor said the children were fine, but a CPS worker showed up at the hospital and took custody of the children. There were no professional interpreters present and CPS relied on Brent’s mother for communication.

For the next several months, the Washington CPS required Kimber and Brent to undergo many different kinds of meetings and evaluations but interpreters weren’t reliably provided, which caused many delays in the case. Kimber and Brent said the CPS said they had a hard time finding interpreters, but that it was a poor excuse.

About eight months later, the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) found that the children’s removal was wrongful and that the parents’ rights were violated. But the family would remain separated for another year. Kimber and Brent said they were only able to see their children a few hours a week at a CPS office, but that it felt like a jail.

The family was finally reunited in October 2018, almost two years after they were separated. The parents said their daughters were happy to be back together, but they were angry because they felt the parents did not protect them.

Kimber and Brent said even though they won a financial settlement, they do not feel it’s enough. They also are doubtful there will be real changes within the CPS. They encouraged deaf parents to speak up, demand an interpreter, and to not be intimidated by CPS.

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The second family’s mother is Gina Pasini. She said she lived at a shelter at ADWAS when she encountered multiple visits from the CPS.

Gina said the CPS is supposed to keep children safe, but her experience is that they oppress deaf or disabled parents.

Gina Pasini: CPS’ purpose is to follow up and investigate any reports of accusations of abuse or neglect. It’s to “keep children safe.” But unfortunately, with my experience with CPS all this time, they have huge biases on minority parents, deaf parents, or parents with disabilities. There were many misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication with no accessibility or accomodations.

Alex: Gina said CPS was bad with arranging interpreters for required meetings and that it became a massive headache causing many delays and adding stress.

Gina: Things would drag on and be rescheduled again and again. It made a 28-days time frame drag to about three months and half. I ended up being tied, my family was also tied down, for the entire summer. We were supposed to go out and have fun as family after our case ended. But it wasn’t the case. It made me think of hearing families who could move at a normal pace without misunderstandings. With interpreters, it was hell.

Alex: Gina said the delays and constant rescheduling caused her “history” to build up.

Gina: Because of the constant rescheduling, my history grew to a lengthy list. It was their view -- they constantly used that against my mental health. They had a negative view and thought I was unstable with an extensive history. They said I was unstable, refused to cooperate, not compliant, aggressive -- all because I stood up for my rights and demanded an interpreter. They said I was “refusing.” They used their words against me.

Alex: Gina said she felt that the CPS still carried archaic views that deaf parents couldn’t be good parents.

Gina: They have a very negative view. Again, it’s biased. They also think deaf parents can’t raise their children. They’re still carrying views from the 70’s or 80’s.

Alex: Gina said the CPS could be scary because they have power over your family.

Gina: CPS has a policy of visiting a home within 72 hours of getting a report to meet the family and observe the children and do interviews with deaf parents. But I know my rights that the 72 hours requirement can’t always happen due to availability of interpreters. Sometimes one is available within 72 hours, but sometimes not. I have to explain to CPS about interpreters and how it affects scheduling. If it goes past 72 hours, they will threaten to escalate my children into a “threatened” list, which means they could make a report that my children are “missing” and issue an amber alert. This intimidated me to meet with them and try to settle things. These are some examples of me feeling threatened. I had to constantly live in fear that my children would be taken away at any time. That is absolutely wrong.

Alex: I asked Gina to share any advice to other deaf parents who might be going through a similar situation.

Gina: I really want to emphasize this -- because many parents do not know their rights -- I want to emphasize that you have a right to request an interpreter every time they contact you. Understand this -- you do not have to let them in your home, especially if you don’t see an interpreter with the agent. You can request to meet somewhere else. They are not obligated to enter your home. That’s true everywhere. It is your right to request an interpreter and you can explain that you understand that there is a 72-hour policy, but say that you do have a right to seek a qualified interpreter. I also would recommend you not to respond to them directly but to look for an attorney if you don’t have one or contact your attorney to respond to them. That way, they will protect you and your children, especially if they are ready to take your children. The (attorneys) will advocate for your rights under the ADA.

Alex: Gina said she worked with an attorney who recommended she file a complaint with the Department of Justice. Gina said she felt vindicated by the $300,000 settlement because it showed that the CPS was in the wrong.

Gina: The $300,000 settlement has really helped me to feel at peace that what I did was right and for me to continue to advocate for our deaf community’s rights.

Alex: Thank you for your time and willingness to share, Gina.

I was able to ask two questions via email to an Assistant U.S. Attorney who investigated this case, Christina Fogg. I asked what systemic breakdowns her office observed within the Washington CPS (DCYF).

Fogg said one of the main concerns was that the (CPS) sometimes operate on short timeframes due to regulations and it makes scheduling interpreters difficult because many of them need at least 24 hours notice. Fogg said the (CPS) has obtained VRI contracts and plans to use it as a part of the solution to this problem.

Fogg said in circumstances where the (CPS) had ample time to schedule appointments but failed to provide interpreters -- she hopes that this will be resolved by a requirement for the department to have contractural relationships with interpreter services in every county in the state.

I asked Fogg if she was seeing a bigger problem across the U.S. with state children agencies and deaf parents and whether there should be a nationwide probe.

Fogg said states do not work with other states for CPS services, so there won’t be an investigation that groups several states together, but recommends that people who are aware of systemic issues or ADA violations to bring their complaint to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in their district or the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. She provided a contact link, which is in the transcript.

So, this is a deeper look at the issues between the Washington state CPS and deaf parents. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are many more issues across the nation.

Previous report: https://www.dailymoth.com/blog/washington-dept-of-children-youth-family-services-to-pay-300k-settlement-to-deaf-families

DOJ Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/doj-and-washington-department-children-youth-and-family-services-settle-claims

DOJ Civil Rights Division: https://civilrights.justice.gov/