LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
King County, WA
Tacoma, WA: (Jun-07-07) King County approved a $6.2 million settlement for four siblings who were abused in foster care, making the settlement the largest of its kind in the state. The charges were against the state Department of Social and Health Services, which oversees foster care, alleging that the state acted negligently when it licensed Pearl Hall to be a foster mother nearly 20 years ago, and that it failed to monitor the home after the four kids were placed. De'Arra, De'Vaughnn, Robert and Darryl Williams, the four siblings placed with Hall, were severely abused by her. The children were whipped with switches, extension cords, shoes and boards during their five years in Hall's care. The beatings left one of the girls with bleeding welts on her back. The abuse was discovered when one of the children, then 7, ran away and got help; the siblings were subsequently placed in another foster home in which they were physically disciplined, although not to such an extent.
Pearl Hall, who was convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge, died in 2004. Some DSHS workers raised concerns about Hall, but those concerns were brushed aside. The state wound up renewing Hall's license repeatedly and allowed her to operate a day-care center. The lawsuit recounts 16 points at which the state should have realized something was wrong. [THE NEWS TRIBUNE: FOSTER CARE ABUSE]
Published on Jun-7-07
Pearl Hall, who was convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge, died in 2004. Some DSHS workers raised concerns about Hall, but those concerns were brushed aside. The state wound up renewing Hall's license repeatedly and allowed her to operate a day-care center. The lawsuit recounts 16 points at which the state should have realized something was wrong. [
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