Thank you very much for this article. As a human services/child development student, previous daycare parent, mother of four and grandmother of five my heart goes out to this toddler.

Children who are in and out of foster care or government homes lack a major emotional personality trait and that is trust of adults in their lives. How can they trust when they are in foster care or a government home setting and then they are shifted over and over again.

Granted I understand that biological parents may have issues at the time of the child’s birth and I commend them for receiving help for their problem. But if it takes the parents even two years when their child is two and they take them out of a semi-permanent care facility only to have reocurring issues over and over again trust issues will evolve with that child.

My idea would be to continue to keep the bio parent involved with the child even in foster care. With supervised visits from the bio parents the supervisor will be able to tell if the bio parent(s) are doing well and how the child reacts to all parties.

Thank you for showing many sides I didn’t see previous to reading this article.

I did see the Langley’s in an interview and they stated that Poca was being placed with her grandparents. My question was why now and not four years ago?

You have several critical inaccuracies in your series of articles. Susannah Frame, the KING 5 Investigators reporter, spent several months working on this story before going to press. She knows this case inside out, and rather than criticize “the media” for “overlooking” the facts in this case, I suggest it is you that should have contacted her and/or the Langleys – or even me – to learn the answers to your questions before going to press. I have personally worked on this case since August.

Taylor was not a dependent of the State of Washington. He was adopted. His birth parents had, among other things, allegedly put alcohol in his baby bottle to keep him quiet, which caused extensive neurological damage. The Langleys have cared for 20 disabled children over the last 10 years. Some were reunified, and some adopted. Sometimes when you adopt a special needs child they have problems that are not immediately apparent.

Taylor displayed anti-social, aggressive, violent behaviors. By age six he attacked the other children with a knife and screwdriver. He broke Amy’s nose and fingers. Adoption support in Washington does not cover the type of intensive therapy he needed. DSHS informed the Langleys that if they did not remove Taylor, that they would most likely remove the other four children in the home. The Langleys, as Taylors legal parents, had every right to place him temporarily in the home of a friend while they searched for a solution. In the end, they placed him in a therapeutic home where he was the only child. It was the best solution for him and I would hardly call it “dumping.”

The Langleys were strong advocates for Poca, getting her the services she needed and being critical of the department’s treatment of this case. They were warned by a social worker at one point that if they were not quiet, the department would act against them. That is exactly what happened.

The outrageous allegations against the Langleys have been contradictory. They have both accused the Langleys of abandoning Taylor and accused them of not removing him soon enough. Their own witnesses have contradicted their case. They produced a CPS referral where a neighbor claimed the Langleys were bad parents, yelling at their children. The neighbor signed an affidavit that they said no such thing. They did indeed make a CPS report – because Taylor tried to kill their dog. No one from CPS ever interviewed them. I can list many more examples of how inept the CPS investigation was.

The Office of the Family and Children’s Ombudsman has also been working on this case for a long time, and produced a report agreeing with the contention of us and KING 5 that laws were broken and inaccurate information about the Langleys was given to the court. Governor Gregoire has called for an independent investigation and a change in the handling of the case.

Those wishing to learn more about the case can view information on our website, http://www.FosterJustice.com/Poca/Poca.htm.

Foster Care Justice Alliance is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to protect the rights of children in out of home care.

Gary Malkasian
FCJA President
http://www.FosterJustice.com
Facebook: http://www.causes.com/FCJA
fosterjustice@live.com

Thank you for taking the time to write such an informative, thoughtful, and well-written article on an important topic. I am looking forward to reading the last installment.

I am an attorney in Portland, OR and am currently working pro bono on a similar case. It is easy to lose track of the big picture sometimes and become outraged at the perceived injustices in the system. Your article is very helpful in allowing one to see how just how complicated it is to find the right answer.

Thanks. Denise