To the Residents of Washington State:

I am pleased to present to you the 2003 Annual Report of the Office of the Family and Children's Ombudsman. In this year's report we provide recommendations for reforms in the areas of evidence-based assessment and treatment, adolescent services and placement, residential placement options for children with developmental disabilities, relative/kinship care and child protective teams. Events of the past year dramatically highlight the need for system-wide improvements in our state's child welfare system. Three-year-old Rafael Gomez died after being removed from foster care and returned to the care of his parents while still under the supervision of DSHS. We reviewed the record of DSHS' work with Rafael's family and presented our findings to the Community Fatality Review Team. The review team concluded the most significant factors contributing to his death were the same factors identified in child fatality reviews conducted in 1995 and 2000. This sobering conclusion is that previously recommended safeguards, and system improvements, which could have prevented this tragic death, were not sufficiently implemented.

This year we responded to a record number of complaints. From the myriad of issues presented in these complaints, it is clear there is a need for accountability at all levels of the child welfare system. Only by identifying and challenging failures by the child welfare system to meet its responsibilities will the system measurably improve.

An ongoing mission for our office is to respond to citizens in a meaningful and timely manner while ensuring that we still have the opportunity to consider system-wide concerns. Given sufficient resources in the year ahead, we plan to undertake a study of the process that triggers external child fatality reviews. We also expect increased contact from foster parents as a result of new legislation directing the Ombudsman to respond to complaints from foster parents who believe they have been retaliated against by DSHS.

I want to welcome Uma Ahluwalia, Assistant Secretary of DSHS. In her first year, she has been faced with many challenges. Among these were the results of the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) by the federal government. This audit concluded that DSHS failed to substantially conform to several standards or outcomes that promote safety and permanence for children. Many of the issues identified by the CFSR have previously been noted by OFCO. The Children's Administration has crafted an initial response to the Federal review. We look forward to our oversight role in monitoring the development and implementation of these reforms and foresee an increase in our workload as we monitor these changes. On behalf of all of us at the Office of Family and Children's Ombudsman, I want to thank you for your interest in our work. I am grateful for the leadership of our advisory board members, the oversight of the Legislature, and the input of many outside professionals and citizens dedicated to improving the welfare of children and families. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to serve the families, children and citizens of Washington State.

Sincerely,