The Wenatchee Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) is a local office that falls under the management of the DSHS Children’s Administration (CA). The CA is characterized by a decentralized organizational structure and is divided into six regions. These Regions are divided into Areas; each Area contains local DCFS offices in various cities. Each office is made up of several Units, including CPS and Child Welfare Services (CWS). The supervisors of the individual Units in a local office report to the Area Manager. The Wenatchee DCFS office is part of Region 1, which has its headquarters in Spokane, about 165 miles from Wenatchee. The Area office is located in Moses Lake, about 66 miles from Wenatchee. The Wenatchee office does not have a manager on site to whom the unit supervisors report.

The Wenatchee DCFS office was comprised of two units, CPS and CWS, and employed approximately 20 people in 1994 and 1995. Throughout most of 1994, the CPS Unit had one supervisor, four full-time social workers conducting investigations, and intake and off-hours staff. An additional person on staff acted as a foster home licensor. The CWS Unit had one supervisor and approximately four caseworkers involved in developing plans for the care and welfare of children (permanency planning), and another in adoptions.

It is the role of CPS to:

• Investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect
• Assess risks to children of future abuse or neglect
• Provide services to preserve family integrity, and cultural and ethnic identity

Of primary importance in the provision of these services are considerations of the child’s safety and welfare. Cases are generally transferred from CPS to CWS after dependency is established.3 CWS continues to provide permanency planning and additional services to the family.

In 1994 and 1995, the Wenatchee Police Department (WPD) had 19 law enforcement positions. Of these, three officers were assigned to street crimes duty, and four officers filled detective positions. One of the four detectives was assigned "crimes against persons" duty. This duty included investigations of alleged child abuse. The department rotated patrol officers into detective positions every two years. During 1994 and 1995, the department experienced personnel shortages. Three of the 19 law enforcement officer positions were not filled on a full-time basis.

In January 1994, a patrol officer by the name of Palmer became the Crimes Against Persons detective.4 Officer Palmer rotated into this duty after he had been a patrol officer for several years. As the child sexual abuse investigations became more involved, another detective assisted Detective Palmer with some of the investigations.

The WPD had jurisdiction over crimes that occurred within the City of Wenatchee and investigated the vast majority of the child sexual abuse cases in 1994 and 1995. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office had jurisdiction over crimes that occurred in the city of East Wenatchee. When children and adults in Wenatchee began to make reports about sexual abuse occurring in homes and a church in East Wenatchee, the WPD investigated. Eventually, however, the WPD provided the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office with information needed to conduct its own investigation of these child sexual abuse allegations in East Wenatchee.

Detective Palmer and the CPS social workers worked closely together and, in most cases conducted joint interviews of children. In a few cases, CPS social workers were also present at interviews in which suspects were questioned. The social workers were also present during some interviews with Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputies. However, Douglas County also had its own child interview specialist who conducted interviews on her own. Douglas County also sent children to be interviewed at the Regional Center for Child Abuse and Neglect. That forensic interviewing center is located in Spokane, Washington.

When either CPS or WPD received a report of child abuse, both agencies responded. CPS social workers and WPD officers often went to homes together in anticipation of placing children into care if the police expected that the children’s caretaker was going to be arrested. In addition, CPS social workers and Detective Palmer frequently shared information about their cases.