D.C. Council weighs independent office for child safety, ombudsman

It’s been more than five years since an 8-year-old girl disappeared from a D.C. homeless shelter, and about two years since the former D.C. Child and Family Services Agency ombudsman was fired without cause.

On Monday, the D.C. Council’s Human Services Committee held a hearing on legislation to establish an independent office for a child safety and well-being ombudsman.

The Child Safety and Well-being Ombudsperson Establishment Act of 2019 would set up the public advocate apart from the agency he or she would monitor. The bill also require the ombudsman be appointed by a panel of citizens and have significant child welfare experience. Only a council vote could remove the advocate.

The independent ombudsman would be able investigate cases like the 2014 disappearance of Relisha Rudd from the former homeless shelter at the D.C. General Hospital campus without concern of retaliation from the Child and Family Services Agency or implicating their coworkers.

Christian Greene says she was fired as ombudsman after filing a report detailing trends of child’s rights violations that ultimately was whitewashed by the agency. In her testimony Monday before the council, she stressed the importance of an independent office.

“During my tenure, I saw the agency consistently make child safety decisions based on liability rather than legal validity or the welfare of the children,” Ms. Greene said.

“I was placed in a position where I had to defend the integrity of the program and the safety of the public while facing retaliation that was motivated by a not so secret agenda of exiting a federal lawsuit.”

LaShawn v. Bowser, which Ms. Green referred to, is a class-action lawsuit that was filed against the city 30 years ago in the name of the District’s neglect and abuse of children in its care. It originally was titled LaShawn v. Barry.

The judge ruled that the city has to meet certain standards before it can exit the lawsuit and no longer require a court monitor.

Council member Brianne Nadeau, Ward 1 Democrat and committee chair, said she expects the city will soon exit the lawsuit.

Ms. Greene was not the only witness that accused the Child and Family Services Agency of focusing on exiting the lawsuit. Marla Spindel, executive director of DC KinCare Alliance, asserted that the agency focuses on reducing the number of children in foster care rather than solely focusing on their safety.

Agency Director Brenda Donald said she was offended by those sentiments, adding “we know that child safety is paramount.”

“Certainly exiting a LaShawn lawsuit will be evidence that we have met certain standards and reducing the number of kids in care is important because it’s traumatic to remove children from their families,” Ms. Donald said.

She said she isn’t opposed to an effective ombudsman but that the public advocate position as described in the legislation would “infringe on the agencies legal and clinical authority.”

“It establishes an adversarial process rather than educating and improving communication and dispute resolution which are the traditional role of an ombudsman,” Ms. Donald said.

Relisha Rudd had been missing from school for about a month before her disappearance was reported to police in March 2014. A man in whose company she was last seen was later found dead of an apparent suicide in Southeast. The disappearance of the 8-year-old, who hasn’t been seen or heard from again, cast a harsh light on the city’s child services.