Friday, April 8, 2005 - 12:00 AM
Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo, other than personal use, must be obtained from The Seattle Times. Call 206-464-3113 or e-mail resale@seattletimes.com with your request.
By Nick Perry
Seattle Times staff reporter
Two brothers who were molested by their foster father have settled a lawsuit with the state Department of Social and Health Services for $1.52 million.
The boys moved into the Bellingham home in 1988, at ages 3 and 4, and stayed there for three years, the boys' lawyer, Tim Farris, said yesterday. They suffered further mistreatment as they bounced though multiple foster homes over the years, Farris said.
The state placed one of the boys in 14 different homes while in foster care. He was assigned 16 different therapists and eight different social workers and attended 10 different schools, Farris said.
The other boy had a similarly tumultuous journey.
"You read their psychological reports and every year their condition deteriorates," Farris said. Both left the foster-care system at age 18, severely disturbed and with little education, he said.
Greg Lane, a spokesman with the state Attorney General's Office, confirmed the state had settled the case because the boys were sexually abused by their foster father. Lane could not provide further details yesterday.
Court records show the boys' foster father, Harlan Clark Nelson, pleaded guilty in 1995 to two counts of child molestation and one count of assault. He was sentenced to 8 ½ years in jail and ordered to have no contact with his former foster children.
Farris said that one of the brothers, who was homeless, will need continuing care for life because of his fragile mental state.
"I'm so pleased with this settlement because it will provide him with a place to live, food and the basics of his care," Farris said. "He is no longer going to be homeless."
The other brother is being cared for by an "absolutely heroic mother" who has taken him in, Farris said.
The brothers are now aged 19 and 20. The Seattle Times generally doesn't name victims of sexual abuse.
Kathy Spears, a spokeswoman with the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), said the agency is working to reduce the amount of foster-care shuffling.
"We absolutely agree that kids need stability," Spears said. "We are trying to find permanent homes more quickly, trying to keep kids in the same community, and trying to keep kids in the same school."
Farris, the brothers' lawyer, also was the lead attorney in a six-year lawsuit against DSHS that evolved into a class action on behalf of more than 3,500 foster children who had been moved at least three times each.
In settling that suit last August, DSHS promised major reforms to the foster-care system. But Farris worries the Legislature may not provide enough money for those changes in its biennial budget.
Farris also recently settled a separate suit with DSHS for $500,000. It was brought on behalf of four foster-care children who were shuffled through dozens of homes.
"It's true that some of the plaintiffs had more than one placement," said Jeff Freimund, the state's lawyer in that case. He added that some of the children had documented psychological problems before entering the foster-care system.
Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com