Sirita’s Law approved by Senate

OLYMPIA – Two years after the beating death of 4-year-old Sirita Sotelo horrified the Lake Stevens community in which she lived, the state Legislature has approved a measure to increase the Department of Social and Health Services’ (DSHS) accountability in child welfare cases and provide for better training of social workers.

“Like everyone else, I was shocked and saddened by Sirita’s death and the horrifying circumstances surrounding it,” said Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens. “Absolutely nothing we accomplish in Olympia can be more important that protecting helpless children. We need to focus our outrage and make sure that our social service system prevents a tragedy like this from ever happening again.”

Sirita had been in state custody since birth. She was placed in the custody of her biological father just two months prior to her death. Her stepmother was subsequently sentenced to more than eight years in prison. An investigation by the state'’ child safety ombudsman determined that DSHS failed an obligation to conduct regular home checks.

House Bill 1333, known as “Sirita’s Law,” would require that before DSHS returns a child who has been removed to his or her biological parents, DSHS must comply with a number of requirements, including:

• Identifying any person who will act as a caregiver for the child and determining whether that caregiver is in need of any services in order to ensure the safety of the child, regardless of whether that caregiver is a party to the dependency. If the DSHS recommends services, and the caregiver does not engage in those services, then the child welfare worker must promptly notify the court; and
• Performing background checks on all adults living in the home, and notifying the persons in the home of their ongoing duty to notify DSHS of any persons residing in the home or acting as the child’s caregiver.

HB 1333 was unanimously approved by both the House and Senate.

Return to Sen. Hobbs' home page