Beginning this month, Washington officials have new authority to root out abuse and neglect of children housed in private boarding schools, residential treatment centers and the state’s school for the deaf.
Senate Bill 5515 tasks the Department of Children, Youth and Families with investigating allegations and approving licenses for facilities that had previously been beyond the scope of the child welfare agency.
“This was an area that was just missed,” Melissa Sayer, a supervisor with the department’s licensing division, told The Imprint. “This new law is allowing us to now fill that gap, because kids need to be safe when they’re not with their parents.”