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Local News Offenders Grill Masters continued from page 1 child care providers did not inform the agencies that offenders lived there, the audit showed. Of the 17 in child care homes, only two were Department of Early Learning licensed family home child cares. Since the audit, the department has revoked the licenses of one of them and the other went out of business, said department spokes- woman Amy Blondin. Another 11 cases involved homes where foster kids were living, including one case where a former foster child returned home after committing some crimes. In several other cases, the sex offender and the care provider were related. The audit reported that DSHS reacted quickly, revoking foster care licenses and removing children from the homes. The agency also changed its proce- dures to more regularly compare the addresses of registered sex offenders with the addresses of all the people who care for foster kids, as well as the elderly and people with develop- mental disabilities. Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, said he expected to propose a bill next year to more closely watch unli- censed day care homes for people shouldn’t be living or working — Rep. Bruce Dammeier, who near kids. R- Puyallup “We have our work cut out for us in the state of Washington,’’ Carrell said. He previously focused his lawmaking Superintendent of Public Instruction per- sonnel who investigate teachers and other activities on social service fraud but this audit inspired him to look further. certificated school workers. “My approach for next year will be more Dammeier said he was glad the superin- tendent’s staff took ownership of the prob- comprehensive,’’ Carrell said. “I need to look at other ways that kids may be taken lem and quickly worked to correct it. “I’m glad we’re talking about this as a advantage of.’’ DSHS and the Department of Early gross bureaucratic oversight instead of an investigation afterward when a child had Learning are working together to improve the way they check applicants and monitor been molested,’’ he added. Of the 28 other sex offenders found providers, the audit reported. The agencies through the audit, 17 lived in places where also have developed procedures to flag child care was provided and the rest were provider files so they cannot slip back into living in foster homes. In 24 of the cases, the system without a careful check to see offenders lived there undetected because the that they are obeying laws and procedures. reached out to the district or state education department to alert them. The audit also faulted the State Patrol for not passing along conviction data from other states. The auditors contacted the state Depart- ment of Corrections to find out if any of the offenders found through the audit were under state supervision while living in the child care or foster homes. Five were under supervision at the time, but none were sus- pected of breaking the law while living near children. The auditors contacted the state education department before they completed the audit. Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn instituted some policy changes to fix the problem and added checks of classified employees to the work of the Office of the PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED ‘I’m glad we’re talking about this as a gross bureaucratic oversight instead of an investigation afterward when a child had been molested’ Derick Williams samples a burger before rating its quality as a judge at the annual UNCF Barbeque for Education Aug. 4 at Judkins Park. Participants competed for a BBQ grill and the title of UNCF Grill Master. Traffic continued from page 1 Northeast 52nd Street have suggested he tell the city his is also a planter box, one where the seeds have yet to sprout. “It just seems ridiculous and totally con- trary to everything this city is about,’’ said Nekole Shapiro, another neighbor. Aren’t we trying to create community?’’ On Friday, after conversations with Nunes-Ueno and a call from The Seattle Times, the Transportation Department said it would put together an internal task force, to include the city traffic engineer and the legal department, to examine the issue. “Given that we have never permitted a sandbox in the right of way before and we have questions about how to do so safely, we are going to allow this one to temporar- ily remain as we consider whether a change is needed to allow this sort of use,’’ said Rick Sheridan, spokesman for the depart- ment. The city says current law doesn’t permit play structures in the right of way and must allow access for people getting in and out of cars, said Barbara Gray, director of street use and urban forestry within the city Department of Transportation. “The concern is safety when you put kids close to the travel lane,’’ she said. Both the city and the homeowner could be legally liable if children were hurt because they were playing near the sandbox. The city also prohibits stand-alone basketball hoops because of the danger of kids running into and actively playing in the street, and it has sent similar warning notices. But Gray also notes that until 2008, the city didn’t allow planter boxes on the plant- ing strip. They are now allowed if the home- owner gets a free permit from the city and meets the requirement for public access and car-door clearance, she said. She said there has been a debate among pedestrian advocates and urban planners some designated streets, pedestrians and cyclists have equal right to the street and cars can’t go faster than walking speed. He gives a local example, Pike Place, the brick road through the center of the Pike Place Market, where people wander and the cars move slowly to avoid them. “When the cars don’t own the road but are sharing the road, its actually safer for pedes- trians,’’ he said. “The notion that the only ‘I told them this is a silly rule. We should be encouraging neighbors to get together and children to play outside’ — Paulo Nunes-Ueno about the benefits of “front-yard’’ activities and whether they help activate neighbor- hood streets and make them more people- friendly. “We want to be both innovative and pru- dent when making these decisions,’’ she said. The Sightline Institute in Seattle, which advocates green public policy, sees the sandbox debate as an opening for the city to reconsider how it prioritizes street use, par- ticularly away from major arterials. Clark Williams-Derry, research director, points to Scandinavian countries where, on way to keep kids safe is to separate them from the street is contradicted by evi- dence,’’ he said. He agreed it would be a tragedy if a kid ran out into the street and were hit by a car, but he said not having a sandbox doesn’t eliminate the risk. City Councilmember Mike O’Brien, a former Sierra Club leader, said the city should try to balance creating more public spaces for kids to play with keeping them safe. “The safest place for the sandbox is in the backyard, but then you lose out on all the community building,’’ O’Brien said. “Plant- ing strips are an underutilized space. There’s a public-safety benefit when people on a street know each other and look out for each other.’’ Several of Nunes-Ueno’s neighbors said parents on the street frequently have talked about how to slow down traffic. Cars cut through from a busy nearby arterial, often going faster than seems safe, they said. “The traffic circle doesn’t really slow peo- ple. What are you going to tell the kids? Don’t go out and play? They’re all friends. They walk up and down the street to each other’s houses,’’ said the neighbor, Shapiro. Nunes-Ueno got the news Friday that the city would allow the sandbox to stay in place while it studies whether some play structures can be safely permitted. “I’m so excited. This is wonderful news,’’ he said. He said ceding all the streets to cars cre- ates a vicious cycle: nobody is on the street, the cars use it like a speedway, and nobody goes out there because it isn’t safe. He said he’s inspired by some of the international thinking about how to create “outdoor rooms’’ that slow down traffic as well as provide more public space. “We can have a conversation as a city about how to help create friendly gathering spaces in front of houses,’’ Nunes-Ueno said. August 8, 2012 The Seattle Skanner Page 3
