‘Sirita’s Law’ may help avert future tragedies

Jesse Rivas can’t escape the what-ifs.

Even now, two years later, he agonizes over what he could have done to save 4-year-old Sirita Sotelo, a precious member of his extended family.

“It’s so hard to talk about – the guilt I feel,” Rivas said recently from his California home. “I feel in my heart I should have just come up there and got her. We wanted her.”

Sirita, who was bounced in and out of foster care most of her life, was found dead in her Lake Stevens home in 2005. She’d been beaten to death by her stepmother.

On Friday, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed “Sirita’s Law.”

The legislation was suggested by a group of lawmakers, social workers, child advocates, foster parents and police who, like Rivas, grappled with what-ifs of their own.

The law aims to protect children and if possible, keep families together, said state Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, who sponsored the legislation.

“We don’t want any more kids cycled through the system or worse, killed by the ones responsible for protecting them,” Hinkle said.

Under the new law, state caseworkers must follow more stringent schedules to find a safe home for children.

The law requires all adults living in the family – not just biological parents – to undergo background checks, something that did not occur in Sirita’s case.

The state also must evaluate the child’s caregivers in hopes of identifying those who need parenting assistance or other services, such as alcohol treatment.

Police officers will be required to receive increased training to combat child abuse and neglect.

State child welfare officials were involved with Sirita even before her birth.

She came into the world addicted to cocaine and was immediately removed from the custody of her drug-addicted mother.

The girl was shuffled in and out of foster homes while state caseworkers attempted to reunite Sirita with her mother.

Sirita’s father had little to do with his daughter until he learned the state was on the verge of permanently terminating his parental rights. She was placed with her father, his wife and their four children in their Lake Stevens home in 2003.

The girl’s stepmother, Heather Ewell, fatally pummeled Sirita on Jan. 21, 2005. She initially tried to pass off the death as a poisoning. Ewell later admitted she couldn’t handle the girl’s tantrums and beat Sirita to death after the child wet her pants.

“It was very tragic for this community and it resonated throughout the state,” said state Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens.

The system in some ways failed Sirita, said Mary Meinig, director of the Office of Family and Children’s Ombudsman.

Her office reviewed how state caseworkers monitored Sirita’s care. They found that child welfare workers, in some instances, disregarded department policies. They recommended tougher policies to assess all adults living with children under the state’s supervision, and urged quicker work in finding permanent homes.

“I think this is going to make a difference,” Meinig said. “We can’t predict who is capable of hurting a child, but we can look at the system and where there are opportunities to make improvements.”

Meinig said the new law may have helped Shayne Abegg. The boy, 4, was found nearly starved to death in March in his father’s south Everett apartment. He was under supervision by the state Department of Social and Health Services and had been bounced around in foster care for years.

Prosecutors allege Shayne’s father and the man’s live-in girlfriend withheld food from the boy as punishment.

The couple are awaiting trial, charged with criminal mistreatment.

In California, Rivas grieves the death of Sirita, the little girl he and his wife welcomed into their home for a time. Sirita’s mother is Rivas’ cousin.

Rivas said he takes some comfort in knowing the state made changes in the law based on what was learned about Sirita’s death.

“If it helps any children, it’s a great thing,” Rivas said. “No child should be abused or mistreated or live around drugs or live in a bad environment.”

The responsibility doesn’t lie solely with state caseworkers, Rivas said.

“The responsibility was with her mom and dad,” he said. “They failed her as much as the foster care system did.”

Rivas and his wife pleaded with Sirita’s mother to let them care for the girl. Their help was turned down.

Rivas wonders what if he had pushed harder.

He couldn’t have known what was going to happen to Sirita. That doesn’t ease the pain.

“It hasn’t gotten easier,” Rivas said. “Some days, it seems like it’s OK. It isn’t.”