Keeping Kids SAFE

05/13/2026

We should celebrate recovery.
We should celebrate safety.
We should celebrate that this child now has the opportunity to reimagine what childhood can look like.

But we cannot ignore the truth that the systems intended to protect him failed him for years.

The people and policies meant to keep children safe declared him “safe” while warning signs were missed, minimized, or ignored. Even after hearing his story — and so many others like it — lawmakers this session still chose to turn a blind eye to the reality that this is not an isolated case.

This child’s story is finally moving toward a hopeful ending because someone was bold enough to expose what was happening. Once the truth came to light, the right decisions started happening.

At Keeping Kids SAFE, we know awareness alone is not enough anymore. We need action. We need more boots on the ground. We need a coalition of people willing to stand together and fight for children.

We need communities willing to support legislators who recognize our kids are not okay and who are willing to fight for meaningful change.

We need people who will stand beside social workers and support the incredibly hard work they do every day.

We need families willing to speak openly about their struggles, their successes, and the realities they have lived through.

We need teachers and school officials willing to speak honestly about the impact years of abuse and neglect have on children and on our school systems.

We need foster parents willing to share the realities they witness that never make the news.

We need kinship caregivers ready to advocate fiercely for the children they love.

Most importantly, we need children to know they are worth fighting for.

The children are watching. Let’s show them that their voices matter, their safety matters, and their futures matter — just like The More We Love did for this little boy.

The boy who spent months living in a fentanyl-filled tent off Aurora Avenue just celebrated his 10th birthday while living in a facility run by The More We Love.

05/10/2026

This Mother’s Day, we honor every person who steps into the role of “mom” with love, sacrifice, patience, and protection.

Birth moms. Foster moms. Adoptive moms. Kinship caregivers. Grandmothers. Bonus moms. Safe adults. And every person showing up for a child who needs stability, comfort, and belonging.

Keeping children safe is never the responsibility of one person alone. Strong families and protected children require communities willing to listen, support, advocate, mentor, report concerns, foster, provide respite, check in, and care deeply about the well-being of children and parents alike.

Every child deserves adults who notice.
Adults who protect.
Adults who show up.

Today we celebrate the many forms of motherhood and the people helping children feel seen, safe, and loved.

Happy Mother’s Day to all who carry that role in their hearts. ❤️

05/08/2026

This.

I just read the story about little Dominique on WRAL TV.

A six year old child allegedly tortured, starved, and failed over and over by her biological family while reports kept being made.

And honestly?
This whole story makes me sick.

Because every single time a child dies from horrific abuse, the internet screams,
“Why didn’t DSS remove them?”
“Why didn’t somebody save this child?”
“How did nobody step in?”

But then the second children ARE removed from dangerous situations, people scream,
“They’re stealing kids.”
“It’s trafficking.”
“Families are being targeted.”

So what exactly are people expecting?

And can we please talk about something people either do not know or refuse to understand?

Social workers do not just get to walk into a home and decide to take children because they feel like it.

That is not how this works.

There are laws.
Judges.
Court orders.
Supervisors.
Policies.
Investigations.
Paperwork.
Evidence thresholds.
Entire systems involved in these decisions.

Yet social workers become the face everyone blames when something horrific happens.

And yes, the system is broken.
Yes, there should absolutely be accountability when children fall through the cracks.
But acting like every frontline worker has unlimited power is simply not reality.

As a foster parent, I have met social workers carrying impossible caseloads while trying to protect children inside a system that often moves painfully slow.

And honestly?
Many workers are scared too.

Because if they push too hard, they risk backlash.
If they remove children, they are accused of trafficking.
If they do not remove them and tragedy happens, people ask why they did not save the child sooner.

That pressure is impossible.

Meanwhile children are stuck in the middle while adults argue online about ideology instead of facing the ugly truth:

Some children are not safe with their biological families.

And saying that does not make someone anti family.
It makes them child first.

Because people love screaming “family preservation” until a child is found starved, beaten, tortured, or dead.

Then suddenly everyone wants to know why nobody acted faster.

Little Dominique deserved louder adults.
She deserved protection.
She deserved people willing to prioritize her safety over public outrage and political talking points.

And maybe the real conversation people are not ready for is this:

We cannot scream at systems for not saving children while also attacking every attempt to intervene before it is too late.

05/07/2026

05/06/2026

Happening in just a few minutes! Join the conversation!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1avhdrLiZ3/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Joining this panel today is a great way to stay informed during your lunch hour.

Take the time to log in, listen, learn, and understand what is being planned for youth, young adults, and families across Washington State.

If you have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, loved ones, or care about anyone from birth to age 25, this conversation matters to you.

Washington Thriving is a statewide plan created with voices from across Washington, including individuals with lived experience, families, providers, advocates, and community members sharing what they believe is needed for healthier futures and stronger behavioral health systems.

The State of Washington is building this plan together with communities, and people deserve to know what is in it.

Being part of making our state and communities better starts with being informed.

05/05/2026

This Mason County case is an example of how long warning signs are allowed to exist before action is taken.

Court documents describe the home environment as unsafe and deteriorated. As Deputy R. Carney wrote:

“I recalled going to this address several times in the past. I knew the property to be littered with trash, derelict vehicles, wanted subjects, and controlled substances, making it a dangerous place for any child to live… Further, I knew the property not to be attached to any type of grid power system, or have running water or working sewage.”

This is not hindsight. These are conditions that were known, documented, and repeatedly observed.

At Keeping Kids S.A.F.E., we are calling on legislators and child welfare leaders to answer a simple question: When danger is visible, why does protection so often come too late?

Child safety cannot depend on tragedy before action.

We need systems that respond to risk—not just report it after the fact.

05/03/2026

05/03/2026

A child told the system they were not safe.
A child asked to be protected.
And still—within hours—they were gone.

This isn’t just a tragedy. It’s a failure of listening, a failure of urgency, and ultimately a failure of protection.

When a child says they are afraid, that is not a data point to weigh against policy preferences or system pressures—it is a warning. It is a call to act. Listening cannot be passive, and it cannot be selective.

We can talk about reforms, frameworks, and philosophies all day long. But none of that matters if the most basic responsibility—keeping a child safe when they ask for help—is not met.

Real child protection means:
• Taking every disclosure seriously
• Prioritizing safety over system convenience
• Acting with urgency when risk is clear
• And ensuring that no child’s voice is dismissed or minimized

If we truly want prevention, it starts here: listening—and responding—when it matters most.

This child should still be here. And we owe it to them, and to every child after them, to do better.

A Connecticut child died by su***de just one hour after meeting with a Department of Children and Families worker, according to a report.

05/01/2026

Three children. Alone in a motel room. No food. No water. No basics.

While deputies were trying to revive an adult who had overdosed nearby. (KIRO 7 News Seattle)

This just happened in Everett. And if it feels familiar… it should. Because it keeps happening.

We’ve seen babies overdose. We’ve seen children exposed to fentanyl in homes and hotels. We’ve seen deaths that never should have happened. And every time, we say the same thing: “How did this happen again?”

But here’s the harder question:
Why aren’t we changing anything meaningful to stop it?

Washington continues to move toward policies that prioritize pride and politics — even when safety is clearly compromised. Under the Keeping Families Together Act, these cases often never even make it in front of a judge. The threshold for intervention keeps getting higher, while the risks to kids remain the same… or worse.

These are not isolated incidents.
This is a pattern.

And when the system fails to act early, children pay the price.

Protecting families matters. But protecting children has to come first — not after something goes wrong, not after an overdose, not after a death.

If we stay quiet about this, nothing changes.

And if nothing changes… we already know how these stories end.

Save our kids.

Three children were found alone in a motel room without food, water, clothing, or toys after a 26-year-old overdosed and became unresponsive at a Motel 6 in unincorporated Everett.