Washington To Pay $11 Million In Foster Home Abuse Case

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The state of Washington will pay $11 million in a case filed by six people who claimed they were abused by their foster parents.

The settlement, announced Tuesday, resolves a lawsuit against the Department of Social and Health Services and 21 social workers filed in August 2011. The suit the children were sexually and physically abused over a period of years while they resided in the Tacoma foster home of Jose and Juanita Miranda, who are both now deceased.

According to the lawsuit, DSHS approved Juanita Miranda as a foster parent despite a long history of drug use and criminal violations. An investigation began in 2005 after Jose Miranda confessed to a nurse while he was hospitalized. Jose Miranda was charged in 2007 with three counts of first-degree child rape, two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree assault of a child.

The lawsuit had been scheduled to go to trial in U.S. District Court early next year.