The following editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times:
In the trenches of child welfare, high stress is perennial and complaints chronic. Social workers know this. They sign up for it willingly. So it’s no small thing when more than 1,000 of them call for the governor to fire their boss.
That’s the scenario now underway, and Gov. Jay Inslee needs to step in — not to can Ross Hunter, secretary of the state Department of Children, Youth & Families, but to broker a peace between him and the workers. The safety of thousands of children depends on it.
The staff at DCYF have legitimate concerns. Turnover is soaring, job vacancies are rife, and because of it, those who remain are often working overtime without adequate support. Guards and social workers have been assaulted by youth, and sometimes seriously injured.
The Washington Federation of State Employees, which represents them, began a no-confidence vote against Hunter in June. If the union collects 1,855 signatures by Labor Day, they’ll formally ask Inslee to take action. As of this writing, they’re at 1,383.
But axing Hunter could make their problems worse. Inslee, who leaves the governor’s office next year, is unlikely to appoint a new secretary, and an interim placeholder would mean continued uncertainty and chaos — hardly what’s needed to attract new staff.
No question, leading the agency that oversees Child Protective Services is one of the hardest jobs in state government. Hunter should be commended for presiding over a historic decline in foster care, raising the bar for child removals while providing more family-safety oversight. That’s a delicate balancing act still in its rocky, early stages.
But humility has never been his strong suit. This is not the cutthroat culture of Microsoft, where Hunter previously worked. Nor is it the Legislature, where sharp elbows might be perceived as get-the-job-done flintiness. In 2019, after a year at DCYF, Hunter knew one of his biggest challenges would be low morale among staff. It does not appear that he’s done much to improve it.
In some ways, the union is playing a high-risk game of chicken. If it gathers enough votes but gets no response from Inslee, the union may be in a weaker position than ever, while working for someone it tried to oust. Relations were surely not improved when workers flooded Hunter’s inbox with so many emails during recent salary negotiations that he couldn’t conduct regular business.
Meanwhile, 9,700 families involved with the state’s child welfare system hang in the balance. That raises the stakes.
Inertia is the enemy here. As Inslee heads into the final stretch of his time in state leadership, he has an opportunity to position himself as a bridge-builder — helping families, workers and perhaps simultaneously his own political future.
“If we need somebody to be the first grown-up,” said Rep. Tana Senn, chair of the House Committee on Human Services, Youth & Early Learning, “let’s have it be the governor.”
