“Red flag after red flag,” said Sarah Strode, who, along with her husband David, has since adopted both children. “People were saying something horrible is going to happen, and it was still completely ignored. And then something horrible did happen.”

Now, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) — the agency created to protect children like Bubby and Matilda — faces two massive lawsuits: $165 million on Bubby’s behalf, and $115 million on Matilda’s. But it is a second, procedural failure by the agency that may prove equally costly. State officials missed a deadline to notify their insurance carriers about the lawsuits, an error that could leave taxpayers, not insurers, responsible for any eventual judgment or settlement.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/investigators/two-children-severe-injuries-washington-state-error-taxpayers-investigation/281-2ef6a0d8-d62e-45c7-a5bf-a1a761f0960c