The Olympia Washington Kiwanis members and their friends have cost the Washington State taxpayers over $50 million dollars (so far), because of their willful ignorance of long term, merciless and well known, child abuse that occurred at the Olympia Kiwanis Boys Ranch.

October 2006 note: This Olympia Kiwanis stuff is old news. I've left this information on the web, because I like the thought that someone will say to one of these Kiwanis friends or members: "Grandma, (Grandpa), are you still friends with those Olympia Kiwanians?"

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By Mindy Chambers and Bob Partlow The Olympian Feb. 15, 1996 Thurston County

O.K. Boys Ranch: An attorney says answers to critical questions are missing from the Washington State Patrol investigation. An investigation into problems at the Olvmpia Kiwanis Boys Ranch fails to answer critical questions, says the attorney for more than two dozen former residents of the ranch.

Those questions may be an answered later, at the completion of a part of the investigation that deals with possible wrongdoing by Department of Social and Health Services employees who were in charge of overseeing ranch operations. Two parts of the five month investigation by the Washington State Patrol were released Wednesday. They found that outside political pressure and a quagmire of administrative woes led to the continuing problem at the northeast Olympia group home where residents were raped and beaten by other residents.

The third part, which looks into DSHS employee misconduct,  is not complete,  said state patrol Chief Annette Sandberg.  She said part of that is a criminal investigation that she would not discuss further.

The parts of the report released Wednesday, for example, do not say why the ranch was allowed to remain open in 1989 after an audit showed the problems were occurring, said Richard Kelly the attorney who has won settlements  of more than $12 million for about two dozen former ranch residents.

He said that while he believes the state patrol investigation was thorough, he thinks it should have answered that question and others such as who is responsible for sending ranch residents to two unlicensed foster parents after the two donated land to the O.K. Boys Ranch in September 1980. One of those foster parents, Roy Hanning of Shelton, later was convicted of sexually assaulting one of the ranch residents who was sent to Hanning's home for a weekend visit in October 1980. The police investigation revealed that Hanning also  had sexually assaulted three other boys from the ranch during week end visits,  the report says. "It was such a clear quid pro quo  that this took place after the transfer of the 20 acres,"  Kelly said.

"Everybody wants the Boys  Ranch to float off into the horizon and be done with," Kelly said. The investigation is one of about a half-dozen into events at the ranch since 1989.  It was ordered by Gov. Mike Lowry last fall after state Attorney General Christine Gregoire filed felony criminal mistreatment charges against two former ranch directors and a former counselor. All three have pleaded innocent to the charges.

The group home was run by the Olympia Kiwanis Club under contract with DSHS beginning in 1971.  It was closed in September 1994. Many of the report's conclusions were not new.  For example, it found a lack of accountability among DSHS  employees charged with supervising the ranch;  that political influence may have played a part in keeping the ranch open;  and, that licensing standards did not ensure residents' safety. Gregoire and former DSHS Secretary Jean Soliz arrived at many of the same conclusions last year.

Some DSHS employees connected with the ranch have been demoted or fired.  DSHS Secretary Lyle Quasim would not discuss other action that would be taken when the third part of the investigation is complete. Quasim said many measures have been put in place to ensure that group homes and those who work there and license them are accountable. He also said that he would no longer be secretary if he allowed outside political pressure to influence his decisions.

The report says specifically that ranch board member Don Ernst  "voiced his concerns about treatment of (the boys ranch)  by DSHS"  to one Olympia state legislator and the husband of another. Ernst said the two lawmakers were state Sen. Karen Fraser,  D-Lacey,  and state Rep. Cathy Wolfe,  D-Olympia. All three agree conversations occurred. But they also agree they discussed issues related only to insurance coverage for nonprofit group homes. No pressure of any kind was exerted by Ernst on the lawmakers, and thev exerted none on DSHS or anyone,  else,  they said. "Emphatically,  there was no discussion of the type alleged in the report," Fraser said. "We never talked about that," Wolfe said. Ernst said he told state patrol investigators that he had talked to two lawmakers - but never said the discussion was about concerns at the ranch - because it wasn't.

But the report concludes that because of perceived pressure, DSHS administrators and employees were hesitant to take action or change programs to benefit service if it would or could cost money to the group-care providers " Sandberg said the patrol reviewed 171,000 documents and interviewed more than 100 people, including all past and present DSHS employees who had anything to do with the O.K. Boys Ranch She said the report should not be considered an indictment of the entire agency. "We are dealing with a snapshot in time surrounding one region of the Division of Children and Family Services and one group home," she said.

Below is an e-mail I received from a former Olympia, Washington resident.

From: ~~~~~~~~@aol.com
To: Louis Bloom manaco@whidbey.net
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 11:34 AM
Subject: OKBR
Just came across your pages and felt the urge to respond... In the early 80's (81-83) I was at the OKBR frequently as a young kid walking to/from school, I became friends with some of the boys. At one point a small boy confided to me that he was being raped by another boy in the home. The abusing boy talked about it openly!
Days later I walked the victim to OPD where we both gave statements. Later that evening I began to receive these incredibly threatening phone calls from a woman employee of the ranch who's name I believe was Paulette at my home. She kept calling over and over screaming at me calling me names. It was horrible. I thought I was helping someone. Nothing came of it. Then all these years later, it all comes out ... one of the boys that I had known there left as a young adult and still couldn't get it together, he eventually killed himself. As an adult now I don't often think back to those times but it still saddens me. All those boys that needed a safe nurturing place to be, and how many of them were better off for having been taken there? It's not about money. It cost these boys their lives, their souls, their trust. Those people who knew, who didn't care, they should feel such shame. Just my opinion.

From: louis a bloom manaco@whidbey.net
To: ~~~~~~~@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: OKBR
thanks for your e-mail. from what i've read, dshs, the olympia police department, and other "authorities" didn't consider child on child rape to be against the law. it was considered "normal experimentation". The "paulette" you mention, may have been Collette Queener who was an assistant director at the OKBR. Collette, OKBR Director Tom Van Woerdan, and OKBR counselor Laura Rambo Russell were ineptly charged by Wa. St. with "criminal mistreatment for failing to stop abuse". The charges were dismissed by Thurston County Judge Daniel Berschauer on technicalities. The lawyer who represented Collette Queener said, (Nov. 14, 1996 Olympian), that it was a "witch hunt", and that " a more innocent person (than Queener) you could not have for a client. She's an ex-nun ..... I don't see how you could view her in an evil or negative light."
I congratulate you for doing the right thing, when all those adults looked the other way. I repeat on most pages that the " OKBR has cost the Washington State taxpayers over $35 million dollars (so far)", because I think most people don't care about the kids involved, but they may care that it has cost them (taxpayers) money.
louis bloom

There were many obvious and long-term warnings about the 1970-94 child abusing Olympia Kiwanis Boys Ranch.