SEATTLE — A group of lawmakers, advocates, and parents is pushing for stronger child protective laws and a comprehensive review of Washington’s Amber Alert system in the wake of the death of the three Decker girls.
A group gathered outside Seattle’s City Hall Friday demanding change.
“Unfortunately, courts often don’t do a great job recognizing signs of abuse and degree of risk due to lack of high-quality training on abuse subjects for judges and court professionals,” said Evangeline Stratton, the former senior managing attorney at Family Violence Appellate Project Washington.
The group wants to reform the custody process in family court to better screen for risk factors in parents seeking custody, including by requiring more training for judges and court professionals.
“If the children aren’t safe, then there shouldn’t be unsupervised visitations,” said Rep. Brian Burnett (R-WA 12th District).
Kathy Sherlock, whose daughter Kayden Mancuso was killed during a planned custody visit in Pennsylvania, said cases like these can be prevented.
“I only needed one person in family court to listen to me, and not one person did,” Sherlock said.
Sherlock’s daughter was seven years old.
She said she pushed police and other local authorities to do more when she first went missing, but they told her she would have to take it up with the courts.
“Angry is an understatement of the system that failed Kayden and me,” she said.
Sherlock has been advocating for stricter laws to protect children ever since. She’s helped pass “Kayden’s Law” federally and in ten states to enhance child safety protections during custody fights.
Washington is not one of them. Sherlock said she feels tremendous guilt that the law wasn’t passed in the state before the Decker girls were killed.
“Maybe if I was here to show up to the Olympia State Capitol, then maybe these little girls would be here,” she said.
Advocates who gathered Friday also pushed for a comprehensive review of the state’s Amber Alert system, which was not used in the Decker case. Washington State Patrol said it did not fit the criteria to issue one.
“We must ask, ‘Are there gaps in Washington’s Amber Alert System?’” said Rep. Amy Walen (D-WA 48th District). “Could it have moved faster, reached farther, triggered action that might have saved lives?”
The search for the girls’ father, Travis Decker, is ongoing.
An attorney for the Decker family, which is not involved in this push for action, responded to calls for change via email.
“While I appreciate any work on further protecting children in our legal system, we are focusing our attention on reforming the Amber Alert system and providing additional mental health resources to veterans- not politics,” wrote attorney Arianna Cozart.
Cozart said they have created a local task force to explore Amber Alert reform and to improve mental health resources for veterans, and to address potential changes for the family law court system to further protect kids.
“We welcome any help any of these individuals involved in this press conference are willing to provide,” Cozart wrote. “Some of them have already reached out and we are very grateful and excited to be working with them.”
You can email help@actionfordeckergirls.org to learn more.
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