SPOKANE — The Spokane foster mother blamed for starving her 7-year-old son to death has been released from prison.
Carole DeLeon, 55, was released from Pine Lodge Correctional Facility Wednesday morning around 12:30 a.m.
DeLeon has served about half the sentence she received in a 2007 plea agreement.
Tyler DeLeon died in 2005 on the day he turned 7. The autopsy showed he weighed only 28 pounds.
Department of Social and Health Services says since DeLeon's case, there are new policies to prevent abusers to ever be a foster parent.
Investigations must be started in cases without serious risk in three days. If there is an emergency risk, the state has 24 hours to respond. Social workers must visit foster homes once a month, and background checks on potential parents now include comparing fingerprints in a nationwide system.
Training for social workers has also been updated to recognize patterns of abuse and decipher if a foster parent is lying.
In DeLeon's case, the state settled with Tyler's foster brothers and sisters for allegedly failing to protect them from DeLeon. DSHS is paying more than $6 million for the children to receive counseling and treatment for the abuse they suffered.
