Scoop: Equity director quits WA child welfare agency, alleging racial bias

• The department works with some of the state's most vulnerable kids, including foster youth, low-income preschoolers and kids in the juvenile justice system.

State of play: Colemon served as the director of DCYF's Office of Equity until Sept. 9, when she resigned after about nine months on the job.

• Her resignation letter, which was reviewed by Axios, says she "personally witnessed" DCYF secretary Tana Senn "exhibit racist and discriminatory actions against Black women" on "more than one occasion."
• Five others who have worked with Senn at DCYF also told Axios they witnessed Senn hold employees of color to higher standards than white employees or otherwise treat them differently.
• Those five current and former employees declined to be named, citing concerns about professional repercussions.

Senn, who has led DCYF since January 2025, said she was "disheartened by the accusations."

• "They are not a reflection of who I am or the person, beliefs, and record I've built over the course of my career in addressing racial equity and social justice," Senn wrote in an email to Axios.

DCYF's human resources department told Colemon it will "ensure a proper review is conducted" of the concerns Colemon raised in her resignation letter, according to an email reviewed by Axios.

Zoom in: In her resignation letter, Colemon accuses Senn of blocking Colemon from promoting a Black woman within the department to a deputy director position, after that person had already held a temporary leadership role for seven months.

• When Colemon asked for an explanation, she said the department's chief transformation officer, Jennifer McCoy, said some agency leaders perceived the employee as "unprofessional" — criticism Colemon said was unfounded and rooted in racial bias.
• "This trite dog whistle has been used for generations to deny people of color promotion and position," Colemon's resignation letter reads. She noted that the employee had served as the interim director of the equity office and represented DCYF in work with the governor's office.

McCoy told Axios the conversation was "completely taken out of context" and "reduced to one word to fuel these harmful implications."

• "At no point were my words or actions rooted in racism," McCoy wrote in an email to Axios.

Colemon said another employee who worked at DCYF for nearly 30 years — also a Black woman — was demoted this summer, leaving Colemon as the only Black woman at the agency's roughly 20-person leadership table.

Senn told Axios she couldn't comment on specific personnel matters, but said all the personnel decisions she has made "have been based on the agency's operational needs."

Five people who have worked with Senn at DCYF also described what they viewed as a pattern of differential treatment by Senn. All described more than one type of conduct.

• Four described Senn declining to hire or promote people of color.

• Four described Senn as micromanaging women of color.
• Three said they'd seen Senn discount the opinions of women of color.
• Four described Senn removing women of color from their jobs abruptly but giving more transition time to male employees, most or all of whom were white.

In her resignation letter, Colemon also accuses Senn of microaggressions against Black women. One example involved the agency's Inclusive Language Glossary, which listed "brown bag" as a problematic term since before Colemon was hired.

• According to Coleman's letter, Senn questioned why the term could be offensive, saying "people still use brown paper bags to carry their lunch" and telling Colemon to "look over the Inclusive Language Glossary again."
• The "brown bag test" excluded Black people from certain spaces or social events if their skin was darker than a brown paper bag, according to the Jim Crow Museum.
• "I just thought, 'she clearly wants me to take this out,'" Colemon told Axios.

At least one race-related comment from Senn predated Colemon's time at the agency.

• In August 2025, Senn sent an email apologizing to senior staff for saying, "I love white women," during a meeting that discussed the lack of racial diversity among department leaders, according to a copy of her email reviewed by Axios.
• Senn made the comment while noting two white women were finalists for an open leadership post.
• "That comment was meant to show I don't have anything 'against' white women but it fell flat," Senn wrote.
• "I acknowledge the discomfort it may have caused you and I am deeply apologetic," Senn told her staff at the time.

Senn told Axios this week that her apology reflects her willingness to improve and grow.

• "I've got a growth mindset and I apologized," she said in an interview. "I recognized that wasn't the right way to say that. That's what we want people to do."