H-3176.1
SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2447
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives
Senn, Callan, Ramel, and Pollet)
READ FIRST TIME 02/05/24.
1 AN ACT Relating to supporting children, families, and child
2 welfare workers by improving services and clarifying the child
3 welfare process in circumstances involving high-potency synthetic
4 opioids; amending RCW 13.34.050, 13.34.130, 26.44.050, 26.44.056, and
5 2.56.230; reenacting and amending RCW 13.34.030 and 13.34.065; adding
6 new sections to chapter 43.216 RCW; adding a new section to chapter
7 74.14B RCW; adding new sections to chapter 41.05 RCW; adding new
8 sections to chapter 74.13 RCW; creating new sections; and providing
9 expiration dates.
10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
11 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that since 2018
12 there has been a significant increase in the number of child
13 fatalities and near fatalities involving fentanyl.
14 (2) The legislature finds that fentanyl and other highly potent
15 synthetic opioids pose a unique and growing threat to the safety of
16 children in Washington state. Fentanyl is a high-potency synthetic
17 opioid and, according to the centers for disease control and
18 prevention, is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more
19 potent than morphine. Even in very small quantities high-potency
20 synthetic opioids may be lethal to a child.
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 1 (3) The legislature intends to provide clarity to judges, social
2 workers, advocates, and families about the safety threat that highly
3 potent synthetic opioids pose to vulnerable children. The legislature
4 declares that public health guidance regarding the lethality of
5 highly potent synthetic opioids should be given great weight in
6 determining whether a child is at risk of imminent physical harm as a
7 result of abuse or neglect.
8 (4) The legislature recognizes the challenges for recovery and
9 rehabilitation regarding opioid use and resolves to increase services
10 and supports. The legislature further resolves to increase training
11 and resources for state and judicial employees to accomplish their
12 mission and goals in a safe and effective manner.
13 (5) The legislature recognizes that supporting families in crisis
14 with interventions and services, including preventative services,
15 voluntary services, and family assessment response, minimizes child
16 trauma from further child welfare involvement and strengthens
17 families.
18 PART I
19 HIGH-POTENCY SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS AND CHILD WELFARE
20 Sec. 101. RCW 13.34.030 and 2021 c 304 s 1 and 2021 c 67 s 2 are
21 each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
22 The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
23 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
24 (1) "Abandoned" means when the child's parent, guardian, or other
25 custodian has expressed, either by statement or conduct, an intent to
26 forego, for an extended period, parental rights or responsibilities
27 despite an ability to exercise such rights and responsibilities. If
28 the court finds that the petitioner has exercised due diligence in
29 attempting to locate the parent, no contact between the child and the
30 child's parent, guardian, or other custodian for a period of three
31 months creates a rebuttable presumption of abandonment, even if there
32 is no expressed intent to abandon.
33 (2) "Child," "juvenile," and "youth" mean:
34 (a) Any individual under the age of eighteen years; or
35 (b) Any individual age eighteen to twenty-one years who is
36 eligible to receive and who elects to receive the extended foster
37 care services authorized under RCW 74.13.031. A youth who remains
38 dependent and who receives extended foster care services under RCW
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 1 74.13.031 shall not be considered a "child" under any other statute
2 or for any other purpose.
3 (3) "Current placement episode" means the period of time that
4 begins with the most recent date that the child was removed from the
5 home of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian for purposes of
6 placement in out-of-home care and continues until: (a) The child
7 returns home; (b) an adoption decree, a permanent custody order, or
8 guardianship order is entered; or (c) the dependency is dismissed,
9 whichever occurs first.
10 (4) "Department" means the department of children, youth, and
11 families.
12 (5) "Dependency guardian" means the person, nonprofit
13 corporation, or Indian tribe appointed by the court pursuant to this
14 chapter for the limited purpose of assisting the court in the
15 supervision of the dependency.
16 (6) "Dependent child" means any child who:
17 (a) Has been abandoned;
18 (b) Is abused or neglected as defined in chapter 26.44 RCW by a
19 person legally responsible for the care of the child;
20 (c) Has no parent, guardian, or custodian capable of adequately
21 caring for the child, such that the child is in circumstances which
22 constitute a danger of substantial damage to the child's
23 psychological or physical development; or
24 (d) Is receiving extended foster care services, as authorized by
25 RCW 74.13.031.
26 (7) "Developmental disability" means a disability attributable to
27 intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, or another
28 neurological or other condition of an individual found by the
29 secretary of the department of social and health services to be
30 closely related to an intellectual disability or to require treatment
31 similar to that required for individuals with intellectual
32 disabilities, which disability originates before the individual
33 attains age eighteen, which has continued or can be expected to
34 continue indefinitely, and which constitutes a substantial limitation
35 to the individual.
36 (8) "Educational liaison" means a person who has been appointed
37 by the court to fulfill responsibilities outlined in RCW 13.34.046.
38 (9) "Experiencing homelessness" means lacking a fixed, regular,
39 and adequate nighttime residence, including circumstances such as
40 sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic
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 1 hardship, fleeing domestic violence, or a similar reason as described
2 in the federal McKinney-Vento homeless assistance act (Title 42
3 U.S.C., chapter 119, subchapter I) as it existed on January 1, 2021.
4 (10) "Extended foster care services" means residential and other
5 support services the department is authorized to provide under RCW
6 74.13.031. These services may include placement in licensed,
7 relative, or otherwise approved care, or supervised independent
8 living settings; assistance in meeting basic needs; independent
9 living services; medical assistance; and counseling or treatment.
10 (11) "Guardian" means the person or agency that: (a) Has been
11 appointed as the guardian of a child in a legal proceeding, including
12 a guardian appointed pursuant to chapter 13.36 RCW; and (b) has the
13 legal right to custody of the child pursuant to such appointment. The
14 term "guardian" does not include a "dependency guardian" appointed
15 pursuant to a proceeding under this chapter.
16 (12) "Guardian ad litem" means a person, appointed by the court
17 to represent the best interests of a child in a proceeding under this
18 chapter, or in any matter which may be consolidated with a proceeding
19 under this chapter. A "court-appointed special advocate" appointed by
20 the court to be the guardian ad litem for the child, or to perform
21 substantially the same duties and functions as a guardian ad litem,
22 shall be deemed to be guardian ad litem for all purposes and uses of
23 this chapter.
24 (13) "Guardian ad litem program" means a court-authorized
25 volunteer program, which is or may be established by the superior
26 court of the county in which such proceeding is filed, to manage all
27 aspects of volunteer guardian ad litem representation for children
28 alleged or found to be dependent. Such management shall include but
29 is not limited to: Recruitment, screening, training, supervision,
30 assignment, and discharge of volunteers.
31 (14) "Guardianship" means a guardianship pursuant to chapter
32 13.36 RCW or a limited guardianship of a minor pursuant to RCW
33 11.130.215 or equivalent laws of another state or a federally
34 recognized Indian tribe.
35 (15) "High-potency synthetic opioid" means an unprescribed
36 synthetic opioid classified as a schedule II controlled substance or
37 controlled substance analog in chapter 69.50 RCW or by the pharmacy
38 quality assurance commission in rule including, but not limited to,
39 fentanyl.
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 1 (16) "Housing assistance" means appropriate referrals by the
2 department or other agencies to federal, state, local, or private
3 agencies or organizations, assistance with forms, applications, or
4 financial subsidies or other monetary assistance for housing. For
5 purposes of this chapter, "housing assistance" is not a remedial
6 service or family reunification service as described in RCW
7 13.34.025(2).
8 (((16))) (17) "Indigent" means a person who, at any stage of a
9 court proceeding, is:
10 (a) Receiving one of the following types of public assistance:
11 Temporary assistance for needy families, aged, blind, or disabled
12 assistance benefits, medical care services under RCW 74.09.035,
13 pregnant women assistance benefits, poverty-related veterans'
14 benefits, food stamps or food stamp benefits transferred
15 electronically, refugee resettlement benefits, medicaid, or
16 supplemental security income; or
17 (b) Involuntarily committed to a public mental health facility;
18 or
19 (c) Receiving an annual income, after taxes, of one hundred
20 twenty-five percent or less of the federally established poverty
21 level; or
22 (d) Unable to pay the anticipated cost of counsel for the matter
23 before the court because his or her available funds are insufficient
24 to pay any amount for the retention of counsel.
25 (((17))) (18) "Nonminor dependent" means any individual age
26 eighteen to twenty-one years who is participating in extended foster
27 care services authorized under RCW 74.13.031.
28 (((18))) (19) "Out-of-home care" means placement in a foster
29 family home or group care facility licensed pursuant to chapter 74.15
30 RCW or placement in a home, other than that of the child's parent,
31 guardian, or legal custodian, not required to be licensed pursuant to
32 chapter 74.15 RCW.
33 (((19))) (20) "Parent" means the biological or adoptive parents
34 of a child, or an individual who has established a parent-child
35 relationship under RCW 26.26A.100, unless the legal rights of that
36 person have been terminated by a judicial proceeding pursuant to this
37 chapter, chapter 26.33 RCW, or the equivalent laws of another state
38 or a federally recognized Indian tribe.
39 (((20))) (21) "Prevention and family services and programs" means
40 specific mental health prevention and treatment services, substance
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 1 abuse prevention and treatment services, and in-home parent skill-
2 based programs that qualify for federal funding under the federal
3 family first prevention services act, P.L. 115-123. For purposes of
4 this chapter, prevention and family services and programs are not
5 remedial services or family reunification services as described in
6 RCW 13.34.025(2).
7 (((21))) (22) "Prevention services" means preservation services,
8 as defined in chapter 74.14C RCW, and other reasonably available
9 services, including housing assistance, capable of preventing the
10 need for out-of-home placement while protecting the child. Prevention
11 services include, but are not limited to, prevention and family
12 services and programs as defined in this section.
13 (((22))) (23) "Qualified residential treatment program" means a
14 program that meets the requirements provided in RCW 13.34.420,
15 qualifies for funding under the family first prevention services act
16 under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 672(k), and, if located within Washington state,
17 is licensed as a group care facility under chapter 74.15 RCW.
18 (((23))) (24) "Relative" includes persons related to a child in
19 the following ways:
20 (a) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and
21 including first cousins, second cousins, nephews or nieces, and
22 persons of preceding generations as denoted by prefixes of grand,
23 great, or great-great;
24 (b) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;
25 (c) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as
26 well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such
27 persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance
28 with state law;
29 (d) Spouses of any persons named in (a), (b), or (c) of this
30 subsection, even after the marriage is terminated;
31 (e) Relatives, as named in (a), (b), (c), or (d) of this
32 subsection, of any half sibling of the child; or
33 (f) Extended family members, as defined by the law or custom of
34 the Indian child's tribe or, in the absence of such law or custom, a
35 person who has reached the age of eighteen and who is the Indian
36 child's grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, brother-in-law
37 or sister-in-law, niece or nephew, first or second cousin, or
38 stepparent who provides care in the family abode on a twenty-four
39 hour basis to an Indian child as defined in 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1903(4).
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 1 (((24))) (25) "Shelter care" means temporary physical care in a
2 facility licensed pursuant to RCW 74.15.030 or in a home not required
3 to be licensed pursuant to RCW 74.15.030.
4 (((25))) (26) "Sibling" means a child's birth brother, birth
5 sister, adoptive brother, adoptive sister, half-brother, or half-
6 sister, or as defined by the law or custom of the Indian child's
7 tribe for an Indian child as defined in RCW 13.38.040.
8 (((26))) (27) "Social study" means a written evaluation of
9 matters relevant to the disposition of the case that contains the
10 information required by RCW 13.34.430.
11 (((27))) (28) "Supervised independent living" includes, but is
12 not limited to, apartment living, room and board arrangements,
13 college or university dormitories, and shared roommate settings.
14 Supervised independent living settings must be approved by the
15 department or the court.
16 (((28))) (29) "Voluntary placement agreement" means, for the
17 purposes of extended foster care services, a written voluntary
18 agreement between a nonminor dependent who agrees to submit to the
19 care and authority of the department for the purposes of
20 participating in the extended foster care program.
21 Sec. 102. RCW 13.34.050 and 2021 c 211 s 6 are each amended to
22 read as follows:
23 (1) The court may enter an order directing a law enforcement
24 officer, probation counselor, or child protective services official
25 to take a child into custody if: (a) A petition is filed with the
26 juvenile court with sufficient corroborating evidence to establish
27 that the child is dependent; (b) ((the allegations contained in the
28 petition, if true, establish that there are reasonable grounds to
29 believe that removal is necessary to prevent imminent physical harm
30 to the child due to child abuse or neglect, including that which
31 results from sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or a pattern of
32 severe neglect; and (c))) an affidavit or declaration is filed by the
33 department in support of the petition setting forth specific factual
34 information evidencing insufficient time to serve a parent with a
35 dependency petition and hold a hearing prior to removal; and (c) the
36 allegations contained in the petition, if true, establish that there
37 are reasonable grounds to believe that removal is necessary to
38 prevent imminent physical harm to the child due to child abuse or
39 neglect, including that which results from sexual abuse, sexual
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 1 exploitation, a pattern of severe neglect, or a high-potency
2 synthetic opioid. The court shall give great weight to the lethality
3 of high-potency synthetic opioids and public health guidance related
4 to high-potency synthetic opioids.
5 (2) Any petition that does not have the necessary affidavit or
6 declaration demonstrating a risk of imminent harm requires that the
7 parents are provided notice and an opportunity to be heard before the
8 order may be entered.
9 (3) The petition and supporting documentation must be served on
10 the parent, and if the child is in custody at the time the child is
11 removed, on the entity with custody other than the parent. If the
12 court orders that a child be taken into custody under subsection (1)
13 of this section, the petition and supporting documentation must be