S-5600.1
SENATE BILL 6318
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By Senators Fortunato, Padden, and Holy
1 AN ACT Relating to reporting child sexual abuse; amending RCW
2 26.44.020, 26.44.030, 28A.310.280, and 28A.300.040; and creating a
3 new section.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
5 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The Washington state legislature finds
6 that because children are one of our state's most valuable resources
7 and our future, it is of utmost importance to provide for their
8 physical and emotional safety, especially in places of vulnerability,
9 such as in schools and religious institutions. In recent years,
10 allegations of sexual abuse have soared, specifically against trusted
11 adults, including teachers and clergy. The Catholic church has taken
12 these allegations very seriously and instituted robust training,
13 reporting, and background checks for all volunteers and employees in
14 addition to rigorous psychological screening processes before
15 interacting with vulnerable populations. The Catholic church is the
16 only major institution to have undertaken a public study of problems
17 concerning abuse and the legislature further finds that there is a
18 need for more data collection regarding sexual abuse of children in
19 our state, especially in our public schools. In its 2018 report, the
20 Washington schools risk management pool reported that the pool and
21 similar pools were experiencing unprecedented numbers of sexual abuse
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 1 claims, but there is very little specific data. The legislature
2 intends to improve data collection by public institutions overseeing
3 our school-age children including educational service districts and
4 the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
5 The legislature intends that clergy be treated the same as other
6 mandatory reporters while acknowledging that religious practices and
7 religious freedoms are protected by the Constitution of the United
8 States. The legislature intends to respect church practices and
9 sacred sacraments, including the sacrament of penance and
10 reconciliation.
11 Finally, the protection of children merits encouraging
12 significantly better training, monitoring, and screening of public
13 school employees and volunteers, including administrators, educators,
14 and other employees and volunteers, in this state, similar to the
15 processes implemented by the Catholic church.
16 Sec. 2. RCW 26.44.020 and 2023 c 122 s 5 are each amended to
17 read as follows:
18 The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
19 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
20 (1) "Abuse or neglect" means sexual abuse, sexual exploitation,
21 female genital mutilation as defined in RCW 18.130.460, or injury of
22 a child by any person under circumstances which cause harm to the
23 child's health, welfare, or safety, excluding conduct permitted under
24 RCW 9A.16.100; or the negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child
25 by a person responsible for or providing care to the child. An abused
26 child is a child who has been subjected to child abuse or neglect as
27 defined in this section.
28 (2) "Child" or "children" means any person under the age of
29 eighteen years of age.
30 (3) "Child forensic interview" means a developmentally sensitive
31 and legally sound method of gathering factual information regarding
32 allegations of child abuse, child neglect, or exposure to violence.
33 This interview is conducted by a competently trained, neutral
34 professional utilizing techniques informed by research and best
35 practice as part of a larger investigative process.
36 (4) "Child protective services" means those services provided by
37 the department designed to protect children from child abuse and
38 neglect and safeguard such children from future abuse and neglect,
39 and conduct investigations of child abuse and neglect reports.
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 1 Investigations may be conducted regardless of the location of the
2 alleged abuse or neglect. Child protective services includes referral
3 to services to ameliorate conditions that endanger the welfare of
4 children, the coordination of necessary programs and services
5 relevant to the prevention, intervention, and treatment of child
6 abuse and neglect, and services to children to ensure that each child
7 has a permanent home. In determining whether protective services
8 should be provided, the department shall not decline to provide such
9 services solely because of the child's unwillingness or developmental
10 inability to describe the nature and severity of the abuse or
11 neglect.
12 (5) "Child protective services section" means the child
13 protective services section of the department.
14 (6) "Child who is a candidate for foster care" means a child who
15 the department identifies as being at imminent risk of entering
16 foster care but who can remain safely in the child's home or in a
17 kinship placement as long as services or programs that are necessary
18 to prevent entry of the child into foster care are provided, and
19 includes but is not limited to a child whose adoption or guardianship
20 arrangement is at risk of a disruption or dissolution that would
21 result in a foster care placement. The term includes a child for whom
22 there is reasonable cause to believe that any of the following
23 circumstances exist:
24 (a) The child has been abandoned by the parent as defined in RCW
25 13.34.030 and the child's health, safety, and welfare is seriously
26 endangered as a result;
27 (b) The child has been abused or neglected as defined in this
28 chapter and the child's health, safety, and welfare is seriously
29 endangered as a result;
30 (c) There is no parent capable of meeting the child's needs such
31 that the child is in circumstances that constitute a serious danger
32 to the child's development;
33 (d) The child is otherwise at imminent risk of harm.
34 (7) "Children's advocacy center" means a child-focused facility
35 in good standing with the state chapter for children's advocacy
36 centers and that coordinates a multidisciplinary process for the
37 investigation, prosecution, and treatment of sexual and other types
38 of child abuse. Children's advocacy centers provide a location for
39 forensic interviews and coordinate access to services such as, but
40 not limited to, medical evaluations, advocacy, therapy, and case
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 1 review by multidisciplinary teams within the context of county
2 protocols as defined in RCW 26.44.180 and 26.44.185.
3 (8) (("Clergy" means any regularly licensed or ordained minister,
4 priest, or rabbi of any church or religious denomination, whether
5 acting in an individual capacity or as an employee or agent of any
6 public or private organization or institution.
7 (9))) "Court" means the superior court of the state of
8 Washington, juvenile department.
9 (((10))) (9) "Department" means the department of children,
10 youth, and families.
11 (((11))) (10) "Experiencing homelessness" means lacking a fixed,
12 regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including circumstances
13 such as sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing,
14 economic hardship, fleeing domestic violence, or a similar reason as
15 described in the federal McKinney-Vento homeless assistance act
16 (Title 42 U.S.C., chapter 119, subchapter I) as it existed on January
17 1, 2021.
18 (((12))) (11) "Family assessment" means a comprehensive
19 assessment of child safety, risk of subsequent child abuse or
20 neglect, and family strengths and needs that is applied to a child
21 abuse or neglect report. Family assessment does not include a
22 determination as to whether child abuse or neglect occurred, but does
23 determine the need for services to address the safety of the child
24 and the risk of subsequent maltreatment.
25 (((13))) (12) "Family assessment response" means a way of
26 responding to certain reports of child abuse or neglect made under
27 this chapter using a differential response approach to child
28 protective services. The family assessment response shall focus on
29 the safety of the child, the integrity and preservation of the
30 family, and shall assess the status of the child and the family in
31 terms of risk of abuse and neglect including the parent's or
32 guardian's or other caretaker's capacity and willingness to protect
33 the child and, if necessary, plan and arrange the provision of
34 services to reduce the risk and otherwise support the family. No one
35 is named as a perpetrator, and no investigative finding is entered in
36 the record as a result of a family assessment.
37 (((14))) (13) "Founded" means the determination following an
38 investigation by the department that, based on available information,
39 it is more likely than not that child abuse or neglect did occur.
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 1 (((15))) (14) "Inconclusive" means the determination following an
2 investigation by the department of social and health services, prior
3 to October 1, 2008, that based on available information a decision
4 cannot be made that more likely than not, child abuse or neglect did
5 or did not occur.
6 (((16))) (15) "Institution" means a private or public hospital or
7 any other facility providing medical diagnosis, treatment, or care.
8 (((17))) (16) "Law enforcement agency" means the police
9 department, the prosecuting attorney, the state patrol, the director
10 of public safety, or the office of the sheriff.
11 (((18))) (17) "Malice" or "maliciously" means an intent, wish, or
12 design to intimidate, annoy, or injure another person. Such malice
13 may be inferred from an act done in willful disregard of the rights
14 of another, or an act wrongfully done without just cause or excuse,
15 or an act or omission of duty betraying a willful disregard of social
16 duty.
17 (18) "Member of the clergy" means any regularly licensed,
18 accredited or ordained minister, deacon, priest, rabbi, imam, elder,
19 or similarly situated religious or spiritual leader of any church,
20 religious denomination, religious body, spiritual community, or sect,
21 or person performing official duties that are recognized as the
22 duties of a member of the clergy under the discipline, tenets,
23 doctrine, or custom of the person's church, religious denomination,
24 religious body, spiritual community, or sect, whether acting in an
25 individual capacity or as an employee or official agent of any public
26 or private organization or institution.
27 (19) "Negligent treatment or maltreatment" means an act or a
28 failure to act, or the cumulative effects of a pattern of conduct,
29 behavior, or inaction, that evidences a serious disregard of
30 consequences of such magnitude as to constitute a clear and present
31 danger to a child's health, welfare, or safety, including but not
32 limited to conduct prohibited under RCW 9A.42.100. When considering
33 whether a clear and present danger exists, evidence of a parent's
34 substance abuse as a contributing factor to negligent treatment or
35 maltreatment shall be given great weight. The fact that siblings
36 share a bedroom is not, in and of itself, negligent treatment or
37 maltreatment. Poverty, experiencing homelessness, or exposure to
38 domestic violence as defined in RCW 7.105.010 that is perpetrated
39 against someone other than the child does not constitute negligent
40 treatment or maltreatment in and of itself.
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 1 (20) "Pharmacist" means any registered pharmacist under chapter
2 18.64 RCW, whether acting in an individual capacity or as an employee
3 or agent of any public or private organization or institution.
4 (21) "Practitioner of the healing arts" or "practitioner" means a
5 person licensed by this state to practice podiatric medicine and
6 surgery, optometry, chiropractic, nursing, dentistry, osteopathic
7 medicine and surgery, or medicine and surgery or to provide other
8 health services. The term "practitioner" includes a duly accredited
9 Christian Science practitioner. A person who is being furnished
10 Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited Christian Science
11 practitioner will not be considered, for that reason alone, a
12 neglected person for the purposes of this chapter.
13 (22) "Prevention and family services and programs" means specific
14 mental health prevention and treatment services, substance abuse
15 prevention and treatment services, and in-home parent skill-based
16 programs that qualify for federal funding under the federal family
17 first prevention services act, P.L. 115-123. For purposes of this
18 chapter, prevention and family services and programs are not remedial
19 services or family reunification services as described in RCW
20 13.34.025(2).
21 (23) "Professional school personnel" include, but are not limited
22 to, teachers, counselors, administrators, child care facility
23 personnel, and school nurses.
24 (24) "Psychologist" means any person licensed to practice
25 psychology under chapter 18.83 RCW, whether acting in an individual
26 capacity or as an employee or agent of any public or private
27 organization or institution.
28 (25) "Screened-out report" means a report of alleged child abuse
29 or neglect that the department has determined does not rise to the
30 level of a credible report of abuse or neglect and is not referred
31 for investigation.
32 (26) "Sexual exploitation" includes: (a) Allowing, permitting, or
33 encouraging a child to engage in prostitution by any person; or (b)
34 allowing, permitting, encouraging, or engaging in the obscene or
35 pornographic photographing, filming, or depicting of a child by any
36 person.
37 (27) "Sexually aggressive youth" means a child who is defined in
38 RCW 74.13.075(1)(b) as being a sexually aggressive youth.
39 (28) "Social service counselor" means anyone engaged in a
40 professional capacity during the regular course of employment in
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 1 encouraging or promoting the health, welfare, support, or education
2 of children, or providing social services to adults or families,
3 including mental health, drug and alcohol treatment, and domestic
4 violence programs, whether in an individual capacity, or as an
5 employee or agent of any public or private organization or
6 institution.
7 (29) "Unfounded" means the determination following an
8 investigation by the department that available information indicates
9 that, more likely than not, child abuse or neglect did not occur, or
10 that there is insufficient evidence for the department to determine
11 whether the alleged child abuse did or did not occur.
12 Sec. 3. RCW 26.44.030 and 2019 c 172 s 6 are each amended to
13 read as follows:
14 (1)(a) When any practitioner, county coroner or medical examiner,
15 law enforcement officer, professional school personnel, registered or
16 licensed nurse, social service counselor, psychologist, pharmacist,
17 employee of the department of children, youth, and families, licensed
18 or certified child care providers or their employees, employee of the
19 department of social and health services, juvenile probation officer,
20 placement and liaison specialist, responsible living skills program
21 staff, HOPE center staff, state family and children's ombuds or any
22 volunteer in the ombuds's office, or host home program has reasonable
23 cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect, he or
24 she shall report such incident, or cause a report to be made, to the
25 proper law enforcement agency or to the department as provided in RCW
26 26.44.040.
27 (b) When any person, in his or her official supervisory capacity
28 with a nonprofit or for-profit organization, has reasonable cause to
29 believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect caused by a person
30 over whom he or she regularly exercises supervisory authority, he or
31 she shall report such incident, or cause a report to be made, to the
32 proper law enforcement agency, provided that the person alleged to
33 have caused the abuse or neglect is employed by, contracted by, or
34 volunteers with the organization and coaches, trains, educates, or
35 counsels a child or children or regularly has unsupervised access to
36 a child or children as part of the employment, contract, or voluntary
37 service. No one shall be required to report under this section when
38 he or she obtains the information solely as a result of a privileged
39 communication as provided in RCW 5.60.060.
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 1 Nothing in this subsection (1)(b) shall limit a person's duty to
2 report under (a) of this subsection.
3 For the purposes of this subsection, the following definitions
4 apply:
5 (i) "Official supervisory capacity" means a position, status, or
6 role created, recognized, or designated by any nonprofit or for-
7 profit organization, either for financial gain or without financial
8 gain, whose scope includes, but is not limited to, o