CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1747
Chapter 127, Laws of 2022
67th Legislature
2022 Regular Session
CHILD WELFARE PROCEEDINGS—RELATIVE PLACEMENTS
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 9, 2022
Passed by the House February 2, 2022 CERTIFICATE
Yeas 96 Nays 0
I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the
LAURIE JINKINS State of Washington, do hereby
Speaker of the House of certify that the attached is
Representatives SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1747 as
passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate on
the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the Senate March 3, 2022
Yeas 46 Nays 0
BERNARD DEAN
DENNY HECK Chief Clerk
President of the Senate
Approved March 24, 2022 8:46 AM FILED
March 24, 2022
Secretary of State
JAY INSLEE State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
 SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1747
Passed Legislature - 2022 Regular Session
State of Washington 67th Legislature 2022 Regular Session
By House Children, Youth & Families (originally sponsored by
Representatives Ortiz-Self, Taylor, Davis, Peterson, Ryu, Orwall,
Dolan, Simmons, Ramos, Wicks, Valdez, Fitzgibbon, Morgan, Stonier,
Goodman, Ormsby, Macri, Harris-Talley, and Frame)
READ FIRST TIME 01/31/22.
1 AN ACT Relating to supporting relative placements in child
2 welfare proceedings; and amending RCW 13.34.145, 13.34.180,
3 13.34.210, and 74.13.062.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
5 Sec. 1. RCW 13.34.145 and 2020 c 312 s 118 are each amended to
6 read as follows:
7 (1) The purpose of a permanency planning hearing is to review the
8 permanency plan for the child, inquire into the welfare of the child
9 and progress of the case, and reach decisions regarding the permanent
10 placement of the child.
11 (a) A permanency planning hearing shall be held in all cases
12 where the child has remained in out-of-home care for at least nine
13 months and an adoption decree, guardianship order, or permanent
14 custody order has not previously been entered. The hearing shall take
15 place no later than ((twelve)) 12 months following commencement of
16 the current placement episode.
17 (b) Whenever a child is removed from the home of a dependency
18 guardian or long-term relative or foster care provider, and the child
19 is not returned to the home of the parent, guardian, or legal
20 custodian but is placed in out-of-home care, a permanency planning
21 hearing shall take place no later than ((twelve)) 12 months, as
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 1 provided in this section, following the date of removal unless, prior
2 to the hearing, the child returns to the home of the dependency
3 guardian or long-term care provider, the child is placed in the home
4 of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian, an adoption decree,
5 guardianship order, or a permanent custody order is entered, or the
6 dependency is dismissed. Every effort shall be made to provide
7 stability in long-term placement, and to avoid disruption of
8 placement, unless the child is being returned home or it is in the
9 best interest of the child.
10 (c) Permanency planning goals should be achieved at the earliest
11 possible date, preferably before the child has been in out-of-home
12 care for ((fifteen)) 15 months. In cases where parental rights have
13 been terminated, the child is legally free for adoption, and adoption
14 has been identified as the primary permanency planning goal, it shall
15 be a goal to complete the adoption within six months following entry
16 of the termination order.
17 (2) No later than ((ten)) 10 working days prior to the permanency
18 planning hearing, the agency having custody of the child shall submit
19 a written permanency plan to the court and shall mail a copy of the
20 plan to all parties and their legal counsel, if any.
21 (3) When the youth is at least age ((seventeen)) 17 years but not
22 older than ((seventeen)) 17 years and six months, the department
23 shall provide the youth with written documentation which explains the
24 availability of extended foster care services and detailed
25 instructions regarding how the youth may access such services after
26 he or she reaches age ((eighteen)) 18 years.
27 (4) At the permanency planning hearing, the court shall conduct
28 the following inquiry:
29 (a) If a goal of long-term foster or relative care has been
30 achieved prior to the permanency planning hearing, the court shall
31 review the child's status to determine whether the placement and the
32 plan for the child's care remain appropriate. The court shall find,
33 as of the date of the hearing, that the child's placement and plan of
34 care is the best permanency plan for the child and provide compelling
35 reasons why it continues to not be in the child's best interest to
36 (i) return home; (ii) be placed for adoption; (iii) be placed with a
37 legal guardian; or (iv) be placed with a fit and willing relative. If
38 the child is present at the hearing, the court should ask the child
39 about his or her desired permanency outcome.
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 1 (b) In cases where the primary permanency planning goal has not
2 been achieved, the court shall inquire regarding the reasons why the
3 primary goal has not been achieved and determine what needs to be
4 done to make it possible to achieve the primary goal. The court shall
5 review the permanency plan prepared by the agency and make explicit
6 findings regarding each of the following:
7 (i) The continuing necessity for, and the safety and
8 appropriateness of, the placement;
9 (ii) The extent of compliance with the permanency plan by the
10 department and any other service providers, the child's parents, the
11 child, and the child's guardian, if any;
12 (iii) The extent of any efforts to involve appropriate service
13 providers in addition to department staff in planning to meet the
14 special needs of the child and the child's parents;
15 (iv) The progress toward eliminating the causes for the child's
16 placement outside of his or her home and toward returning the child
17 safely to his or her home or obtaining a permanent placement for the
18 child;
19 (v) The date by which it is likely that the child will be
20 returned to his or her home or placed for adoption, with a guardian
21 or in some other alternative permanent placement; and
22 (vi) If the child has been placed outside of his or her home for
23 ((fifteen)) 15 of the most recent ((twenty-two)) 22 months, not
24 including any period during which the child was a runaway from the
25 out-of-home placement or the first six months of any period during
26 which the child was returned to his or her home for a trial home
27 visit, the appropriateness of the permanency plan, whether reasonable
28 efforts were made by the department to achieve the goal of the
29 permanency plan, and the circumstances which prevent the child from
30 any of the following:
31 (A) Being returned safely to his or her home;
32 (B) Having a petition for the involuntary termination of parental
33 rights filed on behalf of the child;
34 (C) Being placed for adoption;
35 (D) Being placed with a guardian;
36 (E) Being placed in the home of a fit and willing relative of the
37 child; or
38 (F) Being placed in some other alternative permanent placement,
39 including independent living or long-term foster care.
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 1 (c) Regardless of whether the primary permanency planning goal
2 has been achieved, for a child who remains placed in a qualified
3 residential treatment program as defined in this chapter for at least
4 ((sixty)) 60 days, and remains placed there at subsequent permanency
5 planning hearings, the court shall establish in writing:
6 (i) Whether ongoing assessment of the child's strengths and needs
7 continues to support the determination that the child's needs cannot
8 be met through placement in a foster family home;
9 (ii) Whether the child's placement provides the most effective
10 and appropriate level of care in the least restrictive environment;
11 (iii) Whether the placement is consistent with the child's short
12 and long-term goals as stated in the child's permanency plan;
13 (iv) What specific treatment or service needs will be met in the
14 placement, and how long the child is expected to need the treatment
15 or services; and
16 (v) What efforts the department has made to prepare the child to
17 return home or be placed with a fit and willing relative as defined
18 in RCW 13.34.030, a Title 13 RCW guardian, a guardian pursuant to RCW
19 11.130.215, an adoptive parent, or in a foster family home.
20 (5) Following this inquiry, at the permanency planning hearing,
21 the court shall order the department to file a petition seeking
22 termination of parental rights if the child has been in out-of-home
23 care for ((fifteen)) 15 of the last ((twenty-two)) 22 months since
24 the date the dependency petition was filed unless the court makes a
25 good cause exception as to why the filing of a termination of
26 parental rights petition is not appropriate. Any good cause finding
27 shall be reviewed at all subsequent hearings pertaining to the child.
28 (a) For purposes of this subsection, "good cause exception"
29 includes but is not limited to the following:
30 (i) The child is being cared for by a relative;
31 (ii) The department has not provided to the child's family such
32 services as the court and the department have deemed necessary for
33 the child's safe return home;
34 (iii) The department has documented in the case plan a compelling
35 reason for determining that filing a petition to terminate parental
36 rights would not be in the child's best interests;
37 (iv) The parent is incarcerated, or the parent's prior
38 incarceration is a significant factor in why the child has been in
39 foster care for ((fifteen)) 15 of the last ((twenty-two)) 22 months,
40 the parent maintains a meaningful role in the child's life, and the
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 1 department has not documented another reason why it would be
2 otherwise appropriate to file a petition pursuant to this section;
3 (v) Where a parent has been accepted into a dependency treatment
4 court program or long-term substance abuse or dual diagnoses
5 treatment program and is demonstrating compliance with treatment
6 goals; ((or))
7 (vi) Where a parent who has been court ordered to complete
8 services necessary for the child's safe return home files a
9 declaration under penalty of perjury stating the parent's financial
10 inability to pay for the same court-ordered services, and also
11 declares the department was unwilling or unable to pay for the same
12 services necessary for the child's safe return home; or
13 (vii) The department has not yet met with the caregiver for the
14 child to discuss guardianship as an alternative to adoption or the
15 court has determined that guardianship is an appropriate permanent
16 plan.
17 (b) The court's assessment of whether a parent who is
18 incarcerated maintains a meaningful role in the child's life may
19 include consideration of the following:
20 (i) The parent's expressions or acts of manifesting concern for
21 the child, such as letters, telephone calls, visits, and other forms
22 of communication with the child;
23 (ii) The parent's efforts to communicate and work with the
24 department or other individuals for the purpose of complying with the
25 service plan and repairing, maintaining, or building the parent-child
26 relationship;
27 (iii) A positive response by the parent to the reasonable efforts
28 of the department;
29 (iv) Information provided by individuals or agencies in a
30 reasonable position to assist the court in making this assessment,
31 including but not limited to the parent's attorney, correctional and
32 mental health personnel, or other individuals providing services to
33 the parent;
34 (v) Limitations in the parent's access to family support
35 programs, therapeutic services, and visiting opportunities,
36 restrictions to telephone and mail services, inability to participate
37 in foster care planning meetings, and difficulty accessing lawyers
38 and participating meaningfully in court proceedings; and
39 (vi) Whether the continued involvement of the parent in the
40 child's life is in the child's best interest.
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 1 (c) The constraints of a parent's current or prior incarceration
2 and associated delays or barriers to accessing court-mandated
3 services may be considered in rebuttal to a claim of aggravated
4 circumstances under RCW 13.34.132(4)(h) for a parent's failure to
5 complete available treatment.
6 (6)(a) If the permanency plan identifies independent living as a
7 goal, the court at the permanency planning hearing shall make a
8 finding that the provision of services to assist the child in making
9 a transition from foster care to independent living will allow the
10 child to manage his or her financial, personal, social, educational,
11 and nonfinancial affairs prior to approving independent living as a
12 permanency plan of care. The court will inquire whether the child has
13 been provided information about extended foster care services.
14 (b) The permanency plan shall also specifically identify the
15 services, including extended foster care services, where appropriate,
16 that will be provided to assist the child to make a successful
17 transition from foster care to independent living.
18 (c) The department shall not discharge a child to an independent
19 living situation before the child is eighteen years of age unless the
20 child becomes emancipated pursuant to chapter 13.64 RCW.
21 (7) If the child has resided in the home of a foster parent or
22 relative for more than six months prior to the permanency planning
23 hearing, the court shall:
24 (a) Enter a finding regarding whether the foster parent or
25 relative was informed of the hearing as required in RCW 74.13.280,
26 13.34.215(6), and 13.34.096; and
27 (b) ((If the department is recommending a placement other than
28 the child's current placement with a foster parent, relative, or
29 other suitable person, enter a finding as to the reasons for the
30 recommendation for a change in placement.)) Instruct the department
31 to discuss guardianship as a permanent option for the child with the
32 child's parents and caregiver as an alternative to termination of
33 parental rights and adoption. No child who is placed with a relative
34 or other suitable person may be moved, unless, pursuant to the
35 criteria established in RCW 13.34.130, the court finds that a change
36 in circumstances necessitates a change in placement.
37 (8) In all cases, at the permanency planning hearing, the court
38 shall:
39 (a)(i) Order the permanency plan prepared by the department to be
40 implemented; or
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 1 (ii) Modify the permanency plan, and order implementation of the
2 modified plan; and
3 (b)(i) Order the child returned home only if the court finds that
4 a reason for removal as set forth in RCW 13.34.130 no longer exists;
5 or
6 (ii) Order the child to remain in out-of-home care for a limited
7 specified time period while efforts are made to implement the
8 permanency plan.
9 (9) Following the first permanency planning hearing, the court
10 shall hold a further permanency planning hearing in accordance with
11 this section at least once every ((twelve)) 12 months until a
12 permanency planning goal is achieved or the dependency is dismissed,
13 whichever occurs first.
14 (10) Prior to the second permanency planning hearing, the agency
15 that has custody of the child shall consider whether to file a
16 petition for termination of parental rights.
17 (11) If the court orders the child returned home, casework
18 supervision by the department shall continue for at least six months,
19 at which time a review hearing shall be held pursuant to RCW
20 13.34.138, and the court shall determine the need for continued
21 intervention.
22 (12) The juvenile court may hear a petition for permanent legal
23 custody when: (a) The court has ordered implementation of a
24 permanency plan that includes permanent legal custody; and (b) the
25 party pursuing the permanent legal custody is the party identified in
26 the permanency plan as the prospective legal custodian. During the