Fewer at risk children in out-of-home care but critics say its nothing to applaud

(The Center Square) - Washington’s Department of Children, Youth and Families says the agency is meeting its goals to dramatically reduce the number of children and youth in out-of-home care.

A news release from DCYF said there are now 4,971 children in out-of-home care in Washington State, the lowest number since the 80s and a sharp contrast from the 9,171 it was in 2018.

But DCYF critics say the numbers don’t tell the whole story and don’t reflect ongoing harm to children in the system.

Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, tells The Center Square the push to keep families together, even in cases where biological parents have drug problems, is putting children at risk every day.

“What we’ve seen over the last couple of years is an unacceptable increase in child deaths and near fatalities, including three babies that overdosed on fentanyl in Everett,” said Couture.

“What we need to have is a goal of trying to reduce the number of out of home placements, but not doing it irresponsibly and making sure we’re protecting kids,” he said.

Couture offered a bill during the 2024 legislative session that hoped to protect children living in dangerous situations due to drug addicted parents.

“I tried to prevent kids from needlessly dying in homes where there’s hard core drug abuse,” said Couture whose bill did not get a hearing. “My bill would have covered fentanyl and synthetic opioids like tranq and meth and heroin and crack."

Democrats instead introduced and passed a bill that is specific to fentanyl use in determining if a child is temporarily removed from the home.

“What I’ve heard from DCYF social workers in the last month is that now with the watered-down bill that only included fentanyl to remove kids, everything we warned would happen, is now happening in real time," said Couture who says deaths and injury to children have not gone down and social services often return kids back to the same homes days after removing them.

“Social workers at DCYF have no confidence in DCYF,” said Couture. “They aren’t the problem, it’s DCYF leadership, because the social workers love these kids.”

DCYF spokesperson Nancy Gutierrez responded to a request for comment with the following email:

“The decline in the number of children and youth in out-of-home placement is a long-term trend that predates the implementation of HB 1227 (Keeping Families Together Act). Removals are one factor, but there are others. The total number of children placed out of home is also influenced by children being reunified with their parents, aging out of foster care, or leaving for adoption or guardianship. The department is also doing more to support children and youth toward permanency with relatives whenever possible,” read the email.

DCYF says the agency saw a 35.6% decrease in the number of children in out-of-home care from 2018-2023.

“Since the implementation of HB 1227 the number of entries into care has decreased by nearly 15% compared to the same period last year. Fewer entries were also influenced by the implementation of Plan of Safe Care, which changed how hospitals refer cases when a baby is born exposed to substances. So, HB 1227 has had an impact, but it is not the only thing impacting the total number of children and youth in care,” said the DCYF email.

Couture said he will try again in the 2025 legislative session to find support for a bill that includes broader definitions for cases to remove children when biological parents are dealing with drug addiction.

“Those kids deserve a second chance at life. They don’t deserve to be living in the hell of a home where there is hard drug abuse and neglect,” said Couture.