OLYMPIA, Wash. — Residents gathered on the Capitol steps this week to voice their frustrations with the “Keeping Families Together Act,” arguing that it harms children’s welfare.
The act, passed in 2021, aimed to reduce the number of children in foster care and address racial and economic injustices within the child welfare system. Current data from the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families indicates a significant decrease in children entering foster care as they are placed with relatives instead. Critics argue this is problematic.
Washington representatives opposing the bill claim it has led to children being placed with unsuitable family members, resulting in more neglect and child deaths.
Representative Travis Couture has introduced a new house bill to amend the act. This amendment would consider hard drugs like fentanyl as sufficient grounds for child removal, challenging the current law’s requirement to prove “imminent physical harm.”
Sponsors of the “Keeping Families Together Act” have not yet commented on these developments.
