Child welfare workers

AN ACT Relating to increasing protections for child welfare 1
workers; amending RCW 9A.36.031 and 74.14B.010; reenacting and 2
amending RCW 74.14B.005; and adding a new section to chapter 74.14B 3
RCW. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 9A.36.031 and 2024 c 220 s 1 are each amended to 6
read as follows: 7
(1) A person is guilty of assault in the third degree if he or 8
she, under circumstances not amounting to assault in the first or 9
second degree: 10
(a) With intent to prevent or resist the execution of any lawful 11
process or mandate of any court officer or the lawful apprehension or 12
detention of himself, herself, or another person, assaults another; 13
or 14
(b) Assaults a person employed as a transit operator or driver, 15
the immediate supervisor of a transit operator or driver, a mechanic, 16
or a security officer, by a public or private transit company or a 17
contracted transit service provider, while that person is performing 18
his or her official duties at the time of the assault; or19
(c) Assaults a school bus driver, the immediate supervisor of a 20
driver, a mechanic, or a security officer, employed by a school 21
H-0094.1
HOUSE BILL 1193
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Couture, Eslick, and Caldier
Prefiled 01/08/25. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Community Safety.
p. 1 HB 1193
district transportation service or a private company under contract 1
for transportation services with a school district, while the person 2
is performing his or her official duties at the time of the assault; 3
or 4
(d) With criminal negligence, causes bodily harm to another 5
person by means of a weapon or other instrument or thing likely to 6
produce bodily harm; or 7
(e) Assaults a firefighter or other employee of a fire 8
department, county fire marshal's office, county fire prevention 9
bureau, or fire protection district who was performing his or her 10
official duties at the time of the assault; or 11
(f) With criminal negligence, causes bodily harm accompanied by 12
substantial pain that extends for a period sufficient to cause 13
considerable suffering; or 14
(g) Assaults a law enforcement officer or other employee of a law 15
enforcement agency who was performing his or her official duties at 16
the time of the assault; or 17
(h) Assaults a peace officer with a projectile stun gun; or18
(i) Assaults a nurse, physician, or health care provider who was 19
performing his or her nursing or health care duties at the time of 20
the assault. For purposes of this subsection: "Nurse" means a person 21
licensed under chapter 18.79 RCW; "physician" means a person licensed 22
under chapter 18.57 or 18.71 RCW; and "health care provider" means a 23
person certified under chapter 18.71 or 18.73 RCW who performs 24
emergency medical services or a person regulated under Title 18 RCW 25
and employed by, or contracting with, a hospital licensed under 26
chapter 70.41 RCW; or 27
(j) Assaults a judicial officer, court-related employee, county 28
clerk, or county clerk's employee, while that person is performing 29
his or her official duties at the time of the assault or as a result 30
of that person's employment within the judicial system. For purposes 31
of this subsection, "court-related employee" includes bailiffs, court 32
reporters, judicial assistants, court managers, court managers' 33
employees, and any other employee, regardless of title, who is 34
engaged in equivalent functions; or 35
(k) Assaults a person located in a courtroom, jury room, judge's 36
chamber, or any waiting area or corridor immediately adjacent to a 37
courtroom, jury room, or judge's chamber. This section shall apply 38
only: (i) During the times when a courtroom, jury room, or judge's 39
chamber is being used for judicial purposes during court proceedings; 40
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and (ii) if signage was posted in compliance with RCW 2.28.200 at the 1
time of the assault; or 2
(l) Is a licensed health care provider who implants or causes 3
another to implant the provider's own gametes or reproductive 4
material into a patient during an assisted reproduction procedure. 5
For the purposes of this subsection, "gamete" means sperm, egg, or 6
any part of a sperm or egg, and "reproductive material" means a human 7
gamete or a human organism at any stage of development from 8
fertilized ovum to embryo; or9
(m) Assaults a child welfare worker, as defined in RCW 10
74.14B.005, who was performing his or her official duties at the time 11
of the assault. 12
(2) Assault in the third degree is a class C felony.13
Sec. 2. RCW 74.14B.005 and 2019 c 470 s 18 and 2019 c 64 s 26 14
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:15
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 16
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 17
(1) "Child welfare worker" means an employee of the department 18
whose job includes supporting or providing child welfare services as 19
defined in RCW 74.13.020 or child protective services as defined in 20
RCW 26.44.020.21
(2) "Department" means the department of children, youth, and 22
families. 23
(((2))) (3) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of 24
children, youth, and families. 25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 74.14B 26
RCW to read as follows: 27
(1) A child welfare worker who is required to respond to a 28
private home or other private location to provide services to, 29
monitor, or investigate a family, may make a request to their 30
supervisor to be accompanied by a second trained individual when the 31
child welfare worker has concerns that violence could occur based on 32
a family member's history of violence. 33
(2) When a request is made under subsection (1) of this section, 34
the department shall arrange for a second trained individual to 35
accompany the child welfare worker unless it is not possible to 36
fulfill the request under the circumstances. 37
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(3) The second trained individual that may accompany a child 1
welfare worker under this section may be: 2
(a) A law enforcement officer; 3
(b) A mental health professional; 4
(c) A first responder, such as a firefighter or emergency medical 5
personnel; or 6
(d) An employee of the department who is trained as a child 7
welfare worker and acts in a supervisory capacity with respect to 8
other child welfare workers. 9
(4) No retaliation may be taken against a child welfare worker 10
for requesting that a second trained individual accompany them in 11
providing services to, monitoring, or investigating a family.12
Sec. 4. RCW 74.14B.010 and 2019 c 470 s 27 are each amended to 13
read as follows: 14
(1) Child welfare workers shall meet minimum standards 15
established by the department. Comprehensive training for child 16
welfare workers shall be completed before such child welfare workers 17
are assigned to case-carrying responsibilities as the sole worker 18
assigned to a particular case. Intermittent, part-time, and standby 19
child welfare workers shall be subject to the same minimum standards 20
and training. The minimum training standards under this section must 21
include training related to de-escalation strategies.22
(2) Ongoing specialized training shall be provided for child 23
welfare workers responsible for investigating child sexual abuse. 24
Training participants shall have the opportunity to practice 25
interview skills and receive feedback from instructors.26
(3) The department, the criminal justice training commission, the 27
Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs, and the 28
Washington association of prosecuting attorneys shall design and 29
implement statewide training that contains consistent elements for 30
persons engaged in the interviewing of children, including law 31
enforcement, prosecution, and child protective services.32
(4) The training required by this section shall: (a) Be based on 33
research-based practices and standards; (b) minimize the trauma of 34
all persons who are interviewed during abuse investigations; (c) 35
provide methods of reducing the number of investigative interviews 36
necessary whenever possible; (d) assure, to the extent possible, that 37
investigative interviews are thorough, objective, and complete; (e) 38
recognize needs of special populations, such as persons with 39
p. 4 HB 1193
developmental disabilities; (f) recognize the nature and consequences 1
of victimization; (g) require investigative interviews to be 2
conducted in a manner most likely to permit the interviewed persons 3
the maximum emotional comfort under the circumstances; (h) address 4
record retention and retrieval; (i) address documentation of 5
investigative interviews; and (j) include self-care for child welfare 6
workers. 7
(5) The identification of domestic violence is critical in 8
ensuring the safety of children in the child welfare system. It is 9
also critical for child welfare workers to support victims of 10
domestic violence while victims continue to care for their children, 11
when possible, as domestic violence perpetrated against someone other 12
than the child does not constitute negligent treatment or 13
maltreatment in and of itself as provided in RCW 26.44.020. For these 14
reasons, ongoing domestic violence training and consultation shall be 15
provided to child welfare workers, including how to use the 16
department's practice guide to domestic violence. 17
(6) By January 1, 2021, the department shall: 18
(a) Develop and implement an evidence-informed curriculum for 19
supervisors providing support to child welfare workers to better 20
prepare candidates for effective supervisory and leadership roles 21
within the department; 22
(b) Develop specialized training for child welfare workers that 23
includes simulation and coaching designed to improve clinical and 24
analytical skills; 25
(c) ((Based on the report required under RCW 43.216.7501(3), 26
develop)) Develop and implement training for child welfare workers 27
that incorporates trauma-informed care and reflective supervision 28
principles. 29
(7) ((For purposes of this section, "child welfare worker" means 30
an employee of the department whose job includes supporting or 31
providing child welfare services as defined in RCW 74.13.020 or child 32
protective services as defined in RCW 26.44.020.)) The department 33
shall offer optional in-service training on de-escalation strategies 34
on at least an annual basis to all child welfare workers.35
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