Imminent physical harm/child

AN ACT Relating to providing a definition for imminent physical 1
harm in the context of child welfare; and reenacting and amending RCW 2
13.34.030. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 13.34.030 and 2024 c 328 s 101, 2024 c 298 s 4, and 5
2024 c 192 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:6
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 7
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 8
(1) "Abandoned" means when the child's parent, guardian, or other 9
custodian has expressed, either by statement or conduct, an intent to 10
forego, for an extended period, parental rights or responsibilities 11
despite an ability to exercise such rights and responsibilities. If 12
the court finds that the petitioner has exercised due diligence in 13
attempting to locate the parent, no contact between the child and the 14
child's parent, guardian, or other custodian for a period of three 15
months creates a rebuttable presumption of abandonment, even if there 16
is no expressed intent to abandon. 17
(2) "Child," "juvenile," and "youth" mean: 18
(a) Any individual under the age of eighteen years; or19
(b) Any individual age 18 to 21 years who is eligible to receive 20
and who elects to receive the extended foster care services 21
H-2825.1
HOUSE BILL 2511
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Dent, Eslick, Reeves, and Barnard
Read first time 01/15/26. Referred to Committee on Early Learning &
Human Services.
p. 1 HB 2511
authorized under RCW 74.13.031. A youth who remains dependent and who 1
receives extended foster care services under RCW 74.13.031 shall not 2
be considered a "child" under any other statute or for any other 3
purpose. 4
(3) "Current placement episode" means the period of time that 5
begins with the most recent date that the child was removed from the 6
home of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian for purposes of 7
placement in out-of-home care and continues until: (a) The child 8
returns home; (b) an adoption decree, a permanent custody order, or 9
guardianship order is entered; or (c) the dependency is dismissed, 10
whichever occurs first. 11
(4) "Department" means the department of children, youth, and 12
families. 13
(5) "Dependency guardian" means the person, nonprofit 14
corporation, or Indian tribe appointed by the court pursuant to this 15
chapter for the limited purpose of assisting the court in the 16
supervision of the dependency. 17
(6) "Dependent child" means any child who: 18
(a) Has been abandoned; 19
(b) Is abused or neglected as defined in RCW 26.44.020 by a 20
person legally responsible for the care of the child;21
(c) Has no parent, guardian, or custodian capable of adequately 22
caring for the child, such that the child is in circumstances which 23
constitute a danger of substantial damage to the child's 24
psychological or physical development; 25
(d) Is receiving extended foster care services, as authorized by 26
RCW 74.13.031; or 27
(e) Is a victim of sex trafficking or severe forms of trafficking 28
in persons under the trafficking victims protection act of 2000, 22 29
U.S.C. Sec. 7101 et seq., when the parent is involved in the 30
trafficking, facilitating the trafficking, or should have known that 31
the child is being trafficked. 32
(7) "Developmental disability" means a disability attributable to 33
intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, or another 34
neurological or other condition of an individual found by the 35
secretary of the department of social and health services to be 36
closely related to an intellectual disability or to require treatment 37
similar to that required for individuals with intellectual 38
disabilities, which disability originates before the individual 39
attains age eighteen, which has continued or can be expected to 40
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continue indefinitely, and which constitutes a substantial limitation 1
to the individual. 2
(8) "Educational liaison" means a person who has been appointed 3
by the court to fulfill responsibilities outlined in RCW 13.34.046.4
(9) "Experiencing homelessness" means lacking a fixed, regular, 5
and adequate nighttime residence, including circumstances such as 6
sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic 7
hardship, fleeing domestic violence, or a similar reason as described 8
in the federal McKinney-Vento homeless assistance act (Title 42 9
U.S.C., chapter 119, subchapter I) as it existed on January 1, 2021.10
(10) "Extended foster care services" means residential and other 11
support services the department is authorized to provide under RCW 12
74.13.031. These services may include placement in licensed, 13
relative, or otherwise approved care, or supervised independent 14
living settings; assistance in meeting basic needs; independent 15
living services; supervised independent living subsidy; medical 16
assistance; and counseling or treatment. 17
(11) "Guardian" means the person or agency that: (a) Has been 18
appointed as the guardian of a child in a legal proceeding, including 19
a guardian appointed pursuant to chapter 13.36 RCW; and (b) has the 20
legal right to custody of the child pursuant to such appointment. The 21
term "guardian" does not include a "dependency guardian" appointed 22
pursuant to a proceeding under this chapter. 23
(12) "Guardian ad litem" means a person, appointed by the court 24
to represent the best interests of a child in a proceeding under this 25
chapter, or in any matter which may be consolidated with a proceeding 26
under this chapter. A "court-appointed special advocate" appointed by 27
the court to be the guardian ad litem for the child, or to perform 28
substantially the same duties and functions as a guardian ad litem, 29
shall be deemed to be guardian ad litem for all purposes and uses of 30
this chapter. 31
(13) "Guardian ad litem program" means a court-authorized 32
volunteer program, which is or may be established by the superior 33
court of the county in which such proceeding is filed, to manage all 34
aspects of volunteer guardian ad litem representation for children 35
alleged or found to be dependent. Such management shall include but 36
is not limited to: Recruitment, screening, training, supervision, 37
assignment, and discharge of volunteers. 38
(14) "Guardianship" means a guardianship pursuant to chapter 39
13.36 RCW or a limited guardianship of a minor pursuant to RCW 40
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11.130.215 or equivalent laws of another state or a federally 1
recognized Indian tribe. 2
(15) "High-potency synthetic opioid" means an unprescribed 3
synthetic opioid classified as a Schedule II controlled substance or 4
controlled substance analog in chapter 69.50 RCW or by the pharmacy 5
quality assurance commission in rule including, but not limited to, 6
fentanyl. 7
(16) "Housing assistance" means appropriate referrals by the 8
department or other agencies to federal, state, local, or private 9
agencies or organizations, assistance with forms, applications, or 10
financial subsidies or other monetary assistance for housing. For 11
purposes of this chapter, "housing assistance" is not a remedial 12
service or family reunification service as described in RCW 13
13.34.025(2). 14
(17) "Indigent" means a person who, at any stage of a court 15
proceeding, is: 16
(a) Receiving one of the following types of public assistance: 17
Temporary assistance for needy families, aged, blind, or disabled 18
assistance benefits, medical care services under RCW 74.09.035, 19
pregnant women assistance benefits, poverty-related veterans' 20
benefits, food stamps or food stamp benefits transferred 21
electronically, refugee resettlement benefits, medicaid, or 22
supplemental security income; or 23
(b) Involuntarily committed to a public mental health facility; 24
or 25
(c) Receiving an annual income, after taxes, of 125 percent or 26
less of the federally established poverty level; or27
(d) Unable to pay the anticipated cost of counsel for the matter 28
before the court because his or her available funds are insufficient 29
to pay any amount for the retention of counsel. 30
(18) "Nonminor dependent" means any individual age 18 to 21 years 31
who is participating in extended foster care services authorized 32
under RCW 74.13.031. 33
(19) "Out-of-home care" means placement in a foster family home 34
or group care facility licensed pursuant to chapter 74.15 RCW or 35
placement in a home, other than that of the child's parent, guardian, 36
or legal custodian, not required to be licensed pursuant to chapter 37
74.15 RCW. 38
(20) "Parent" means the biological or adoptive parents of a 39
child, or an individual who has established a parent-child 40
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relationship under RCW 26.26A.100, unless the legal rights of that 1
person have been terminated by a judicial proceeding pursuant to this 2
chapter, chapter 26.33 RCW, or the equivalent laws of another state 3
or a federally recognized Indian tribe. 4
(21) "Prevention and family services and programs" means specific 5
mental health prevention and treatment services, substance abuse 6
prevention and treatment services, and in-home parent skill-based 7
programs that qualify for federal funding under the federal family 8
first prevention services act, P.L. 115-123. For purposes of this 9
chapter, prevention and family services and programs are not remedial 10
services or family reunification services as described in RCW 11
13.34.025(2). 12
(22) "Prevention services" means preservation services, as 13
defined in chapter 74.14C RCW, and other reasonably available 14
services, including housing assistance, capable of preventing the 15
need for out-of-home placement while protecting the child. Prevention 16
services include, but are not limited to, prevention and family 17
services and programs as defined in this section. 18
(23) "Qualified residential treatment program" means a program 19
that meets the requirements provided in RCW 13.34.420, qualifies for 20
funding under the family first prevention services act under 42 21
U.S.C. Sec. 672 (k), and, if located within Washington state, is 22
licensed as a group care facility under chapter 74.15 RCW.23
(24) "Relative" includes persons related to a child in the 24
following ways: 25
(a) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and 26
including first cousins, second cousins, nephews or nieces, and 27
persons of preceding generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, 28
great, or great-great; 29
(b) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;30
(c) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as 31
well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such 32
persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance 33
with state law; 34
(d) Spouses of any persons named in (a), (b), or (c) of this 35
subsection, even after the marriage is terminated;36
(e) Relatives, as named in (a), (b), (c), or (d) of this 37
subsection, of any half sibling of the child; or 38
(f) Extended family members, as defined by the law or custom of 39
the Indian child's tribe or, in the absence of such law or custom, a 40
p. 5 HB 2511
person who has reached the age of 18 and who is the Indian child's 1
grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, brother-in-law or 2
sister-in-law, niece or nephew, first or second cousin, or stepparent 3
who provides care in the family abode on a 24 hour basis to an Indian 4
child as defined in 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1903(4). 5
(25) "Shelter care" means temporary physical care in a facility 6
licensed pursuant to RCW 74.15.030 or in a home not required to be 7
licensed pursuant to RCW 74.15.030. 8
(26) "Sibling" means a child's birth brother, birth sister, 9
adoptive brother, adoptive sister, half-brother, or half-sister, or 10
as defined by the law or custom of the Indian child's tribe for an 11
Indian child as defined in RCW 13.38.040. 12
(27) "Social study" means a written evaluation of matters 13
relevant to the disposition of the case that contains the information 14
required by RCW 13.34.430. 15
(28) "Supervised independent living setting" includes, but is not 16
limited to, apartment living, room and board arrangements, college or 17
university dormitories, and shared roommate settings. Supervised 18
independent living settings must be approved by the department or the 19
court. 20
(29) "Supervised independent living subsidy" has the same meaning 21
as in RCW 74.13.020. 22
(30) "Voluntary placement agreement" has, for the purposes of 23
extended foster care services, the same meaning as in RCW 74.13.336.24
(31) "Imminent physical harm" means there exists a substantial 25
risk of serious harm to the child's safety or well-being. This risk 26
may arise from conditions in the home, the caregiving environment, or 27
caregiver conduct or omission, including, but not limited to:28
(a) Physical abuse;29
(b) Emotional harm or neglect;30
(c) Exposure to chronic unsafe or hazardous conditions;31
(d) Failure to provide necessary supervision, medical care, or 32
basic needs;33
(e) Caregiver impairment due to substance use;34
(f) The presence or use of illicit substances in the child's 35
environment; or36
(g) Other circumstances reasonably likely to cause significant 37
developmental, psychological, or physical injury.38
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