A Pragmatic Approach to Protecting Washington's Children in the Lack of Transparency Era

The Reality of Fentanyl in Our Homes

In Washington State, we are losing our most vulnerable kids to a completely preventable tragedy. Right here in the 31st District, unexplained poisoning is the number one leading cause of death for children ages one to four.

Let us call it what it is: a shocking amount of these unexplained poisonings are fentanyl overdoses.

Just recently, I spoke on the House floor about a young child from Bonney Lake who died this exact way. That baby was born positive for hard drugs. The state knew the danger, but they closed the case and left the child in that home. That child died. These are babies and toddlers grabbing pills, putting them in their mouths, and swallowing them. It is a tragedy that should never happen.

The Majority Party's Broken System

We cannot fix this crisis because the state refuses to see the truth. The majority party that has been in charge for the last 35 years built a system that actively fails our kids.

At the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), the state treats child safety like a guessing game. State caseworkers open "risk-only" cases. They admit a child faces extreme danger, but the rules force them to leave the child in the home anyway.

Imagine knowing a child is trapped in a burning house, but the law forbids you from rescuing them until the flames actually touch their skin. That is the nightmare Washington caseworkers live under right now. They see the danger, but the state stops them from acting until it is too late.

“Imagine knowing a child is trapped in a burning house, but the law forbids you from rescuing them until the flames actually touch their skin.”

The Tragic Cost to Taxpayers

The human cost of this failure is unbearable. But the financial cost to working families is just as shocking.

If you look a couple hundred pages into the state budget, you will find a terrifying number. The majority party set aside $42.9 million to pay for excess lawsuits coming out of DCYF. That is $42.9 million in lawsuits related to dead and dying children.

We spend millions of your tax dollars to NOT fix the problem. We throw working families' money away on the aftermath of preventable deaths, while the children we are supposed to protect continue to suffer.

A Common-Sense Solution

We need a common-sense, maintenance-first approach to state government. We cannot allow state agencies to write their own rules without oversight. An organization that can write its own rules is going to write them in the blood of our children.

The solution is simple. We must fix our data blindness so we know exactly where kids are in danger. We must give caseworkers the legal backing to remove children from lethal environments before tragedy strikes. We need to stop funding lawsuits and start funding real, effective protection.

Time for Adult Leadership

The majority party in Olympia argues over the numbers. They debate whether 50 children died in state care last year or 90 children died.

It does not matter if it is 50 or 90. We should be crawling out of our skin if it is one.

“It does not matter if it is 50 or 90. We should be crawling out of our skin if it is one.”

We can build a Washington where parents do not have to live in fear. We can demand a state government that actually works for the people who pay for it. It is time to bring adult, competent leadership back to Olympia.