Child welfare deaths, injuries in Washington declineFree

Deaths and critical injuries among children in Washington’s child welfare system fell steeply in the first quarter of 2026, state officials reported Wednesday.

Still, four children died and three more nearly died in the first three months of the year.

The total of seven incidents is down from 22 in the same time period in 2025, a spike that alarmed officials and advocates. Preliminary data from the second quarter this year shows similar figures to January through March, according to the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, which runs Washington’s child welfare system.

Many of the child fatalities have been tied to drug exposure. The drop in incidents has coincided with a decline overall in opioid overdoses and wider availability of treatment options.

Last year saw a record 23 deaths and 35 near-deaths. Those figures didn’t quite reach the heights feared in early 2025 but still were cause for major concern. The total of 58 was up from 48 in 2024 and 51 and 43, respectively, in the two previous years. About half of the incidents in 2025 were tied to fentanyl.

The numbers cover only children who have been involved in the state child welfare system in the year before the maltreatment-related death or critical injury.

Republicans have pushed to overhaul the 2021 Keeping Families Together Act to address the issue. The law raised the standard for separating children from their parents and aimed to keep them with other relatives instead of foster care. The goal was to stop poverty from being used as a reason to take kids away from their parents and to avoid inflicting the trauma of being separated from family.

Lawmakers in 2024 instructed courts to give “great weight” factoring in the presence of opioids when deciding whether to separate children from their parents. Removals then ticked up.

Natalie Green, the state’s assistant secretary of child welfare, said “we’ve been very happy” with the results of the 2024 law change.

As of the end of April, over 4,400 children were placed in out-of-home care, with 59 percent staying with relatives or other so-called “kinship caregivers.”

Legislators who sponsored the Keeping Families Together Act have been open to further changes but disagree that the law is to blame for the spike.

Multiple bills to address the growing concerns stalled in Olympia this year, despite hopes for a bipartisan solution.

One would’ve increased court oversight of Child Protective Services cases involving children under age 5 who are allowed to stay with their parents instead of being placed in foster care. Another focused on developing a community-based referral path to services for cases involving a child under age 4 and high-potency synthetic opioids, like fentanyl.

Yet another would’ve expanded the crime of child endangerment with a controlled substance to include fentanyl and lowered the standard for filing such a criminal charge.

None became law.

This year, however, lawmakers earmarked money to help with the issue. This included a few million dollars to hire more caseworkers; $876,000 for a public health nurse program in some high-need communities to serve families with a child under age 3 where drug use is a factor; $188,000 for a referral program to family resource centers for parents with children older than 3; and $252,000 to expand a program that helps coordinate care and navigate resources for expecting mothers and newborns with prenatal drug exposure.

In the coming months, state agencies will file requests for funding in the two-year budget lawmakers will write in early 2027. Washington is on track to face another budget shortfall.

The Department of Children, Youth and Families has taken steps on its own, absent further action by the Legislature.

The state now requires “safe child consults” for child welfare cases involving opioid use and a child younger than 3. These reviews help determine whether officials will allow a child to go home or petition a judge for care elsewhere. In 2025, the agency completed over 3,300 of these consults. About 2 in 5 involved high-potency synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

An expansion to the Parent-Child Assistance Program will allow more mothers with substance-use disorders to get treatment while remaining with their children. Over 1,500 people currently participate in the program.

Looking forward, the Department of Children, Youth and Families sees the need for more staff training specific to parents with substance-use disorder to keep infants safe while sleeping.

The budget also created a new workgroup focused on addressing the rise of injuries and deaths in the child welfare system through increased drug-treatment options.

“Lots of discussions and conversations continue to happen in order (to understand) how do we address the needs of this population,” Green said. “It’s exciting to see some of the things that are happening.”