State Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, who represents the 35th Legislative District, is once again attempting to rally support for a bill that would simplify the process for removing children from homes with active drug users present.
Couture and his team announced on Tuesday that the representative was pushing for bipartisan support on a bill introduced in the previous session that would make changes to the state’s Keep Families Together Act, which set a higher standard for the state to remove children from their parents.
Couture is now calling on fellow lawmakers to support House Bill 1092, which he says would help protect young children from exposure to harmful drug use.
“This bill is not about tearing families apart,” Couture said. “It’s about making sure children don’t die while the state stands by, waiting for something worse to happen.”
The Washington state Legislature passed the Keep Families Together Act during the state’s 2021 legislative session with hopes that the bill would reduce the number of children in foster care and support family members in helping to raise children.
After a development period, the Washington state Department of Children, Youth and Families implemented the policy on July 1, 2023, according to the department’s website. Among other changes to policy, the act increased the threshold for removing children from their families with the key factor often being verifying an “imminent risk of physical harm.”
Critics, largely Republicans, have since linked the bill to a recent rise in child deaths and near deaths. Some Democrats have even joined in.
According to Couture, his proposed bill would change the threshold for removal so that children could be removed from homes of active users of opioids such as fentanyl. He added that the bill also includes establishing a pathway for parents who lose their children to access drug treatment. Once sobriety is documented, families could be reunified.
“This is not a punishment-first approach,” Couture said. “It’s a safety-first approach. Children deserve protection, and parents deserve a real chance at recovery.”
Couture prefiled his bill ahead of the state’s 2025 legislative session and it was quickly introduced on the House floor on the first day of session. It was sent to the House Committee on Early Learning and Human Services. However, despite the bill receiving at least some bipartisan support with three Democrats signed on as cosponsors, it did not receive a committee hearing during the last session.
The lack of progress in the last session is not stopping the representative from supporting the bill once again in the 2026 session.
“We are talking about preventable deaths,” Couture said. “If the law is stopping us from saving children in obvious danger, then the law must change.”
