H-1183              _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 745

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Isaacson, Brekke, Lewis, Winsley, Hastings, Barnes, K. Wilson and L. Smith

Read first time 2/8/85 and referred to Committee on Social & Health Services. Referred to Committee on Judiciary 2/15/85.

AN ACT Relating to juvenile dependency and neglect cases; amending RCW 13.34.120; and adding a new section to chapter 13.34 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 40, chapter 291, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. as amended by section 45, chapter 155, Laws of 1979 and RCW 13.34.120 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) To aid the court in its decision on disposition, a social study, consisting of a written evaluation of matters relevant to the disposition of the case, shall be made by the person or agency filing the petition.  The study shall include all social records and may also include facts relating to the child's cultural heritage, and shall be made available to the court.  The court shall consider the social file and social study at the disposition hearing in addition to evidence produced at the fact-finding hearing.

          (2) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (1) of this section, a predisposition study to the court in cases of dependency alleged pursuant to RCW 13.34.030(2) (b) or (c) shall contain the following information:

          (a) A statement of the specific harm or harms to the child that intervention is designed to alleviate;

          (b) A continuous, unedited oral or videotape recording of each time the child is questioned on matters relevant to the case which recording shall be made available to the court and any participant in the case;

(c) A description of the specific programs, for both the parents and child, that are needed in order to prevent serious harm to the child; the reasons why such programs are likely to be useful; the availability of any proposed services; and the agency's overall plan for ensuring that the services will be delivered;

          (((c))) (d) If removal is recommended, a full description of the reasons why the child cannot be protected adequately in the home, including a description of any previous efforts to work with the parents and the child in the home; the in-home treatment programs which have been considered and rejected; and the parents' attitude toward placement of the child;

          (((d))) (e) A statement of the likely harms the child will suffer as a result of removal.  This section should include an exploration of the nature of the parent-child attachment and the meaning of separation and loss to both the parents and the child;

          (((e))) (f) A description of the steps that will be taken to minimize harm to the child that may result if separation occurs; and

          (((f))) (g) Behavior that will be expected before determination that supervision of the family or placement is no longer necessary.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 13.34 RCW to read as follows:

          Each time a child is questioned outside of a recorded court proceeding on matters relevant to that child's dependency or child abuse case by a social worker, administrator, or judge, a continuous, unedited videotape recording shall be made of the questioning.  The recording shall be made available to the court and any participant in the case.