| Passed by the Senate April 21, 2003 YEAS 43 ________________________________________ President of the Senate Passed by the House April 11, 2003 YEAS 83 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives | I, Milton H. Doumit, Jr., Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5811 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Secretary | |
| Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/24/03.
AN ACT Relating to the involvement of the birth family in foster care; amending RCW 13.34.260; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds that a large group of
children spend a significant part of their lives in foster care. Each
individual connected to a child in an out-of-home placement must have
an abiding appreciation of the seriousness of the child's separation
from his or her family and the past, whether that separation is short,
long, or permanent in nature. It is the intent of the legislature to
recognize and honor the history and the family connections that each
child brings to an out-of-home placement.
The legislature finds that creating and sanctioning a connection
between a child's birth parents and foster family, when appropriate,
can result in better relationships among birth families, children,
foster families, and social workers. Creating and sanctioning this
connection can result in greater foster placement stability and fewer
disruptions for children, as well as greater satisfaction for foster
parents and social workers.
Sec. 2 RCW 13.34.260 and 2002 c 52 s 7 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) In an attempt to minimize the inherent intrusion in the lives
of families involved in the foster care system and to maintain parental
authority where appropriate, the department, absent good cause, shall
follow the wishes of the natural parent regarding the placement of the
child. Preferences such as family constellation, sibling
relationships, ethnicity, and religion shall be considered when
matching children to foster homes. Parental authority is appropriate
in areas that are not connected with the abuse or neglect that resulted
in the dependency and shall be integrated through the foster care team.
(2) When a child is placed in out-of-home care foster parents are
encouraged to:
(a) Provide consultation to the foster care team based upon their
experience with the child placed in their care;
(b) Assist the birth parents by helping them understand their
child's needs and correlating appropriate parenting responses;
(c) Participate in educational activities, and enter into
community-building activities with birth families and other foster
families;
(d) Transport children to family time visits with birth families
and assist children and their families in maximizing the purposefulness
of family time.
(3) For purposes of this section, "foster care team" means the
foster parent currently providing care, the currently assigned social
worker, and the parent or parents; and "birth family" means the persons
described in RCW 74.15.020(2)(a).