The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), in consultation with the Attorney General's Office and the Department of Children, Youth and Families, is directed by statute to compile an annual report providing information about cases that fail to meet statutory guidelines to achieve permanency for dependent children. This report is submitted to the Legislature and a representative of the Foster Parent Association of Washington State on December 1st of each year.
The annual report also includes information about:
The AOC develops standard court forms for mandatory use by parties in dependency matters. The AOC provides these forms to all county court clerks.
The bill as referred to committee not considered.
AOC's annual dependency report is to include information about dependency cases including available data about whether children in Washington State dependency cases are achieving relational permanency, whether cases meet statutory guidelines, and reasons why timelines are not met.
AOC is to submit the annual report to the Office of Civil Legal Aid, and the Washington State Office of Public Defense.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the AOC is to, in consultation with others, identify measures of relational permanency and child well-being and shall report to the Legislature by July 1, 2025, in compliance with state law, the following information:
In making these determinations, the AOC must consult with representatives who have knowledge of data collection systems from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI); the Health Care Authority (HCA); the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF); the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS); and any other entity holding relevant data or expertise.
To collect data necessary to evaluate the relational permanency and well-being of dependent children, the AOC may execute data-sharing agreements with OSPI, HCA, DCYF, and DSHS.
Court forms may indicate whether an order or portion of an order was agreed or contested, and if contested, by which party or parties.