‘Record amount of babies and toddlers dying’: WA rep. pushes to change Keeping Families Together Act

The Washington State Legislature passed the Keeping Families Together Act to reduce the number of children placed in foster care, address racial disproportionality in the child welfare system, and support relatives in caring for children, according to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF).

Despite the act’s good intentions, Washington State Representative Travis Couture told “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio he is pushing for changes to the law.

“The Keeping Families Together Act, which was enacted in 2023, has led to a 200% plus increase in child fatalities in our state,” he said. “We have a record amount of babies and toddlers dying while the state stands by and watches innocent children locked into homes where there is active, hard drug abuse like meth and fentanyl. And sadly, there’s nothing the state could do because of that law.”

The law’s main goal was to keep minority children from being disproportionately removed from their homes, but it created a severe unintended consequence.

“We’re actually seeing this big catch-22, where minority children are dying at disproportionate rates,” Couture said. “Of course, generally, everyone would support keeping families together. That sounds good. The devil is in the details.”

Couture reiterated that the law has caused more deaths and that he is working to change it.

“It’s unacceptable. And honestly, you guys, every single night I go home, I could think about a lot of things, taxes or policy. This is the one thing that I think about that eats me alive when I look in the mirror at night,” he said. “I’ve always opposed this law, and I want to change it. I hold myself as a legislator with some level of responsibility for what happens to innocent kids in our state.”

WA rep. introduces bill to amend Keeping Families Together Act

House Bill 1092, championed by Couture, would clarify that active use of hard drugs in a home can meet the threshold for child removal.

“What my bill proposes is that we don’t rip families apart forever. What we do is, for the safety of the child, first, we remove them from the dangerous situation, and we make sure that the barrier is such that we can remove a child from a dangerous situation filled with the hell of hard drug abuse. But then we don’t necessarily go after the parents. We realize that they’re in a substance abuse addiction, and that we need to get them help. So it’s a two-part effort,” he explained.

Public urged to attend rally Wednesday

Along with sponsoring the bill, Couture will be at a rally on January 14 at 1 p.m. on the Washington State Capitol steps.

“We’re going to stand up and give those kids — that lost their voice and were snuffed out before their life could ever truly begin — we’re going to give voice to those kids, and we’re going to go advocate for changes in this child welfare system,” he shared.

Couture urged everyone to attend the event.

“If you don’t do anything else this year politically, just do this. Just show up to this rally for these kids whose lives were snuffed out,” he said.

In a February news release, DCYF stated data and analysis of the law’s impact on child safety “do not support claims that the bill has led to the 44% increase in child fatalities and near fatalities.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.