Couture files bill to protect kids from drugs

State Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, has filed a bill to protect kids from parents abusing illicit drugs.

In a news release Monday, Couture noted that an increasing number of children in Washington are dying from exposure to fentanyl and other drugs in the home.

“Our children are our future and must be protected at all costs,” Couture stated in the news release. “The fact that children already under the care of the state with parents referred to the Department of Children Youth and Families are dying from fentanyl exposure is abhorrent and I will not stand by and watch it continue.”

The number of deaths involving children who either were or had been recently under the supervision of DCYF are “shockingly high,” according to the release. It noted that a recently published report from the state Office of the Family and Children’s Ombuds found 85 child deaths and 62 near fatalities, with 22 of those deaths and 34 of the near fatalities involving accidental ingestion or overdose; 67% involved fentanyl.

The news release stated that last year, a 1-year-old girl in Snohomish County died of fentanyl poisoning in an Everett hotel room after being left in the care of her mother despite opposition from the girl’s grandmother. A Tacoma woman last year tortured and murdered her 3-year-old son while abusing meth, while under Child Protective Services supervision. Last week, a 4-year-old Kennewick girl died after ingesting fentanyl while her parents were allegedly in the bathroom doing drugs.

“These are just three of the horrific outcomes that have been allowed to happen under the state’s watch,” Couture stated. “We cannot allow these outcomes to continue.”

House Bill 2233 would require immediate removal of children from caretakers using illegal substances, including fentanyl, by classifying the presence of those drugs as “imminent harm.” The bill would also create additional training and fentanyl-specific risk assessment tools for caseworkers investigating abuse and provide care workers with fentanyl test-strips to confirm the presence of fentanyl in the home.

“While there are similar pieces of legislation out there for the 2024 legislative session, I do not believe they go far enough to accomplish what is most important — protecting Washington children,” Couture said. “These kids are not making the active decision to expose themselves to fentanyl and if we don’t protect them nobody will.”

The imminent harm bill is the second of two Couture bills involving DCYF. In December, he prefiled House Bill 1875 which creates a series of changes to protect social workers working for DCYF, including making the assault of a social worker a felony. The bill would also allow social workers to be accompanied by first responders, if they reasonably believe a situation could be potentially dangerous.