Contact:
800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104
E-mail
The Seattle Social and Health Services Division is comprised of 26 attorneys and 19 professional staff. The division provides legal services to the Department of Social and Health Services and the Department of Early Learning in King County. This division primarily handles litigation for its clients and provides case related client advice. The subject matter areas include child abuse and neglect, vulnerable adults and licensing of foster homes, child care homes and centers, and adult family homes.
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The division provides legal representation to the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and the Department of Early Learning (DEL) in all levels of state and federal court and administrative tribunals. Approximately 80 percent of the division’s caseload involves juvenile court litigation (juvenile dependency and termination of parental rights proceedings). The other types of work handled include foster care and child care licensing hearings, adult family home and boarding home licensing hearings and adult protective services guardianships.
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The number of new juvenile dependency cases increased 9.5 percent from 2005 to 2006. Also, the number of termination cases increased 6.0 percent during the same time period. Overall, the downward trend since 1999 has changed and we are now on an upward trend. We may see an increase in the number of dependency filings because the new neglect legislation took effect on January 1, 2007 and expanded the definition to include a pattern of behavior. Our current hot issues include proper notice to Indian tribes under the Indian Child Welfare Act and state law, appointment of court appointed special advocates for children in dependency proceedings and substance abuse and mental health treatment issues.
King County Juvenile Court’s Family Treatment Court provides intensive substance abuse treatment and monitoring for parents involved in dependency proceedings. This court has a maximum capacity of 45 children. The goal of FTC is to provide the necessary treatment and other services so that children can be reunified with their parents in a timely manner and prevent re-entry into the child welfare system. The Attorney General’s Office is one of the founding members of King County’s FTC.
This division is a member of the King County Systems Integration Initiative. This initiative brings together all agencies involved in the juvenile offender and child welfare systems, including the court, schools and service providers. The goal is to improve communication among the various players so that children are better served by both systems. In 2006, we published our Field Guide for Information Sharing. It can be found at the Child Welfare League of America’s website, www. CWLA.org.
The division remains active in the area of adult abuse, neglect and exploitation. Vulnerable adult protection remains a priority for the division. We file an average of 38 petitions per year to establish guardians for vulnerable adults. We had a 44 percent increase in the number of guardianship petitions filed in 2006 compared to 2005. This increase may be due to more active efforts and community awareness. So far during 2007, we are closer to our historical average in the number of guardianship petitions filed.
Another area of significant increase for the Seattle SHS Division is in the area of child care licensing. Last year, we had a 74 percent increase over the previous year in the number of child care licensing cases handled by this division. This upward trend is continuing and may be the result of increased monitoring by the Department of Early Learning.
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In re H.S.: The Washington Court of Appeals, Division One reversed the trial court’s dismissal of the dependency petition and found prima facie that the child met the definition of a dependent child because his parents could not afford to pay for residential mental health treatment that he needed. The child’s parents filed a dependency petition seeking to have the state pay for their child’s mental health treatment. The trial court dismissed their petition at the close of the parents’ case. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded back to the trial court for a full hearing. The Washington Supreme Court accepted review of this case and heard oral argument on May 8. 2007. No decision has been issued yet.
In re G.A.H.: In a published decision (6/19/06), the Washington Court of Appeals, Division I, held that DSHS could not be forced to place a juvenile offender in foster care when DSHS is not a party to the offender proceeding. The trial court had ordered DSHS to place the youth in foster care even though there was no dependency petition filed or other legal basis to required DSHS to place him. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and held that the court did not have jurisdiction over the department and the department lacked any legal basis to place the child in foster care. The youth was not dependent and not otherwise in the legal custody of the department at the time the offense was committed. The Court of Appeals also held that the trial court did not have authority to find that the child was dependent and this finding was made without the necessary due process protections afforded by statute.
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