Written in 2011 and updated in 2014 by Carrie Hoon Wayno1

Chapter Sections

§1 Legal Authority to Remove a Child from Parents’ Care

§1a Court Order

The court may enter an ex parte order directing a law enforcement officer, probation counselor, or child protective services official to take a child into custody under the following conditions:

  1. A petition is filed with the juvenile court alleging that the child is dependent and that the child’s health, safety, and welfare will be seriously endangered if the child is not taken into custody;
  2. An affidavit or declaration is filed by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) in support of the petition setting forth specific factual information evidencing reasonable grounds that the child’s health, safety, and welfare will be seriously endangered if he or she is not taken into custody and at least one of the grounds set forth demonstrates a risk of imminent harm to the child; and
  3. The court finds reasonable grounds to believe the child is dependent and that the child’s health, safety, and welfare will be seriously endangered if the child is not taken into custody.2

A request for an order pursuant to RCW 13.34.050 shall be made by motion and supported by an affidavit or declaration supporting the petition.3

For purposes of RCW 13.34.050, “imminent harm” includes, but is not limited to, circumstances of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation as defined in RCW 26.44.020, and a parent’s failure to perform basic parental functions, obligations, and duties as the result of substance abuse.2

Courts have broad discretion in placement decisions under the dependency statute and are allowed considerable flexibility to receive and evaluate all relevant evidence in order to reach a decision recognizing both the welfare of the child and parental rights.4

§1b Administrative Hold

An administrator of a hospital or similar institution or any physician may detain a child without the consent of a person legally responsible for the child whether or not medical treatment is required, when the detaining individual has reasonable cause to believe that permitting the child to continue in his or her place of residence or in the care and custody of the parent, guardian, custodian, or other person legally responsible for the child’s care would present an imminent danger to that child’s safety.5

When detaining a child in this manner, the administrator or physician is required to notify the appropriate law enforcement agency or child protective services as soon as possible and in no case longer than 72 hours.5

Child protective services may detain the child until the court assumes custody, but in no case longer than 72 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.5

§1c Protective Custody

A law enforcement officer may take, or cause to be taken, a child into “protective custody” without a court order if there is probable cause to believe that the child is abused or neglected and that the child would be injured or could not be taken into custody if it were necessary to first obtain a court order pursuant to RCW 13.34.050.6

§2 Legal Requirements After Children are Removed from their Parents’ Care

§2a Notice to Parents

The petition and supporting documents must be served on the parent or with the entity with custody other than the parent.7 Failure to effect service does not invalidate the petition if service was attempted and the parent could not be found.8

§2b First Deprivation Hearing

When a child is taken into custody, the court is required to hold a shelter care hearing within 72 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.9 The primary purpose of the shelter care hearing is to determine whether the child can be immediately and safely returned home while the adjudication of the dependency is pending.9 See Chapter 16 for more information concerning this topic.

Download this chapter: Chapter 15 – Emergency Orders

ENDNOTES

  1. Carrie Hoon Wayno is an Assistant Attorney General with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. She is the lead counsel to the Children’s Administration Assistant Secretary, coordinates juvenile litigation appeals, and provides child welfare practice advice and training to Assistant Attorneys General state-wide. Ms. Wayno graduated from the University of Washington in 1998, and from the UW School of Law in 2001. She thereafter joined the Attorney General’s Office, initially representing the Department of Labor and Industries, and soon also representing the Department of Social and Health Services. Ms. Wayno represented DSHS in child welfare cases in Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania, and Pierce Counties. She also serves as Co-chair of the WSBA Juvenile Law Section Executive Committee.
  2. RCW 13.34.050(1).
  3. RCW 13.34.050(2).
  4. In re J.S., 111 Wn. App. 796, 46 P.3d 273 (2002).
  5. RCW 26.44.056(1).
  6. RCW 26.44.050.
  7. See RCW 13.34.050(3); RCW 13.34.062.
  8. RCW 13.34.050(3).
  9. RCW 13.34.065(1)(a).