With the 2026 legislative session beginning Jan. 12, Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, says Washington can no longer afford to “stand by off to the side” as child deaths and near-deaths mount under a law critics argue has limited the state’s ability to remove children from homes where fentanyl and other hard drugs are being used.
Couture is urging lawmakers to pass House Bill 1092, a measure he says would repair unintended consequences of Washington’s Keeping Families Together Act and restore the authority of Child Protective Services to intervene sooner when children are at serious risk.
“I think there’s real momentum to change the Keeping Families Together Act,” Couture said in a recent interview on The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI. “So that we don’t have a state government that just stands by… and watches as completely preventable child deaths and near fatalities happen in our state.”
"Just in the first 6 months of this year, we had almost 100 critical incidents, which is child fatalities & near fatalities in our state…It's directly a result of the Keeping Families Together Act & not being able to remove kids from these fentanyl homes." -Rep Travis Couture pic.twitter.com/Z4Qvmc53rk
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) January 8, 2026
“Almost 100 critical incidents” in six months
Couture and other critics of the 2021 law, passed as House Bill 1227, say it raised the legal standard too high, requiring officials to prove “imminent physical harm” before removing a child — even in cases involving active fentanyl use in the home.
Supporters of reform argue the standard has forced social workers and courts to wait until a child is in immediate danger, rather than intervening when serious risk is evident.
Couture points to state data to argue the problem has worsened. The Office of the Family and Children’s Ombuds reported 92 child deaths or near-deaths tied to the child welfare system in the first six months of 2025, putting the year on pace to become the deadliest on record.
“Just in the first six months of this year, we had almost 100 critical incidents,” Couture said on KVI, referring to child fatalities and near fatalities. “That is an absolute disgusting record. There’s no way it should even be anywhere close to that number.”
He said many cases involve very young children exposed to fentanyl.
“Oftentimes it’s babies and toddlers that are being killed,” Couture said. He described scenarios in which parents leave fentanyl pills or powder within reach. “They immediately die because it’s so powerful.”
"The 3,000 drug-related deaths that we had last year is more people than died during Operation Enduring Freedom…the Housing First and the Harm Reduction stuff & this Keeping Families Together Act stuff is literally murdering people on our streets."
-Rep Travis Couture pic.twitter.com/cAiAYnXnlu— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) January 8, 2026
Everett case: babies revived, then sent back to drug homes
Couture cited one case he says illustrates what reformers view as a system that is now structurally constrained.
“You remember a couple of years ago… there were three babies in Everett in one day that were overdosed, three separate cases,” Couture said during the interview. One of those children died, he said, while two were revived at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
“What would it shock you to know,” Couture continued, “that the very next day after those two babies were revived, they were sent back to the fentanyl homes with their fentanyl abusing parents?”
He called the outcome “unconscionable,” arguing that the current law makes it too difficult for the state to step in early, even after a serious incident.
What HB 1092 would change
Couture says House Bill 1092 would clarify that active use of hard drugs like fentanyl in a home with children can meet the legal threshold for removal when it poses serious danger.
The bill also includes a pathway for parents to reunify with their children by participating in treatment and documenting sustained sobriety.
“This bill is not about tearing families apart,” Couture said in a statement. “It’s about making sure children don’t die while the state stands by, waiting for something worse to happen.”
He emphasized during the KVI interview that he views the measure as a correction to a standard he calls “impossible.”
“What my bill, House Bill 1092, does is it changes the impossible standard of imminent physical harm,” Couture said. “So that we can actually turn that into imminent or serious physical harm… so we actually have an ability in the courtroom… to remove children when they’re stuck into these homes.”
Equity concerns and a “Catch-22,” Couture argues
When asked why Democrats have resisted repealing or significantly altering the Keeping Families Together Act, Couture said early arguments centered on equity concerns — that minority children were disproportionately removed from minority homes.
But Couture said he believes the pendulum has now swung into what he called a “Catch-22.”
“They’ve created a Catch-22 where now more minority kids are dying as a result of leaving them in fentanyl-filled homes,” he said.
Couture also said some lawmakers framed the issue as a parents’ rights concern, which he criticized as “a dangerous ideology” when it prevents urgent intervention.
“Nobody in the state of Washington… wants to turn on the five o’clock news and watch a toddler being narcanned in our streets,” Couture said. “It is unacceptable.”
A broader critique of state drug policy
Couture also tied the child welfare debate to Washington’s broader approach to fentanyl and addiction policy, saying he believes current harm reduction strategies have failed — especially when children are involved.
“The state over time has said, you know what, we’re just going to put a lockbox in the house,” he said, describing efforts to secure drugs away from children. But he argued that approach doesn’t match reality in homes where fentanyl use is ongoing.
“Once you started smoking fentanyl,” Couture said, “not only do you not have the ability to care for a child… you don’t even have that ability for yourself anymore.”
Momentum heading into session
Couture said he believes the sheer volume of child fatalities and near fatalities is changing the political landscape.
“The numbers are so bad that people can’t deny it any longer,” he said, adding that the bill is now his top priority heading into session.
He also said he expects advocates, foster parents, law enforcement, and social workers to press lawmakers to act.
“There is going to be advocates… foster parents and law enforcement, social workers, you name it, going to be descending upon the Capitol,” Couture said. “Everyone agrees. Even the union agrees that we need to fix this.”
HB 1092 has been referred to the House Human Services and Early Learning Committee. Couture said previous versions drew bipartisan interest but did not receive a hearing.
“We are talking about preventable deaths,” Couture said. “If the law is stopping us from saving children in obvious danger, then the law must change.”
The 2026 legislative session begins Jan. 12.
