Lillian Ortiz-Self — Identified as the sponsor of House Bill 1747.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — The speaker appears to be addressing Representative Ortiz-Self as the next questioner.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — The member praises preventive services, references having a bill on the topic, and asks about interagency coordination.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — Thanked for bringing up family support centers.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — Thanked for raising family support centers and asked to elaborate on modernizing the safety framework.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — Referenced as having raised related questions about the safety framework.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — Referenced as having mentioned community supports that could help before escalation.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — Called on for one more follow-up question.
Julie Watson — Introduced as part of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families team.
Natalie Green — Natalie Green is introduced as part of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families team, and then she identifies herself as the Assistant Secretary for Child Welfare.
Julie Watts — Identifies herself as deputy director for government affairs for DCYF and says she is filling in for Dr. Vicki Abara.
Dr. Vicki Abara — Julie Watts says she is appearing in Dr. Abara's place.
HB1747 — Described as expanding guardianship subsidies to relatives and increasing guardianship exits.
HB1227 — House Bill 1227 is discussed as having raised the removal standard at shelter care hearings, contributing to a continued downward trend in entries into care. The discussion also references the pre-1227 baseline to show how the bill changed the trajectory.
SB6109 — Senate Bill 6109 was discussed as a law that clarified fentanyl’s lethality and required courts to give it great weight in removal decisions. The speaker noted that after the bill went into effect, the data appeared to show a corrective effect, and suggested that the bill may be contributing to a slowing increase in incidents.
Carolyn Eslick — Mentioned as having a personal passion for family resource centers.
Carolyn Eslick — Thanked as Ranking Member Eslick for the question or comment.
Carolyn Eslick — Referenced as having raised related questions about the safety framework.
Carolyn Eslick — Addressed as Ranking Member.
Carolyn Eslick — Representative Carolyn Eslick asks about Rainier’s bed capacity, specifically noting the current certified beds and the additional beds on warm closure.
Joshua Penner — Representative Joshua Penner is introduced as the next speaker and then takes the floor to thank the presenters and begin his remarks, including a question about the relationship between near fatalities and fatalities.
Natasha Hill — Representative Hill is referenced as asking a follow-up question about the safety framework and peer supports.
Natasha Hill — Referenced as having visited Lakeland Village during the interim.
Secretary Angela Ramirez — Secretary Angela Ramirez introduces herself, jokes about handling her own PowerPoint, and invites committee members and staff to continue reaching out to her as she settles into her role. She notes she has been in the job for about two months and briefly references the Reimagined reorganization effort that began before her tenure.
Sean Talbot — Introduced himself as Acting Assistant Secretary for the Behavioral Health and Habilitation Administration at DSHS.
Upkar Mangat — Introduced himself as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Behavioral Health and Habilitation Administration.
SB5393 — The discussion provides an update on Substitute Senate Bill 5393 and its implementation. The bill, passed by the legislature, governs changes related to Rainier School and residential habilitation centers, including restricting new admissions, requiring alternative placements, and setting closure-related timelines tied to zero census. It also requires biannual reports to the legislature, a public comment process, and emergency rulemaking. Speakers explain that agency rules were aligned with the legislation and that implementation is driving changes in admissions practices and operations.
Roger Goodman — Roger Goodman continued pressing the issue of Rainier being cited for not meeting active-treatment requirements, tying that compliance concern to the quality and availability of RHC services and noting that others, including Rep. Farber, shared the concern.
Kara Wood — Kara Wood is introduced as one of the presenters on child welfare systems and later identified as Dr. Sanders’ colleague and co-presenter.
Steve Bergquist — Steve Bergquist is addressed as Chair in a brief, repeated acknowledgment ('Thank you, Chair Burquist'), indicating a single continuous moment of recognition with no substantive discussion beyond the greeting.
Steve Bergquist — Chair Bergquist was thanked during the discussion, which continued into remarks referencing family support centers.
Steve Bergquist — Steve Bergquist is addressed as Chair in a continuous exchange, with no substantive topic change between the two mentions.
David Sanders — David Sanders introduces himself as executive vice president at Casey Family Programs, explains that he has responsibility for the organization’s work with states, says he will provide an overview of Washington in the national context, and notes his background as a child welfare director, including nearly 14 years leading two large urban areas such as Los Angeles County.
Jamila Taylor — Rep. Jamila Taylor is recognized by the chair, then directly addressed in the discussion, where she asks for follow-up data as part of the same exchange.
Jamila Taylor — Representative Taylor is called on for a follow-up question.
Jamila Taylor — Representative Jamila Taylor is called on and then asks whether DSHS has a team to engage legislators about the impacts of HR1.
Jamila Taylor — Jamila Taylor raised concerns about the gap between available services and the needs of people leaving hospitals or community placements, including people with developmental disabilities in state hospitals. The discussion then returned to her earlier question and continued with a follow-up about compliance extensions.
Lillian Ortiz-Self — The chair indicates Representative Ortiz-Self has a question.
Dr. Sanders — Identified as one of the presenters on child welfare systems.
Dr. Sanders — Concluded testimony and invited questions.
Dr. Sanders — Dr. Sanders is repeatedly referenced as the source of data showing similar positive trends to the department’s findings. The discussion notes that his data differs in approach, reflects non-child-welfare-involved children, and is being used to compare and reinforce the broader trend being discussed.