Opinion ID: 6227009
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: K.W.’s First Request To Return to Relative Care

Text: On December 20, 2019—two weeks after his abrupt removal from his relatives—K.W. filed a motion to be returned to Grandma B. or, in the alternative, to be placed with Aunt H. or Mr. W. K.W. filed a declaration expressing his strong desire to return to his relatives. Grandma B., Aunt H., and Aunt H.’s son submitted declarations in support of returning K.W. to relative placement. The court held a hearing on December 24. K.W.’s attorney underscored that K.W. had lived with Grandma B. for almost his entire life before he was suddenly removed from her care. He stressed K.W.’s strong connections with his family; he also argued there were “no true safety issues” with the relatives and that Grandma B. and Aunt H. would satisfy the background check and home study requirements without issue because of their jobs and prior experience caring for other children. Report of Proceedings (RP) (Dec. 24, 2019) at 15, 27. The Department opposed modifying placement to a relative without a department home study, due to alleged safety concerns about each of K.W.’s requested relative placements, including concerns that his relatives were permitting K.W. to have contact with his mother. 5 5 However, the Department had approved of supervised visits with K.W.’s mother throughout the dependency as recently as two months earlier and had approved an open adoption agreement that included visitation. 7 In re Dependency of K.W. No. 99301-7 The CASA reported that K.W. was having emotional outbursts at school since his removal from Grandma B.’s care—but she argued that K.W. should be placed with a prospective adoptive family because he needed permanence. The court authorized the Department to place K.W. with Aunt H. It also “urged [the Department] to expedite the completion of a home study” in the order but authorized the placement with Aunt H. without the completion of a home study. 4 CP at 814. It further ordered the Department to meet with Aunt H. to address its concerns and to “investigate and give priority to permanent placements with a relative.” Id. at 815. However, it also authorized the Department to place K.W. in licensed foster care. Immediately following the hearing, a department social worker allegedly told K.W.’s attorney and Aunt H. that they would not place K.W. with Aunt H. until a home study was completed, despite the court order. Arguing that the Department was acting in bad faith and the comments demonstrated their animus against the relatives, K.W.’s attorney requested the court to order placement with Aunt H. once the background check was completed. The court reiterated that a home study was not required but declined to modify its order. The Department moved K.W. to the home of another prospective adoptive family on December 27, 2019. 6 This was the 6 While K.W. was placed with this prospective family, his relatives requested through K.W.’s attorney that the Department allow K.W. to attend the Martin Luther King Jr. march and rally in January. K.W. had attended every year with his family, since the age of two. The 8 In re Dependency of K.W. No. 99301-7 third unfamiliar home K.W. was sent to in three weeks since he had been removed from his relatives’ care.