(The Center Square) – With news this week that Washington paid out a record high amount in the last year to settle claims over state agency failures, one lawmaker is renewing calls to fix what’s broken.
Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, has offered legislation in recent sessions directed at reforming the Department of Children Youth and Families.That agency is responsible for Washington’s foster care system, investigating claims of child abuse and neglect and for juvenile justice rehabilitation facilities.The bulk of the claims were filed against DCYR, and Couture said it’s past time for changes. “Government and state agencies that continuously harm people and break the rules….yeah, this is the result of that,” said Couture in a Thursday interview with The Center Square.In 2025, the state paid out a record-breaking $500 million in claims, five times the amount in 2021.This year, the payouts climbed to $537 million. Washington spent another $32.7 million on lawyers and staff in the attorney general’s office, and another $43.6 million on outside law firms.Some of the cases being settled are decades old failures, but many are recent cases where children were left with abusive parents or allowed to remain with drug-addicted parents, many because of recent state law.The Keeping Families Together Act, passed in 2021, made active drug use alone not enough for courts to remove children from parents.During the 2026 legislative session, Couture offered several amendments to strengthen Substitute House Bill 2660, a bill he said said is focused more about protecting drug use by parents than saving the lives of babies and toddlers.His issue with the bill was that a child can only be taken out of a home if a court finds that reasonable efforts have been made to prevent or eliminate the need for removal and removal of the child is necessary to prevent imminent physical harm due to child abuse or neglect.Other legislation aimed at amending the Keeping Families Together Act also failed to advance.Couture explained most state agencies are self-insured and when they get sued, they have to pay a minimum.
“Think of it like a credit card, and the Legislature can set how much it’s going to pay that debt down. Whether it’s the minimum payment or more. And as we look off into the future, years and years into the future, there [are] billions and billions of dollars,” he said.
“The bulk of them [lawsuit payouts] are Department of Children, Youth, and Families. And whether it’s child welfare or foster care or juvenile rehabilitation…all the things under the DCYF umbrella, we’re breaking people. We’re harming them, and we’re gonna pay the cost for doing that through a court,” said Couture.
He said DCYF Secretary Tana Senn has been absent from conversations about her own agency.
The office has repeatedly failed to respond or declined interview requests made by The Center Square for the last several months. The agency did not respond to requests for this story.
“I did get a letter from her during the legislative session basically blaming the Keeping Families Together Act for not being able to remove the nine-year-old in Aurora from a tent,” Couture said.
“But at the same time, she will go up in public and defend this law. And so, you never really know which Tana you’re going to get,” he added.
Couture said the fact Sec. Senn has failed to step up and demand changes within the agency and laws to better protect the most vulnerable is beyond his understanding.
“It’s kind of like, ‘Where’s Waldo?’ And I think that’s the old political version of if you just hide in the basement long enough, they’ll forget about you,” he said.
Couture said in the coming weeks he will announce next steps for bringing attention to the issue of the most vulnerable in our state not being protected, and taxpayers getting stuck with the bill to settle the resulting lawsuits.