They weren’t talking about changes of the incremental, nibbling-at-the-edges style we’re used to. No, in 2023, when the Keeping Families Together law takes effect, the front end of Washington state’s entire child welfare system will be reconstructed, with new rules that could cut the number of kids in foster care by half and a raft of plans to prevent these family separations from happening in the first place. At least, that’s the promise.
Anyone even moderately familiar with the present system will agree that its outcomes are an indictment. In Washington, foster kids graduate high school at lower rates than homeless youth. Nationally, fewer than 3% earn a four-year college
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