Petitioner asks Washington Supreme Court to review whether harm of removing a child from foster care may block reunification; state urges denial

Miss Valore, counsel for the petitioner, urged the Washington Supreme Court at a commissioner's hearing to take up a dependency dispute that the parties agree is technically moot. Miss Valore argued juvenile courts sometimes consider the possible harm of removing a child from a foster family when deciding reunification and that recognizing such harm as a basis to deny reunification “undermines the purposes of the dependency statute” and could create artificial barriers to reunification. “There are several thousand children right now who are living with foster families throughout the state of Washington,” she said, arguing the court’s guidance is needed so juvenile courts do not apply an improper standard.

Kristen Bellori, who argued on behalf of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families,…