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Greater protection in CPS investigations

Due to hard work (often behind the scenes) by Home School Legal Defense Association, the Washington Association of Teaching Christian Homes, and Christian Homeschool Network of Washington, Senate Bill 5922 passed the Washington Legislature and was signed by the governor. With this bill, families in Washington will have greater protection during social services investigations.

Under SB 5922, a social services worker is required to notify the individual under investigation of the allegations against him or her at the initial time of contact. We often find that social services demands to enter a home and interview the children before providing the family with basic information about the allegations against them. Now, social workers in Washington will have to specifically identify the allegations at the very beginning of an investigation, increasing families' ability to carefully determine a response and enabling HSLDA to resolve these situations sooner.

Additionally, this bill requires the Department of Social and Health Services to train its social workers to protect the rights of families from the initial time of contact. These rights include the 4th Amendment right to be free from unlawful searches and seizures, which enables HSLDA to defend member families from intrusive social services investigations and protect their privacy.

Through the provisions of this bill, Washington families will be better protected against false allegations of abuse or neglect concerning their homeschool program or other family activities.