As Washingtonians, we often see ourselves as justice-oriented and progressive, but right now we have the same, or worse, economic disparities as every other state in the nation. Where a child lives and the color of their skin have far too much to do with the opportunities afforded to them. But this year we have the chance to make a step closer to a future where every child in Washington can be rich in lifelong learning and success.

Washington state is home to many wealthy people. And they want the same things for their communities as the rest of us: good schools, access to health care, safe roads, and healthy green spaces. But in terms of taxes, the wealthiest among us are not contributing at the same rate as those with the low and middle incomes. Washington isn’t a tax haven for everyone; we rely heavily on sales and property taxes, which hit working families hardest. Right now, families making less than $33,500 pay 13.8% of their income in taxes, while those making over $875,000 pay just 4.1%.

This inequity is compounded by the tax breaks included in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA). According to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, families making over $700,000 a year will see a $13,600 boost in household resources, almost entirely from tax cuts. On the other hand, families making $24,000 a year or less will lose around $1,200 every year, mostly due to cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. In a state as prosperous as ours, working families should be able to build a future without being weighed down by an inequitable tax system. We need a way forward that does not continue to place the burden on those who can afford it least.

The Millionaires Tax introduced in Olympia as Senate Bill 6346 would be a significant step toward balancing our tax code. This proposal would tax annual earnings over $1 million at 9.9%. Early analysis shows this could raise nearly $3.7 billion a year from less than 1% of the wealthiest households statewide. 

Revenue from this tax would primarily go into the state’s General Fund to support vital programs and services like health care and education. This legislation would also reduce taxes on small businesses, expand eligibility for the Working Families Tax Credit, and dedicate a portion of the revenue to county public defense programs.

This year, our state is again facing a budget shortfall. As a result, many critical programs are at risk of funding cuts and delays – but one stands out: early learning. Cuts to early learning make up 40% of all proposed cuts in the budget, which would cause thousands of families to lose access to care and leave early learning providers without the necessary resources to provide a living wage for their staff. 

As a former preschool teacher, I know how impactful early learning programs are for kids and families. They provide a nurturing environment for positive child development, and safe and trusted care so that parents can work. While revenue from the Millionaires Tax will not prevent funding cuts in this budget cycle, it would help resolve the deficit and protect important programs like early learning in the future.

Well-funded schools, access to health care, and strong communities benefit all of us. We all have a stake in the future of our state, and it’s time for the wealthiest among us to contribute equitably toward that. Let’s pass the Millionaires Tax.

The post A Millionaires Tax invests in a future for all families | Op-Ed appeared first on Seattle's Child.

SPS expands highly capable program to two more schools

With Seattle Public School highly capable services available in only one elementary, middle, and high school in Seattle, parents and teachers have long voiced concern over inequitable access to specialized educational programs for K-12 students who perform or show potential to perform at significantly advanced academic levels. 

The district announced last week that, as of next September, the highly capable program will also be available at Rainier View Elementary in South Seattle and Alki Elementary in West Seattle. They join programs at Thurgood Marshall Elementary, Washington Middle School, and Garfield High School in the city’s Central District. 

“These new sites are a direct response to what we heard during our community engagement sessions—families and educators asked for services closer to home,” wrote Paula Montgomery, drirector of SPS’ Highly Capable program, in an email to parents. She added the program gained 700 students this year.

Which site a student would be assigned do depends on their home school elementary boundary: 

• Rainier View Elementary will serve Emerson, Rainier View, Dunlap, Wing Luke, MLK, Graham Hill, South Shore, Dearborn Park, Maple, and Rising Star elementaries. 
• Alki Elementary will serve Lafayette, Alki, Genesse Hill, Fairmount Park, Gatewood, West Seattle Elementary, Sanislo, Concord, Highland Park, Roxhill, and Arbor Heights elementarie. 
• And, Thurgood Marshall Elementary will serve Hawthorne, Montlake, McGilvra, Stevens, Lowell, Madrona, Leschi, Bailey Gatzert, Beacon Hill, Thurgood Marshall, Kimball, and John Muir elementaries.

Montgomery also clarified for kids already in highly capable classrooms: “Families with students currently attending Thurgood Marshall also have the option to remain through 5th grade.  Additionally, there is no further action needed for families who would like to remain at their current school.”

Results for highly capable entrance assessments for the 2026–27 school year are out this month, and SPS has extended the enrollment window for all five locations for current and newly identified advanced learners through Feb. 28. Late applications will be accepted through March 31. Learn more about the district’s distribution of highly capable students in this article from The Seattle Times. 

(Image of courtesy The Reptile Zoo)

Good-bye to The Reptile Zoo, again

It’s for sure this time: The Reptile Zoo, a popular haunt for reptile-loving kids since 1996, will close its doors permanently on Feb. 16.

The once-busy 7,000-square-foot roadside menagerie in Monroe first announced its closure last October. Zoo owner Isaac Petersen said then that the attraction suffered during the pandemic and has since been burdened by rising costs. The October media coverage drew visitors to the zoo on Highway 2, leading to a brief comeback that ends this week.

There’s no going back this time. Zoo owners have rehomed most of their animals—although some are still available. If your family has the know-how and space, you mightconsider contacting the zoo. Read the whole story at Seattleschild.com

Should phones be banned at the state level? (Image: iStock.com)

Should WA follow the stateside cellphone ban trend? 

Washington state does not currently have a statewide law that outright bans cellphones in schools. Here, we allow school districts to make their own restrictions (or not) on student use of cellphones and other mobile devices. And all districts in the state have some form of restriction or ban in place to stop kids from using devices in class or on school grounds.

But a statewide no cellphone rule? Not here, not yet. But if the momentum behind statewide cellphone bans and restrictions in schools continues, maybe one day Washington will follow suit. 

According to a recent report by Stateline, the nonprofit news network, more than half of states (38 states and Washington, D.C.) have enacted a state-level law that restricts cellphone use in schools. And teachers, superintendents and education experts are waving flags of praise and celebration. They connect state-level policies to increased student attention and learning, improved student mental health, and stronger school communities.

For those states, the legislative question is: for how much of the school day should distracting devices be inaccessible to students?

Currently in Washington, which falls smack in the middle of two major student achievement scales and still has many students struggling with math and reading, the state legislature is considering a measure that addresses cellphone use in school. 

On Feb. 11, the Senate fast-tracked and approved Senate Bill 5346, which would task the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) with gathering research, best practices, and district policies on limiting use of mobile devices in schools. The measure would help districts develop strong cellphone policies. So no statewide ban this year. For us, the question remains, “Is the decision to ban cellphones in schools really a local issue?”

TAKE ACTION: Do you have an opinion on whether a ban on cellphone use in schools should be mandated by state law? I’d love to hear it. Email me at cheryl@seattleschild.com. You have a voice on SB 5346: reach out to your representatives in the state House and Senate.

Greenhouse gas causing car exhaust (Image: iStock.com)

Speaking of flowers …and Trump’s reversal of climate change protections

If it feels like spring is arriving earlier each year— or lingering longer — in Seattle, you’re not imagining it. Long-term weather data from stations across Washington show that last frost dates are creeping earlier, and those first truly warm days are appearing earlier on the calendar. Scientists call it “season creep.” Over the past century, the Northwest has steadily warmed, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Climate Change Impacts in the Northwest webpage.

And, as the Washington Department of Health points out, climate change means the pollen Washington now starts about 20 days earlier and stretches roughly a month longer than it did three decades ago.

So yes, Virginia, er, President Donald Trump, climate change is real. Just ask NASA and the National Academy of Sciences, whose evidence-based research finds a clear and inarguable link.

And yet, last week, Trump revoked the Obama-era foundation for federal climate protections in the U.S. — a scientific finding that said greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane endanger public health and welfare. That “endangerment finding” was what allowed the federal government to regulate vehicle tailpipe emissions and other greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act, and its undoing removes that legal basis. And unless Congress acts, or courts block the change, the country will not be able to regulate the single largest source of greenhouse gases.

Trump says it will lower consumer costs and expand vehicle choice. Climate scientists and environmental advocates warn that it undermines decades of climate progress and weakens the country’s ability to slow global warming and protect public health.

You’ve got kids. Your kids, grandkids, and their progeny will inherit the planet. What do you think about one of the most far-reaching decisions of the Trump administration?

TAKE ACTION: I want to hear how you feel about the revocation of the endangerment finding; what concerns do you have, if any? Email me at Cheryl@seattleschild.com. Do you think Congress needs to take action on this issue? Make your voice heard. Contact your members of Congress.

Dr. Soleil Boyd, executive director of Children’s Alliance speaks in Olympia in January (Image: Children’s Alliance)

Could a ‘millionaires tax’ be an investment in a future for all families?

The bill that would impose a 9.9% tax on Washingtonians who earn more than $1 million in a year was passed out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee last week for consideration by the full Senate. If passed by the full legislature and signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson, Senate Bill 6346, (the “millionaires tax,”) would start collecting about  $3.5 billion a year in 2028, with some exemptions and restrictions. In response, Washington’s largest statewide nonprofit children’s advocacy group, Children’s Alliance, threw its full support behind the potential tax.

“Revenue from this tax would primarily go into the state’s General Fund to support vital programs and services like health care and education,” Dr. Soleil Boyd, Children’s Alliance executive director wrote in a Seattle’s Child op-ed on Friday. The tax, Boyd wrote, is a key to stopping the cycle of cutting vital programs in times of state budget deficit only to refund them in better financial times.

“This year, many critical programs are at risk of funding cuts and delays – but one stands out: early learning,” she wrote. “Cuts to early learning make up 40% of all proposed cuts in the budget, which would cause thousands of families to lose access to care and leave early learning providers without the necessary resources to provide a living wage for their staff.”

Read Boyd’s full argument in support of Senate Bill 6346.

TAKE ACTION:To make your voice heard on the proposed “millionaires tax,” reach out to your representatives in the state House and Senate.

Parents! Take this survey!

This month, 4Culture, King County’s cultural funding agency, wants to hear from county residents—especially families—about how often, where, and when you go out to explore the region through theater, museums, festivals, music, films, public art, and other events and cultural activities.

As 4Culture explains, the King County Resident Cultural Participation Survey helps 4Culture understand, measure, and improve access to arts, heritage, and cultural experiences. It’s focused on identifying participation trends and barriers to equitable cultural opportunities in the county. The survey is one tool the agency uses to determine how it spends money from the county Lodging Tax and other revenue to support the “cultural sector.”  

The survey takes about 9 minutes to complete and asks questions to determine how many outings include kids, or for which the main reason for going is to spend time as a family.

TAKE ACTION: Help the county ensure arts and culture remain a high priority. Take the survey here.

United States Capitol building in Washington DC (Image: S. Greg Panosian)

Murray and Cantwell announce federal budget wins for Washington kids and families

Those sneaky top Republicans and Democrats. According to an article this week in the New York Times, they managed last week to work together and pass several bills that, together, make it harder for President Donald Trump and his administration to go around Congress when allocating federal funds. Washington Senator Patty Murray (D-Bothell) is one of those top Democrats who pushed for codifying the rules and funding levels the administration must abide by when allocating (or withholding) federal funds.

Along with that win, Murray, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Edmonds), who is chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation fannounced Washington projects of impact to kids and families that will receive federal dollars in 2026. Among the greater Seattle-area wins:  

• $3.15 million to build affordable housing units in Seattle
• $3 million to Seattle Children’s Hospital for construction of a youth behavioral health crisis stabilization observation unit
• $800,000 for United Way King County to improve emergency food distribution system
• $1.5 million to the Seattle Indian Services Commission for the construction of affordable housing, early learning center, and a child care facility
• $300,000 to Seattle-based statewide Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program and its Book Up Summer program providing free books for kids and book discussion nights for families
• More than $7 million to City of Seattle and groups like Renton’s Friends of Youth in support of affordable housing
• $2 million to support high school maritime education programs in Tacoma and Port Townsend
• $4.5 million to Seattle Indian Health Board to build a health center
• $100,000 to Children’s Therapy Center to support resource navigation services for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities
• $6.2 million for the construction of a new early learning center in Bremerton 
• $600,000 for the organization Open Doors for Multicultural Families in support of a new, early childhood education center at the Kent/Des-Moines Light Rail site
• $850,000 to Edmonds to build a new food bank in a more convenient location,
• $1.6 million Sea Mar Community Health Centers
• $2 million to Lake Forest Park toward construction of the Lakefront Park Community Center Project
• $250,000 to the City of Federal Way for day care relocation and renovation

Seattle and King County sync regarding protecting families from ICE aggression

Seattle’s new Mayor, Katie Wilson, has already taken a tough stance on immigration enforcement agents in the City. Two weeks ago, Wilson ordered that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are barred from using city-owned property. She also committed $4 million in legal defense funds for residents facing immigration proceedings, opened a dedicated hotline where community members can report ICE activity, and instructed Seattle Police to document federal immigration enforcement actions occurring within city limits. 

The county’s chief is right there with Wilson. 

Last week, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay issued his first executive order since taking office last year. In it, he too banned ICE from making arrests in non-public areas of county-owned buildings and properties. 

And, like Wilson, Zahilay went further. He committed $2 million in emergency funding to help immigrant and refugee families access legal services, maintain their housing, and keep food on the table. The order also directs the King County Sheriff’s Office to outline how it responds to calls to 911 reporting immigration raids. 

“Every resident who calls King County home, regardless of their citizenship status, deserves safety, dignity, and to live without fear or intimidation,” Executive Zahilay said in a release.

While immigrant families still live in fear of ICE aggression and arrest, city and county leadership and policies aimed at protecting them from aggressive and possibly illegal ICE tactics speak volumes. As Mayor Wilson recently put it, “This moment demands action.”

Are people abusing the Public Records Act to hurt school districts?

A bill moving through the Washington legislature seeks to find ways to discourage people from misusing the state’s Public Records Act to target school districts. HB 2661 addresses records requests that are “frivolous, retaliatory, or harassing” and that place a heavy burden on school district resources and personnel. 

By driving up financial, legal, and operational strain—especially when districts must respond to complex, high-volume requests tied to controversial issues and spend extensive staff time redacting and reviewing records—these demands can pull resources away from classrooms and into compliance, heightening the tension between transparency and student privacy.

The amended form of the bill, which now goes to the full House of Representatives for a vote, requires the state’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to form a work group to research the impacts of records request abuse on school districts. The task force invitees will now be asked to join the work group.

TAKE ACTION: To make your voice heard on HB 2661 , reach out to your representatives in the state House and Senate.

Physical therapist assisting baby with birth trauma in coordination exercise (Image: iStock.com)

Lawmakers should not balance the budget on the backs of the state’s most vulnerable kids | Op-Ed

If passed by the state legislature this year, House Bill 2688 could result in a Washington that fails thousands of its most vulnerable residents—babies and toddlers with disabilities.

Last week, the House Committee on Appropriations voted to move the proposal forward—with one big, bill-turning change. Rather than increasing the budget for the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) program from $48 million to about $50 million a year by increasing its funding formula multiplier from 1.15 to 1.2, the amended bill sets the formula back to the 2008 multiplier level of 1.0. The program’s multiplier is the number the state uses to calculate how much money it provides for each baby or toddler receiving early intervention services. If the multiplier goes up, programs receive more money per child; if it goes down, they receive less.

The result of the amended bill would be tragic: fewer kids receiving critical early intervention services they need to thrive and significantly less money for school districts, which provide many of those services. In King County, this means about 1,200 fewer children would have access to state-funded services to help them develop vital communication, motor, and basic survival skills (including eating). ESIT currently serves more than 7,000 infants and toddlers in the county with an array of diagnoses, among them Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hearing or vision loss, developmental delays, prematurity, severe illness, and autism spectrum disorder. 

If you are a parent with a disabled baby, this bill could mean the difference between your child receiving vital early intervention and not.

Yes, Washington is facing a $2.3 billion budget shortfall for the current biennium. Most children’s programs should not expect increases when money is this tight—even the most critical and impactful ones like ESIT. But neither should they become the back upon which a deficit is balanced. The amendment moved forward by the House Appropriations Committee doesn’t kill HB 2688. It blunts its purpose.

Instead of strengthening special education funding, it goes backward, landing at a level below the status quo and leaving districts and families largely where they’ve been for more than a decade: doing more with less.

House Bill 2688 has been referred to the House Rules Committee before a vote by the full House. If approved it would need to pass the Senate before the session’s closure March 12.

Read this full opinion-editorial at Seattleschild.com.

TAKE ACTION: To make your voice heard on HB 2688 and its limitation of services for disabled infants and preschoolers. Reach out to your representatives in the state House and Senate.

More gloom on the way. Bring on the free flowers 

Forecasters are calling for a wet week—with alternating days of rain and potentially snow showers. In other words, dark, dreary, Seattle winter. Frye Art Museum has just the fix: “Wallflowers,” a new exhibit centered on, well, flowers. In other words, bright, colorful, mostly cheery and a nod toward spring. 

According to the exhibit description, the installation of exhibit art was “structured to mimic the delights of navigating a cultivated garden [and] oscillates between discrete paintings and immersive patterns, between contemplation and exuberance.” The show runs until the real buds start to emerge, that is, May 17. And it’s absolutely FREE.  

The post This Hits Home: News that impacts Washington families appeared first on Seattle's Child.

Last week, the House Committee on Appropriations voted to move the proposal forward—with one big, bill-turning change. Rather than increasing the budget for the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) program from $48 million to about $50 million a year by increasing its funding formula multiplier from 1.15 to 1.2, the amended bill sets the formula back to the 2008 multiplier level of 1.0. The program’s multiplier is the number the state uses to calculate how much money it provides for each baby or toddler receiving early intervention services. If the multiplier goes up, programs receive more money per child; if it goes down, they receive less.

The result of the amended bill would be tragic: fewer kids receiving critical early intervention services they need to thrive and significantly less money for school districts, which provide many of those services.

In King County, this means about 1,200 fewer children would have access to state-funded services to help them develop vital communication, motor, and basic survival skills (including eating). ESIT currently serves more than 7,000 infants and toddlers in the county with an array of diagnoses, among them Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hearing or vision loss, developmental delays, prematurity, severe illness, and autism spectrum disorder. The formula decrease would bring that number closer to 5,000.

Committee members who supported the amendment to reduce the funding formula multiplier pointed to the state’s current multi-billion-dollar budget deficit and competing demands.

Those against the amendment—chiefly Rep. Joshua Penner (R-Orting) and Rep. Travis Couture (R-Allyn)—argued with passion from lived experience. Both have children who have needed special education:

“Mr. Chair, from birth to death the disability community in Washington has to fight for the bare minimum of support, and today we’re once again considering balancing a budget by removing the supports of yet another part of that same group that literally cannot speak for itself, infants and toddlers fighting for their lives, trying to learn how to swallow and roll over and do the things that come natural for every other kid,” said Penner prior to the committee vote. “The move looks marginally good on paper, but it’s an execution; it’s devastating.”

Penner continued, asking a hard question about a program that already does not cover all Washington babies with special needs: “Who’s going to advocate for an increase? Is it parents who are spending 70 hours a week on top of their 40-hour jobs, taking care of their child, trying to figure out how to make things work? No, it’s not them. They don’t have folks coming down here. They’re actively taking care of their kids in the NICU.

“This isn’t a fix,” Penner said. “It’s not a solution. It’s not about parity at this point. It’s not about conformity. It’s not about ensuring that money comes from one bucket over another. It’s an easy take from a silent population.”

A 2025 review published in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics, established a clear link between early intervention services and optimal outcomes for disabled children:

“From the review, we can determine that early detection and intervention are necessary to ensure optimal developmental outcomes,” the authors wrote. “Evidence suggests that a thorough, integrated approach to intervention, if employed with adequate degrees of intensity and family inclusion, can greatly improve development in many areas.” 

If you are a parent with a disabled baby, this bill could mean the difference between your child receiving vital early intervention and not.

Yes, Washington is facing a $2.3 billion budget shortfall for the current biennium. Most children’s programs should not expect increases when money is this tight—even the most critical and impactful ones like ESIT. But neither should they become the back upon which a deficit is balanced. The amendment moved forward by the House Appropriations Committee doesn’t kill HB 2688. It blunts its purpose.

Instead of strengthening special education funding, it goes backward, landing at a level below the status quo and leaving districts and families largely where they’ve been for more than a decade: doing more with less.

House Bill 2688 has been referred to the House Rules Committee before a vote by the full House. If approved it would need to pass the Senate before the session’s closure March 12.

TAKE ACTION: To make your voice heard on HB 2688 and its limitation of services for disabled infants and preschoolers. Reach out to your representatives in the state House and Senate. 

Read more news of image to Washington families.

The post Don’t balance the budget on the backs of the state’s most vulnerable kids | Op-Ed appeared first on Seattle's Child.

Outside of the years of the pandemic, the number of Washington students experiencing homelessness has seen steady increases since the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction began monitoring the number annually.[1]

As the resources needed to support the increased needs of students experiencing homelessness have grown in recent years, state and federal supports have become increasingly uncertain.

In 2025, federal-level decisions have introduced significant uncertainty for programs supporting students experiencing homelessness:

• Proposed Elimination of Funding Supporting Homeless Students: A White House proposal sought to consolidate the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Children and Homeless Youth (ECHY) program into a block grant, effectively removing dedicated funding. ECHY is the only federal program focused on identifying homeless students and removing barriers to education.
• Administrative Disruptions: In October, the U.S. Department of Education terminated staff responsible for ECHY oversight, including compliance and guideline enforcement. These positions were reinstated only after a successful legal challenge.
• Shift of Oversight to Department of Labor: On November 18, the Department of Education began transferring responsibilities—including ECHY administration—to the Department of Labor, signaling a retreat from the federal government’s longstanding role in ensuring educational access for homeless students.

The federal level uncertainty has been compounded by challenges at the state level.  During the 2025 legislative session, the Homeless Student Stability Education Program (HSSeP), which is designed to support districts with identification, enrollment, and services for public school students living in homeless situations, had its funding cut by 76% to $1.2 million for the current two-year budget cycle.

Federal & State Funding for Students Experiencing Homelessness (Millions)

With funding cuts and increasing homelessness, the statewide average per-student allocation for homeless students has dropped consistently over the past several years.

*Assumes no change in the number of students experiencing homelessness from 2024-25

The budget crisis is compounding the difficulties districts face in serving homeless students. With state funding slashed, federal support eliminated, and homelessness on the rise, schools are struggling to maintain the resources needed to guarantee every child’s right to learn.

Now more than ever, we need to invest in what works. HSSeP’s approach—linking housing stability and academic achievement—has delivered results since the pandemic. For a child to learn, they must first feel secure in where they will sleep each night. In 2024, HSSeP strengthened the lives of more than 13,000 people by providing housing stability and increasing access to learning. State budget cuts in 2025 reduced funding so significantly that the number of people supported through HSSeP will be less than a third of that for the 25-26 school year. It is clear that restoring this vital funding is a critical step towards supporting our most vulnerable students.

This session represents a critical chance to support homeless students. Together, from Washington, D.C., to Olympia, we must advocate for the programs that guarantee every child access to education.

This article is reposted with permission from League of Education Voters (LEV) blog. LEV is a non-profit, non-partisan Washington state organization that advocates for student-focused, equitable public education by providing research, building coalitions, and engaging communities, families, educators, and policymakers to address systemic barriers and improve learning environments for all students, especially those historically underserved. Support LEV work.

The post A critical chance to support homeless students | Op-Ed appeared first on Seattle's Child.

Artificial intelligence chatbots are increasingly filling that space. They’re always available. They sound kind. They don’t interrupt. And for a young person feeling overwhelmed, lonely, or desperate, that can feel like relief.

But it can also be dangerous.

Across the country, states are beginning to step in, passing laws to prevent AI chatbots from offering mental health advice to young users. The move follows deeply troubling reports of young people harming themselves after turning to these programs for something that looked a lot like therapy — but wasn’t.

To be clear, technology can play a helpful role. Chatbots can share resources, encourage coping strategies, or point someone toward professional help. The problem is how easily that line blurs — especially for kids who don’t yet have the tools to tell the difference between a supportive response and real clinical care.

Mental health professionals have been sounding the alarm.

In a recent article by Stateline, Mitch Prinstein, a senior science adviser at the American Psychological Association, said that some chatbots cross into manipulation. Most chatbots are designed to be endlessly agreeable, mirroring feelings instead of challenging harmful thinking. For a child in crisis, that design choice can be catastrophic.

These systems aren’t capable of empathy. They don’t carry legal or ethical responsibility. They aren’t trained to recognize the moment when a conversation must shift from listening to intervention. And yet, they can sound convincingly human — a dangerous illusion for someone reaching out in pain.

Lawmakers are starting to acknowledge that risk.

Illinois and Nevada have gone so far as to ban the use of AI for behavioral health altogether. New York and Utah now require chatbots to clearly identify themselves as non-human. New York’s law also mandates that programs respond to signs of self-harm by directing users to crisis hotlines and other immediate supports. California and Pennsylvania are weighing similar legislation.

Washington isn’t standing still on this issue, but it isn’t there yet either. Lawmakers in Olympia have introduced bills — as of this week, HB 2225 in the House and SB 5984 in the Senate — that would place guardrails around AI “companion” chatbots, especially those that interact with children. The proposals would require chatbots to clearly identify themselves as non-human, build in protections for detecting signs of self-harm and suicidal intent, and ban emotionally manipulative engagement techniques that could harm vulnerable users. These steps reflect a growing recognition that emotionally persuasive technology aimed at young people carries real risk, but as of now, they remain proposals, not law.

For families navigating a world where kids can stumble into AI “therapy” at any hour of the day or night, that gap matters — and it raises a familiar question in Washington policymaking: will safeguards arrive before harm becomes harder to ignore?

This isn’t about fear of technology. It’s about honesty — and responsibility.

Children deserve to know who they’re talking to. Families deserve guardrails that keep innovation from wandering into spaces it isn’t equipped to handle. And in moments of real emotional crisis, young people deserve something no algorithm can provide: a trained human being who is accountable for their care.

As parents, caregivers, and communities, we’re still learning how to protect kids in a world where help — or the illusion of it — is always just a tap away. But one thing feels clear: when it comes to children’s mental health, “almost human” isn’t good enough.

Now is the time to tell lawmakers how you feel, wherever you stand on this issue. Contact members of the Washington State House of Representatives and Washington State Senate.

More Op-Eds:

A critical chance to defend homeless students | Op-Ed

A ban on gender-affirming care will hurt, not protect, kids | Op Ed

WA should lead in providing cash to help moms and babies | Op Ed

The post Washington lawmakers must protect youth from chatbot ‘therapy’| Op-Ed appeared first on Seattle's Child.

One bill, House Bill 2112, is among those. While it won’t cost the state anything, not passing it would be a big loss for Washington families.

The proposal, sponsored by Representative Mari Leavitt (D-University Place) and currently awaiting a vote in the House Consumer Protection & Business Committee, would require websites to verify a user is age 18 or older if one-third of the site content is sexual material harmful to minors. And it’s supported across the aisle, by Democrats and Republicans.

The impacts of exposure

During a public hearing earlier this month, it was easy to see why House Bill 2112 has broad support, with the first testimony from Heather Grassman, a  Sammaish mother of twins whose family epitomizes the worst outcome of kids’ access to internet porn and other “dark web” content.

“On Jan. 15, 2025, at 8:30 a.m., my beloved son Reilly, 17 years old…ended his life after experiencing a deep depression directly related to the time he spent in the dark places of the internet that we could not protect him from,” Grassman told lawmakers. “After he died, we found messages on his cell phone in his own words about how it contributed to his depression.”

Grassman said that the Bill’s passage is “essential” because parents are “out-matched” by the companies generating sexually explicit content.

“My tech-savvy husband and I tried to keep our boys safe online [with] firewalls, external router protection, parental controls, and monitoring their screen time,” she said. “That same tech provides all the information kids need if they want to work around or bypass these barriers. It just doesn’t make sense. We have laws to protect our kids from sex and violence in movies and print, and yet they have unlimited access to these things and more in a device that they can carry in their pocket.”

If HB 2112 makes it out of committee and is passed into law by the legislature this year, Washington would be one of 26 states with internet content age-verification laws.

In other testimony, Rachel Robison described her first exposure to pornography and her subsequent online addiction to explicit content by age 13. That exposure led to attempted suicide, abusive relationships, and the need for ongoing trauma therapy, Robison said. Robinson has testified and told her story across the country in an effort to get age-verification laws passed.

“I was 7 years old [when]I was exposed to porn by another 7-year-old on a play date,” she told those gathered at a National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) briefing on a similar proposal in Texas. “My sweet world was opened to a world of brutality and sexual violence.”

She told Washington lawmakers: “If the website had required actual age verification, all these things would have been prevented.”

Privacy objections

Although TechNet, the technology industry trade association, does not broadly support age verification, TechNet is not opposing HB 2112.

Opposition to the bill, however, came from surprising quarters: the ACLU, the Northwest Progressive Institute, and LGBTQ advocates spoke out against it. Such groups cited privacy as a major concern.

The Free Speech Coalition and representatives from the adult industry also opposed it, some stressing that passage of such laws would dramatically reduce traffic to compliant sites, meaning users (adults and children) would simply move to non-compliant sites hosted in other countries.

If approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson, HB 2112 would create the “Keep Our Children Safe Act,” allowing Washington’s Attorney General to sue explicit internet content companies that fail to enforce age-verification protocols. If found guilty, companies would be fined $10,000 per day until verification is instituted. Companies would also be fined $10,000 per instance for failing to delete verification-identifying information after an age check. Companies would be fined up to $250,000 if one or more minors accessed material restricted under the act.

Kids over companies?

Parents at the committee hearing bought none of those opposition perspectives. Tech companies must be held accountable for protecting kids from explicit content, they say, and it’s the state’s job to ensure they do.

“We place the responsibility on parents, most of whom do not have the tools to accomplish this, no matter how hard they try,” Grassman said. “We can’t expect our children to understand the potential harm, something that has been clearly established, for which there is no debate. Our story is real-life proof of that.”

As of Jan. 30, the bill remains in committee, with no executive session scheduled, during which it could be voted out of committee. Click below to watch video testimony on the bill from its Jan. 16 hearing.

Take action: Do you have an opinion on HB 2112? No matter how you feel, your voice matters. Contact members of the House Consumer Protection & Business Committee and your Washington State Senate representative.

More news from the Washington Legislature 2026:

Follow the weekly This Hits Home: News that impacts Washington families column posting at seattleschild.com every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. PST.

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Vaccines have quietly rewritten the story of human health, allowing children to grow up healthier than any generation before them. But because these vaccine victories are largely invisible, we don’t always give them the credit they deserve. Despite decades of research and real-world results, doubts about vaccines have become more common — not because the science has changed, but because the social context has. Anxieties have been stoked and collective memory of these devastating diseases has faded. In the absence of visible threats, it’s easy to underestimate what we stand to lose.

To understand what’s at stake when doubt and misinformation dominate, let’s take a look at MMR, HPV, and hepatitis B, three childhood vaccines that have radically changed our lives.

MMR (measles, mumps and rubella): The vaccine that changed childhood

Travel back to 1962, the year before the measles vaccine made its debut. Measles—arguably the most contagious disease on Earth — was rampant, just as it had been throughout human history. Nearly every child caught it, and though many recovered, far too many ended up in hospitals with complications like pneumonia, brain swelling, or worse.

For some, the effects weren’t dramatic at first but threw curveballs later. People noticed that after a measles infection, they had a harder time fighting off other illnesses, even ones they’d had before or been vaccinated against — a phenomenon we now call “measles amnesia.” In rare cases, measles lay dormant in the body and caused sudden illness or death up to a decade after infection.

Then came the measles vaccine, turning an almost inevitable illness into a preventable one. By 1971, the MMR vaccine offered protection against two additional diseases: mumps and rubella. MMR is so effective that two doses prevent 97% of infections, and for most people, protection stretches across a lifetime. By 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the U.S., a major public health milestone.

But recent headlines tell a different story. In 2025, the U.S. reported over 2,100 cases, more than in any single year since the early 1990s. What’s behind the surge? Across the country and around the world, fewer people are getting vaccinated due to distrust, misinformation, and access barriers.

Here in King County, relatively strong vaccination rates overall have staved off outbreaks, but some communities have lower coverage. Every case carries the potential to spark a wider outbreak. Measles is knocking at our door and looking to exploit any vulnerability, but we don’t have to let it in.

The hepatitis B vaccine: Protection from day 1 of life

Hepatitis B has an infamous nickname: the silent killer. That’s because many people live with the virus for years, even decades, often not knowing they’re infected as it quietly progresses and potentially spreads to others. By the time symptoms appear, significant damage may already have occurred, such as scarring (cirrhosis), liver disease, or liver cancer.

Fortunately, we have a highly effective vaccine for hepatitis B. The hepatitis B birth dose helps stop transmission from parent to baby and has had profound impact. Without it, 9 out of 10 infants infected during birth would develop chronic hepatitis B. Since the universal birth dose was first introduced in the early 1990s, hepatitis B virus infections among U.S. children and teens have dropped by 99%. It’s a striking example of how early vaccine decisions can protect health across a lifetime.

Still, hepatitis B hasn’t disappeared. Because the virus continues to circulate globally, it can re-enter communities through travel or migration. That’s why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) continues to recommend routine hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns. The timing of the birth dose has been rigorously studied for decades and has proven to be both safe and effective protection against a potentially lifelong infection.

The HPV vaccine: Proven cancer prevention

What if two vaccine visits could protect your child from six types of cancer? The HPV vaccine makes that a reality. Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is an incredibly common virus. Spread through intimate skin-to-skin contact, it infects nearly everyone at some point. Most infections resolve on their own, but some linger silently and later develop into serious cancers, including cervical, anal, penile, vaginal, vulvar, and throat cancers.

Since its introduction in 2006, HPV vaccine has led to an 80% drop in precancerous cervical lesions among young people with cervixes in the U.S. A recent study of 3.5 million people confirmed that the vaccine significantly lowers the risk of HPV-related cancers for everyone, regardless of sex. With nearly two decades of monitoring showing it to be safe, effective, and long-lasting, the HPV vaccine isn’t just promising, it’s transformative.

Grounded in science

The MMR, hepatitis B, and HPV vaccines are powerful examples of how vaccines have reshaped the human experience. Not through dramatic headlines, but through steady, reliable prevention. And these are just a few examples; similar stories exist for vaccines recommended at every stage of life. In a world where misinformation spreads faster than viruses, understanding both the past and the present reminds us of how far we’ve come—and why we can trust the science that got us here.

In the United States, the path from scientific discovery to a widely available vaccine has been governed by one of the world’s most rigorous regulatory systems. During every phase—from early research and clinical trials to FDA approval to routine vaccinations in clinics, pharmacies, and doctors’ offices—vaccines are continuously studied and monitored to uphold safety, effectiveness, and transparency.

Public Health – Seattle & King County is committed to honoring this process, making vaccine recommendations grounded in robust scientific evidence. We are dedicated to working alongside our public health partners to ensure vaccine guidance remains accurate and evidence-based. Federal priorities may shift, but the evidence supporting the safety and immense benefits of vaccines remains unshaken.

**This article is reposted with permission from Public Health Insider, the official blog of Public Health—Seattle & King County.

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Something that gives me hope is focusing on the actions I can take close to home, here in Washington state. 

Returning again

I have attended Have a Heart for Kids Day, Children’s Alliance’s annual lobby day, multiple times. The reason I keep returning to this event is the sense of collective purpose that it gives me. It is such a fun day filled with great energy and it’s a real opportunity to connect with other advocates and speak up for what matters to us.

Additionally, it gives me the chance to meet directly with my elected officials, share my experience with them, and tell them how they can help make a positive impact in our district.

Advocating with the next generation

When I was a young child, my grandfather worked as a lobbyist for education and he was very much a mentor for me. His work gave me an early insight into the barriers many kids face in getting the high-quality education they deserve, and also how advocates can come together to fight for the change they want to see. 

That’s why I’ve taken my kids with me to Have a Heart for Kids Day in the past. I feel that it is important for them to have a solid understanding of the legislative process and how to engage with their legislators, so that they can speak up for their interests both now and after they reach voting age.

What better place to do that than at our State Capitol? It was so exciting to show them that the doors to the (slightly intimidating) Capitol Building are open to them and that it is their right to speak up for what they believe in.

What you need to know about attending lobby day

Lobby days are open to everyone who lives in Washington state. Children’s Alliance is offering trainings and briefings in the morning to give attendees details about specific bills they are working on, as well as tips on how to have an effective meeting with your legislators. 

Meeting your legislators is not a requirement of attending Have a Heart for Kids Day. If you do attend a meeting with a legislator, you will likely be in a group with other advocates from your district as well as a member of the Children’s Alliance team.

In 2026 Have a Heart for Kids Day will be happening on January 20th. Register on the Children’s Alliance website by Jan. 14.

This article was originally published in February, 2025.

Read more:

Pressure builds to boost WA school funding

Education Advocacy Day: Hundreds expected to rally in Olympia January 30

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“My goal is to build on our momentum — expanding access to early learning, advancing behavioral health supports, and securing more equitable and progressive revenue for the state,” Boyd said in a recent interview.

We asked Boyd what’s at stake in the upcoming session. Following is our edited conversation.

Seattle’s Child: What’s the most pressing concern for kids today?

Dr. Boyd: Right now, I’d say basic needs. With the rollout of H.R. 1 [President Donald Trump’s government spending law], we are going to see many people disenrolled from Medicaid, and many families not having enough resources for nutritious food for their children. It is really stark. At this moment, we must preserve access to health care. We thought we had done that. And yet we have to do it again, and in the context of a state budget deficit.

SC: How can parents help protect health care for kids and families?

Dr. Boyd: We have to continue to draw attention and demand lawmakers protect health care access for young children and families. Changes from the federal government have left us all in a daze. We need to anticipate these cuts, to create contingency plans that keep programs going without throwing everyone into crisis or emergency mode. Right now, we need to urge the state to focus on making sure that families who do qualify for health care benefits continue to get those benefits, because the way this is rolling out is aimed at stressing people, so they don’t even ask for coverage they’re entitled to or re-enroll. I hate this situation. Our state must help people truly maximize what is still available.

SC: Lawmakers haven’t yet delivered on universal child care. Does Children’s Alliance have a role there?

Dr. Boyd: Ensuring families have access to child care and early learning is part of our ongoing commitment to economic justice. With the Fair Start for Kids Act and other policy improvements that came before and since, we have most of the policies in place to realize high quality and guaranteed access for everyone who needs and wants child care. What we need is to fund it right. That means we also need to continue to advance policies that ensure good working conditions for the child care workforce and family-sustaining wages.

SC: What bills will Children’s Alliance push for in 2026?

Dr. Boyd: The primary bill we are backing at the moment, Senate Bill 5708, is about the addictive nature of online platforms and their impact on kids. Since last year, Children’s Alliance has worked with many stakeholders, including families who’ve lost children to platforms with addictive online feeds. It has been very powerful in shaping this year’s legislation. I’m very hopeful.

We’ll also be working to ensure a good bill is in place to implement the recent gift from the (nonprofit) Ballmer Group, which could open 10,000 slots in the state’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) over the next 10 years. We want to ensure that the money goes to the right communities and places.

SC: Kids and families faced many challenges in 2025. How do you maintain the hope needed to lead in 2026?

Dr. Boyd: These are my kids. Everything we’re advocating for would affect my kids. Every harm that’s coming or being experienced either impacts my family or families that I’m very close to within my own community. I see the impact of Head Start being rolled back. I see the impact of immigration hitting child care. I feel it personally, and it can be kind of disorienting at times. It’s emotionally activating to see these things.

This is not dispassionate policy work and I don’t always stay grounded, which is why I have to continually reground with my family and with our partners in the work. For many communities, many communities of color, the government not coming through for you is not a new experience. But, parents are designed to love their children. A lot of things make realizing that love harder in some ways, but it’s what we’re set up for.

So I spend time focusing on loving my kids. I also spend time focusing on how other people love their kids, even in really difficult circumstances — the ways they show up for their kids, creatively, meaningfully, and how much their kids feel that love, even when they don’t have a lot of other things.

Take action

To learn more ways to engage with lawmakers and make your voice heard, checj out “Now is the time to speak up for kids in Washington: How families can influence Washington’s 2026 legislative session”

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