Fact-finding and disposition
Fact-finding decides whether your child is legally dependent. Disposition decides what you must do about it. Together they set the terms of the next year of your life.
Timing Fact-finding is generally set within 75 days of the petition being filed.
- Stage 1: When DCYF first contacts you
- Stage 2: The home visit
- Stage 3: Safety plans and voluntary placement
- Stage 4: If your child is an Indian child
- Stage 5: The Family Team Decision Meeting
- Stage 6: The shelter care hearing
- Stage 7: Fact-finding and disposition
- Stage 8: Your case plan and parenting programs
- Stage 9: Review hearings
- Stage 10: The permanency planning hearing
- Stage 11: Reunification
- Stage 12: Guardianship, adoption, and other outcomes
- Stage 13: Appeals and other remedies
- Stage 14: Moving forward
What fact-finding decides
The court decides whether the allegations are proved and whether your child meets the legal definition of a dependent child. The petitioner carries the burden of proof.
- Dismissal, if the allegations are not proved.
- A finding of dependency, which keeps the court and agency involved.
- An agreed order, where you do not admit the allegations but agree the court should be involved — often to start services sooner and avoid a contested trial.
An agreed order is a real legal decision with lasting consequences. Discuss it carefully rather than treating it as the easy option.
What disposition decides
- Where your child lives
- What services you are ordered to complete
- The visitation schedule
- What must change before the case can close
Services that may be ordered
- Substance use evaluation and treatment
- Mental health evaluation and treatment
- Parenting education matched to your child’s age and needs
- Domestic violence assessment or intervention
- Random testing, where substance use is a documented concern
- Supervised visitation, where there are safety concerns
- Housing referrals
You can push back on the plan
A case plan that does not fit the actual concern wastes months you do not have. If a service is unnecessary, duplicative, or impossible to access where you live, say so through your lawyer and ask the court to change it.
Ask for the plan to name the specific concern each service is meant to address. A plan you can complete is worth more than a plan that looks thorough.
The law that applies here
Read the official text yourself.
Each entry begins with our plain-language explanation, followed by the official section caption. Use the link to read the complete, current text on the official Washington government website. The official text controls.
RCW 13.34.110
Hearings — Fact-finding and disposition — Time and place, notice.
Plain-language explanation
Governs the hearing where the court decides whether the allegations are proved and whether the child is dependent, and the notice required.
Read the official textRCW 13.34.130
Order of disposition for a dependent child, alternatives — Placement with relatives, foster family home, group care facility, or other suitable persons.
Plain-language explanation
Addresses whether the child remains at home or is placed elsewhere, what services may be ordered, and how relatives and other suitable caregivers are considered.
Read the official textRCW 13.34.030
Definitions.
Plain-language explanation
The legal definition of a dependent child that the court must apply to the evidence.
Read the official textJuvenile Court Rules (JuCR)
Washington court rules for juvenile proceedings
Plain-language explanation
The statewide procedural rules for how dependency hearings are actually conducted. Your county may also have local rules that affect scheduling and filing.
Read the official text