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Dependency Decoded

Stage 11 of 14

How the case ends

Reunification

Reunification is usually gradual rather than a single day. Visits expand, then the child comes home under supervision, then the case closes. Each step has to hold.

  1. Stage 1: When DCYF first contacts you
  2. Stage 2: The home visit
  3. Stage 3: Safety plans and voluntary placement
  4. Stage 4: If your child is an Indian child
  5. Stage 5: The Family Team Decision Meeting
  6. Stage 6: The shelter care hearing
  7. Stage 7: Fact-finding and disposition
  8. Stage 8: Your case plan and parenting programs
  9. Stage 9: Review hearings
  10. Stage 10: The permanency planning hearing
  11. Stage 11: Reunification
  12. Stage 12: Guardianship, adoption, and other outcomes
  13. Stage 13: Appeals and other remedies
  14. Stage 14: Moving forward

What has to be in place

  • Ordered services completed, with documentation
  • Housing that is stable and adequate for your child
  • Income or another reliable means of meeting needs
  • Consistent visitation over time
  • Provider reports supporting return

How the transition usually works

  1. Visits expand — supervised to unsupervised, then overnights and weekends.
  2. The child returns home while the dependency remains open and supervised.
  3. The court dismisses the dependency once the placement has held.

Ask your lawyer what the expected timeline to dismissal is in your county once your child is home.

After your child comes home

Expect continued contact for a period — home visits, sometimes continued services, and further court review. This is part of the process rather than a sign something is wrong.

The part nobody warns you about

Reunification is hard in ways that are easy to misread as failure. Children may be distant, angry, or anxious after time apart. Routines take weeks to settle. Parenting full-time again after months of supervised hours is genuinely exhausting.

Build a routine early, keep using what you learned, and stay connected to support. Asking for help after reunification is not evidence against you.

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 13.34.138

Review hearings — Findings — In-home placement requirements — Housing assistance.

Plain-language explanation

Governs continued review after a child returns home and the requirements that apply to in-home placement.

Read the official text

RCW 13.34.145

Permanency planning hearing — Purpose — Time limits — Goals.

Plain-language explanation

Addresses the permanent plan, including return home, and the timelines that apply.

Read the official text

Chapter 13.34 RCW

Juvenile court act — Dependency and termination of parent-child relationship

Plain-language explanation

The main Washington chapter governing dependency cases from the petition through review, permanency, guardianship, and termination. Different sections apply at different stages.

Read the official text