This bill amends RCW 74.13.640 to add procedural and evidentiary requirements for reviews of child fatalities and child near fatalities. It requires the department to create and maintain a public website posting child fatality and child near fatality review reports, to distribute those reports to appropriate legislative committees, and to develop and implement procedures to carry out the new requirements. The amendment sets membership rules for review teams (members must not have had previous involvement in the case and must include relevant professional expertise), requires agencies that placed or provided services to the child under contract with the department to provide records for reviews, and establishes timelines: reports must be issued within 180 days of a fatality or of conclusion of a near fatality review unless the governor grants an extension. The bill defines "near fatality" as an act certified by a physician to have placed the child in serious or critical condition, requires prompt notification of near fatalities to the office of the family and children's ombuds, and specifies when the department must conduct reviews (for fatalities suspected to be caused by abuse or neglect when the child was in care or received services within the prior year; for near fatalities when the child was in care or received services within three months prior or was the subject of a department investigation). It creates discovery and admissibility rules making review materials generally inadmissible and not usable in civil or administrative proceedings, with limited exceptions including licensing or disciplinary proceedings based in whole or in part on alleged wrongdoing related to the reviewed death or near fatality, and allows redaction of confidential information consistent with listed state and federal statutes. Affected entities identified in the text include the unspecified "department" referenced throughout RCW 74.13.640, the office of the family and children's ombuds, agencies that contract with the department, appropriate legislative committees, and licensed professionals. The text is procedural and evidentiary in nature (not creating a new crime), changing review procedures, public reporting requirements, access to records, and the rules about admissibility and use of review materials. The document does not define which specific department is meant, does not describe the content, format, or hosting details for the required public website, does not set out the process for physician certification of a near fatality, and does not specify criteria or procedures for gubernatorial extensions.

If enacted, the agency responsible for child welfare would need to set up and maintain a public webpage, create procedures, assemble independent review teams, and complete and post child fatality and near‑fatality review reports within 180 days (unless the governor extends the deadline). That will create ongoing administrative work and likely require staffing, legal time for redactions and confidentiality reviews, and modest web‑hosting costs, while also giving the legislature and public faster access to review findings and requiring contracting agencies to provide records for those reviews. The office of the family and children's ombuds must get prompt notice of near fatalities, and licensed professionals face a new practical risk: most review materials are protected from civil or administrative use (reducing some litigation exposure) but can still be used in licensing or disciplinary actions. It is unclear from the provided text which specific “department” is meant, how a physician certifies a “near fatality,” and what criteria the governor would use to grant reporting extensions, so some implementation details and costs remain uncertain.