In 2023, Washington passed a law replacing parents with government social workers for runaway
children who request “gender-affirming treatment.” Because of the so-called “Family Reconciliation Act”
“FRA,” the law says families of runaway children will not be reconciled if the minor seeks protected health care services, which includes gender-affirming treatment. Where previously parents would be informed within 72 hours if their runaway child arrived at a shelter, the law now only requires that notice goes to the Department of Youth and Family Services (“DYFS”)—not the parents of the child.
In its amicus curiae brief, California Policy Center asserts that the U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized and recently reaffirmed that parents have a constitutional right to make decisions concerning the rearing of their own children, and that any attempt by the government to supersede parental authority is unconstitutional.
The “decisional framework” is what matters—government must apply a presumption that a parent will act in the best interest of their child and may only override parents after providing procedural due process and a sufficiently high substantive standard, such as clear and convincing evidence of harm or abuse. Government may not “transfer the power to make [a] decision from the parents to some agency or officer of the state,” “[s]imply because the decision of a parent is not agreeable to a child or because it involves risks.” Parham, 442 U.S. at 603.
Yet that is exactly what Washington is doing—they are “transfer[ring] the power to [decide]” whether gender-affirming care will benefit or harm a minor child from the parents to DYFS employees and/or the children themselves, even when there are no allegations of abuse or neglect against the parents.
“Children cannot even receive a Tylenol without parental consent; facilitating a secret gender transition is far more serious, particularly when the parent does not even know the location of their child or any information about their child’s well-being,” the brief states.
In June 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review of the case and oral argument is scheduled for October 2026.
Status: Status: U.S. Supreme Court granted review June 29, 2026; Oral Argument is scheduled for October 2026.