---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establishing an early childhood court program for young children and their families involved or at risk of becoming involved in Washington's child welfare system."
description: "Establishing an early childhood court program for young children and their families involved or at risk of becoming involved in Washington's child welfare system."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2021-2022"
identifier: "SB 5331"
citation: "Washington SB 5331 (2021-2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS", "CHILDREN", "CHILDREN", "YOUTH", "AND FAMILIES", "DEPARTMENT", "COURTS", "DOMESTIC RELATIONS", "JUVENILES AND JUVENILE COURT", "PUBLIC ASSISTANCE"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gildon"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 45
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-01-22T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-05-12T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e1f7ed5d-93f5-4ed8-b2c3-451feba53392"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5331&year=2021"
source_hash: "ef84e531f853fd33e6588dd770322436292f876ed010951765de2eef95644178"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wa"]
---

# Washington SB 5331 (2021-2022) — Establishing an early childhood court program for young children and their families involved or at risk of becoming involved in Washington's child welfare system.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2021-22/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5331.htm)
2. **Second Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2021-22/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5331-S2.htm)
3. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2021-22/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5331-S.htm)

## Votes

- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#3) — **87–11** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#4) — **47–0** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage as Amended by the House (#6) — **47–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Gildon — primary (person)
- C. Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Darneille — cosponsor (person)
- Dhingra — cosponsor (person)
- Hasegawa — cosponsor (person)
- Nguyen — cosponsor (person)
- Nobles — cosponsor (person)
- Warnick — cosponsor (person)
- Wellman — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-22T05:00:00+00:00** First reading, referred to Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation. `reading-1`
- **2021-01-28T05:00:00+00:00** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation at 1:30 PM.
- **2021-02-04T05:00:00+00:00** Executive session scheduled, but no action was taken in the Senate Committee on Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation at 1:30 PM.
- **2021-02-05T05:00:00+00:00** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation at 10:30 AM.
- **2021-02-05T05:00:00+00:00** HSRR - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2021-02-05T05:00:00+00:00** And refer to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08T05:00:00+00:00** Referred to Ways & Means. `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16T05:00:00+00:00** Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM.
- **2021-02-18T05:00:00+00:00** Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM.
- **2021-02-18T05:00:00+00:00** WM - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2021-02-19T05:00:00+00:00** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2021-02-23T05:00:00+00:00** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. `reading-2`
- **2021-02-25T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd substitute bill substituted (WM 21). `substitution`
- **2021-02-25T05:00:00+00:00** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2021-02-25T05:00:00+00:00** Third reading, passed; yeas, 47; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 2. `reading-3`
- **2021-02-27T05:00:00+00:00** First reading, referred to Children, Youth & Families. `reading-1`
- **2021-03-11T05:00:00+00:00** Public hearing in the House Committee on Children, Youth & Families at 10:00 AM.
- **2021-03-17T04:00:00+00:00** Executive session scheduled, but no action was taken in the House Committee on Children, Youth & Families at 8:00 AM.
- **2021-03-22T04:00:00+00:00** Executive action taken in the House Committee on Children, Youth & Families at 1:30 PM.
- **2021-03-22T04:00:00+00:00** CYF - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-22T04:00:00+00:00** Minority; without recommendation. `committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2021-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to Appropriations. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Public hearing and executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 9:00 AM.
- **2021-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** APP - Majority; do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-02T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to Rules 2 Review. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-06T04:00:00+00:00** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. `reading-2`
- **2021-04-11T04:00:00+00:00** Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- **2021-04-11T04:00:00+00:00** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading. `reading-3`
- **2021-04-11T04:00:00+00:00** Third reading, passed; yeas, 87; nays, 11; absent, 0; excused, 0. `reading-3`
- **2021-04-20T04:00:00+00:00** Senate concurred in House amendments.
- **2021-04-20T04:00:00+00:00** Passed final passage; yeas, 47; nays, 1; absent, 0; excused, 1. `passage`
- **2021-04-23T04:00:00+00:00** President signed. `passage`
- **2021-04-24T04:00:00+00:00** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2021-04-26T04:00:00+00:00** Delivered to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2021-05-12T04:00:00+00:00** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-12T04:00:00+00:00** Chapter 285, 2021 Laws. `became-law`
- **2021-05-12T04:00:00+00:00** Effective date 7/25/2021. `became-law`
- **2021-01-28T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation at 01:30 PM
- **2021-02-05T15:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation at 10:30 AM
- **2021-02-16T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 01:30 PM
- **2021-02-18T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 01:30 PM
- **2021-03-11T15:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Children, Youth & Families at 10:00 AM
- **2021-03-22T17:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Children, Youth & Families at 01:30 PM
- **2021-04-01T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 09:00 AM
- **2021-04-01T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 09:00 AM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e1f7ed5d-93f5-4ed8-b2c3-451feba53392`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).