SEATTLE — There has been a 200% increase of kids dying and nearly dying so far in 2025, according to data released by the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF).
Five-year-old Brentlee was one of those kids. His Aunt, Kelsey Osborne, shared videos to KING 5 of the young boy laughing and smiling. He died in Puyallup two months ago from fentanyl poisoning.
"We've been desperately trying to help his parents, and then he ended up paying the ultimate cost. That is horrible because they had a choice," Osborne said. "He didn't have a choice."
On Friday, DCYF invited KING 5 to a meeting where the agency shared the latest data from the first quarter of 2025.
Data reveals DCYF saw nine critical incidents in the first quarter of 2024 versus 27 incidents in the first quarter of 2025. A majority of these deaths and near deaths involve children between 0 to 3 years old. A little over half of the critical incidents in 2025 were fentanyl-related.
When you look at children 3 years old and younger, 87% of the cases involved fentanyl.
Many of these fentanyl related deaths and near deaths happen when a baby puts the foil or straw used to smoke fentanyl in their mouths, or toddlers eat a pill they think is candy.
DCYF says High Potency Synthetic Opioids like fentanyl, parental stress, an increase of families with high needs and the complexities of cases and the systems involved stand out as potential reasons for this increase. Experts within DCYF are currently analyzing this data.
"It's absolutely crazy. I am. I'm shattered. I'm heartbroken over it. We have to fix it," said Washington State Rep. Travis Couture, who introduced a bill last session that would make it easier for children to be removed from homes where active fentanyl abuse is happening. It was shot down.
He says it would help save these children. "We have to have a child welfare system that is actually invested in protecting children. And yes, we can do that and still protect parents' rights at the same time. " That bill will automatically be introduced in the next legislative session.
In response to the 2025 spike, Secretary Tana Senn said DCYF is taking action by "adding safe child consults for every case involving opioid use and a child under three," gathering information on fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, identifying "geographical hot spots," and increasing training for caseworkers. Senn pointed to the overall need for overall housing, mental health, and parent-child assistance programs, among other things.
KING 5 has extensively covered the rise in children dying and nearly dying from fentanyl.
Dozens of child welfare experts, including researchers, legislators, law enforcement, first responders, nurses, prosecutors, lawyers, caseworkers and family members blame a law that they say prioritizes parental rights over child safety.
"I think unless you're directly impacted by a child stuck in a home of drug abuse, you're almost ignorant to what's going on behind the scenes," said Osborne.
Brentlee's Aunt says DCYF can only do so much. She says our legislators need to step up, "I don't know what the answer is going to be other than this state caring about the lives of children. It seems like that is not a priority to the state. "
DCYF has consistently backed the law, called The Keeping Families Together Act.