August 5, 2019 Issue

DCYF Transformations

As of July 1, we fully transitioned all programs into DCYF. We continuously feel inspired by the work that is done at our agency, so we sat down with three DCYF staff to hear their stories. We talked about what this work at DCYF means to them and their vision for this new agency. 

Watch the DCYF Transformations video.

Capacity Assessment and Integration Support

DCYF released the Chapin Hall Baseline Performance Assessment Report. In establishing DCYF, HB 1661 envisioned substantial use of data of all types to inform agency-wide continuous improvement efforts, support systemic reform work and measure progress toward achieving the agency outcome goals for children, youth and families.

Contact Us

Email DCYF's Office of Communications with questions or comments about Secretary Hunter's message.

Farewell to Deputy Secretary Heather Moss

Deputy Secretary Heather Moss was offered and accepted a great job as the director of human services for Pierce County. Heather left DCYF in early July. Sadness for DCYF, but a great opportunity for Heather. She has been a great partner for several years as we’ve done work at both DEL and DCYF. The transition would not have gone as smoothly as it has without her competence and grace. We will miss her.

We have an opportunity to think about what exact set of skills we will need in that role over the next several months. I expect it will take us 3-6 months to work through this process, and I look forward to hearing from everyone as we settle into the new configuration about what we could do better.

In the interim, Edith Hitchings will be stepping up to take on some of Heather’s workload. She will be the Interim Assistant Secretary of Operations. Reporting to her will be Aaron Mason (CIO), Jenny Heddin (CFO), Marcos Rodriguez (CHRO) and Nicole Rose (Director of Eligibility and Provider Supports), in addition to the work she currently manages. Luba Bezborodnikova will report directly to me and continue as the Assistant Secretary of Licensing.

Successes in Behavioral Rehabilitation Services

One of the biggest problems our child welfare system has is how to care for children who are severely traumatized and have mental health or physical issues that make it difficult for a typical foster family to care for them. We don’t have enough “beds” in therapeutic group homes for the children who need that level of care, resulting in many pathologies in the system.

• We have an escalating number of nights when children stay in one of our offices or in a hotel. There were 824 hotel stays in 2017, 1,090 in 2018, and 1,035 so far this year, with five months to go.
• Out of state placements. In August of last year, we had 82 youth placed in out of state group homes. It is difficult to safely supervise their placement there, it costs more, and it is difficult for the youth to transfer back to Washington for a more permanent placement. (With focused attention we reduced this to 38 as of July 1, with more to go.)
• Turnover is particularly high in offices that have a lot of office and hotel stays. Experienced caseworkers do much higher quality social work. Too much turnover also creates overwork scenarios because new workers can’t handle as large a workload – everyone else has to pick up the slack.

There are typically about 9,000 children/youth in what we call “out-of-home-care” at any one time. Classic “foster care” is one of the possible placements for these children, but there are others as well.

Read the full article on Successes in Behavioral Rehabilitation Services on DCYF's website.