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Paying attention to pronouns is new for most people. From the surface, it all seems to be pretty self-explanatory. Some people wonder, "Can’t you tell just by looking at someone?"
Just as we can’t determine someone’s race, religion, or language ‘just by looking at them,’ neither can we determine their Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, or Expression (SOGIE)* or their pronouns. Pronoun identifiers continue to evolve as identities continue to progress, so while there is no exhaustive list to share, here some tips:
- Don’t make assumptions.
- Most common pronoun identifiers are: she/her/hers; he/him/his; they/them/theirs.
- Increasingly common is a combination of identifiers such as she/her/they; she/him/theirs/; he/her/they. You could also use their name in place of a pronoun, such as she/they/Dae.
- If it feels like a lot of effort, remember that we already use ‘them’ in our everyday vocabulary.
- It’s important to share the pronouns you use, ask others for theirs, and then use those pronouns.
- If you accidentally use the wrong pronoun (aka, misgender someone), give a quick, genuine apology, use the correct pronoun, and move on.
Each of us needs to be seen, identified, and referred to as we want to be seen, identified, and referred to. Therefore, using a person’s requested pronouns requires minimal effort for a significant impact.
Resources:
If you have questions, please contact the Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice at dcyf.racialequityandsocialjustice@dcyf.wa.gov.
*Defining SOGIE: Sexual Orientation (who someone is emotionally, physically, mentally, and or sexually attracted to); Gender Identity (how someone internally sees themselves); and Gender Expression (how someone communicates to others through clothing, mannerisms, etc.).
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As part of his Eagle Scout project, 17-year-old Forrest recently hosted a school supply drive to support youth at Echo Glen Children’s Center. Knowing that he wanted his project to benefit young people, Forrest reached out to Echo Glen to find out their needs and then rallied his troop and family to collect donations.
Forrest and his team stationed themselves outside the Issaquah Target store, holding donation signs for backpacks, school supplies, blankets, and toiletries for youth reentering the community. Forrest was pleasantly surprised when people began making cash donations too. After two rainy Saturdays, Forrest and his brother dropped off two full carloads of donated items at Echo Glen as well as $1,200 in funds from the drive.
“Our community is just so generous — I don’t think he ever expected to receive the number of donations that he did, but he was very appreciative, to say the least,” said Forrest’s mother, Hannah.
The backpacks and supplies are helpful resources for youth transitioning back into their communities, and the funds went into the student activity account for all youth at Echo Glen. The student activity account is used to enhance programming such as art and sports supplies, games, campus events, pizza parties, holiday gifts for youth, and more.
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This is a friendly reminder to staff about the required HR trainings that need to be completed by July 1, 2021. These trainings were assigned to all DCYF employees in early April in the Washington State Learning Center (LC) and was shared with staff in the April 5 Digest.
The objective of the automated assignments is to mitigate agency risk while improving mandatory training completion rates and to provide a level starting point for all DCYF staff. This effort will ensure that staff take the most current trainings. In all, this is about eight hours of online training which includes the following:
Required All-Staff Trainings
- DCYF Information Security Awareness Training for Employees
- DCYF Annual Records Management & Retention
- WA-State Ethics in State Government
- WA-State Defensive Driving
- WA-State Suicide Awareness Training
- WA-State Sexual Harassment Prevention for all Employees
Required Supervisor Trainings
- WA-State Sexual Harassment Prevention for Supervisors
- DCYF NeoGov Recruitment & Onboarding Orientation for Hiring Supervisors
- WA-State Leading Others (three-day, instructor-lead course) Virtual or In-person (formerly Supervision Essentials) This is a one-time training and it will not be assigned automatically in the LC platform.
Use Chrome as your web browser to access your assigned trainings in LC. Once you have logged in, click on the ‘Self’ icon on the top-left and then select ‘Dashboards’ and then click on ‘My Experience Hub’. The link to access LC is on the HR Training and Development page of the intranet. There are also various training guides and tutorial videos on how to use and navigate in the LC.
For questions related to the LC, please contact DCYF Learning Center. For all other questions please contact your assigned HR representative or dcyf.hr@dcyf.wa.gov.
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In response to a common request from Human Resources (HR) to the Records Management Team, Phedra Quincey, Human Resource Field Operations Manager, provided the following positive feedback to DCYF Records Officer Denise Carlson.
“I know we don’t always respond to these messages, but [I] just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate you and your team and the prompt response/action we have experienced from your team. Thank you so much for all you and your team do.”
In a separate instance, Denise and the Records Management team helped DSHS move hundreds of boxes of HR files from the Service Level in OB-2 to their new location. DSHS HR Public Records Manager Shalina Knight sent the following message of gratitude.
“I wanted to say THANK YOU for all the help you provided today. I was surprised to see a crew here to help. I really cannot thank you enough . . . Please express my gratitude to the team!”
Way to go, Denise and the Records Management Team — keep up the great work!
Do you miss reading kudos and extraordinary contributor submissions about your coworkers? We do, too! Let the Office of Communications know who you want to recognize and what they did in a few sentences. To share a note of appreciation for a coworker, send an email to dcyf.commsupport@dcyf.wa.gov
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Children and youth in DCYF care who want the COVID-19 vaccination will be provided access to the vaccine with no barriers from caregivers.
DCYF will engage and communicate with parents and guardians for up to six weeks to obtain consent for COVID-19 vaccination. If there is no consent at the end of the six weeks, the youth can decide whether to receive the vaccination. In some isolated cases, a court order may be required.
Youth in JR facilities who want the vaccine will receive doses through campus health programs, community vaccine resources, or primary health care providers.
Youth who decline receipt of the COVID-19 vaccination will not be expected to receive the vaccination.
For more, view the Vaccine Guidance Matrix.
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Currently, there are 110 positions open at DCYF, listed here. Some of these positions are highlighted below. The following positions are open to all, so please share with anyone who may be interested:
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If you have any questions or want the Recruitment Team to highlight your job posting, please email dcyf.jobs@dcyf.wa.gov.
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- Monday, June 21 | Supporting the Journey (Supervisors) | 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. | Register here
- Wednesday, June 23 | Traveling Together | 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. | Register here
- Tuesday, June 29 | Peer Support Gathering | 1 – 2 p.m. | Register here
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