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Gov. Jay Inslee recently announced that state employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, 2021, as a condition of employment, with limited exemptions for medical or religious reasons.
Mandatory vaccinations will apply to all of our staff, interns, contractors working in our facilities, and volunteers. Masking and social distancing will also continue to be required in all DCYF work settings, regardless of vaccination status.
Pfizer, Moderna, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccines all require two weeks after the final shot to be considered fully vaccinated. If you have not been vaccinated or have only had one shot of the two-shot vaccines, you will need to have the final shot before Oct. 4.
Requiring mandatory vaccinations for our staff is no easy task, and it is not a process we take lightly. We are:
- Reading the Governor’s Proclamation carefully and working with the Governor’s Office and the Department of Health to meet the legal requirements as set forth by this new directive.
- Developing processes for staff to request a medical or religious accommodation for an exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and for staff to provide proof of vaccination.
- Developing a process for regular testing of employees deemed exempt before clearance for work.
Once these processes are established, we will share with all DCYF staff.
At this time, please do not send COVID-19 exemption requests or photos of your vaccination card to your supervisor or Human Resources until a process is established.
If you have questions in the meantime, please email dcyf.hr@dcyf.wa.gov.
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We are excited to announce that Naselle Youth Camp recently received the Performance-based Standards (PbS) Barbara Allen-Hagen Award for reducing room confinement on campus.
During the 2020 Legislative Session, House Bill 2277 passed, prohibiting solitary confinement and limiting room confinement in Juvenile Rehabilitation (JR) facilities. Studies show that solitary confinement is harmful and counterproductive to youth development. Naselle received the PbS Barbara Allen-Hagen Award for their great strides in reducing room confinement and centering on intervention practices that strengthen relationships and improve the quality of life for residents.
Across the country, states are taking action to limit or end room confinement. In 2019, Green Hill School received the same award for reducing room confinement and eliminating their intensive management unit. Naselle’s room confinement data shows they are below the national field average, marking DCYF as a leader in this work and ensuring agency alignment with Gov. Inslee’s goals for young people in our care.
Naselle staff and JR Assistant Secretary Felice Upton accepted the award in person in Nashville, Tenn., during the PbS awards ceremony earlier this month. Please join us in recognizing Naselle’s incredible effort to ensure the agency is providing evidence-based, effective forms of rehabilitation so that the youth in our care flourish.
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DCYF's Office of Tribal Relations (OTR), in collaboration with the Alliance for Child Welfare Excellence, held a three-day Indigenous Children, Youth, and Families Conference, Aug. 10-12. The main goals of the conference were to provide opportunities for professional development and community engagement. More than 200 attendees participated, including DCYF staff, tribal staff, parents, caregivers, youth, child welfare professionals, and more.
OTR Director Tleena Ives kicked off the event along with opening remarks from Representative Debra Lekanoff, a song and a prayer from Jamestown S’Klallam Representative Loni Greninger, and remarks from Secretary Ross Hunter and other leadership from DCYF.
“We hope that this conference offers attendees tools to learn and take back to their work,” said Tleena. “Our goal was for the Indigenous Children, Youth, and Families Conference to be a place of inspiration and sense of community for everyone who participated.”
Day one of the conference featured an opening song and prayer, presentation from Northwest Adoption Exchange, story and music from hip hop artist and dancer “Supaman” Christian Takes Gun Parrish, and virtual yoga. Day two featured a number of different sessions, including food sovereignty and indigenous health, stories to dismantle white supremacy, peer support for foster youth, and more. Day three included sessions about rebuilding traditional values that are fading, interstate compact on placement of children, Early Achievers tribal pathways, and more.
The bios of each presenter is available on the DCYF website. Recordings of the conference will be available online soon. If you have questions, please contact dcyf.tribalrelations@dcyf.wa.gov.
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Last spring, Performance-based Standards (PbS), a DCYF partner and nationwide juvenile justice standards organization, held video auditions across the country for young people with lived experience in juvenile justice. Six Green Hill School (GHS) youth advanced as finalists in the annual PbS Kids Got Talent contest, competing against hundreds of talent submissions from other juvenile justice facilities across the nation. But it was 20-year-old GHS resident Tim who won the entire competition with an original song titled “Explícame,” backed by acoustic guitar.
“He has one of the most beautiful voices that I’ve ever heard in my life … so the talent is quite amazing, and I felt pretty strongly that we absolutely had an individual here who was capable of winning,” said GHS Superintendent Jennifer Redman.
During his stay at GHS, Tim has used singing, songwriting, and playing guitar to manage stress, heal, and pass the time. When he heard he had won the competition, Tim said he was surprised.
“I don’t feel like I had the right to think, ‘oh yeah, it was me,’” he said. “There’s other people who have talent too.”
However, Tim’s talent and the award bestowed on him speak for themselves. Tim was flown out to perform live at the annual PbS Awards Night in Nashville earlier this month and was received with standing ovations.
“I would just like to inspire other people and make them feel like other people have gone through things that they’re going through,” said Tim.
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Washington State is the first in the nation to develop a way to make long-term care affordable for all workers in the state. The WA Cares Fund is a new fund to which we all contribute while we are working and through which we can access long-term care when we need it.
Beginning January 2022, Washington workers will pay up to $0.58 per $100 of earnings. So a worker who annually earns $52,075 will contribute $302 a year, or $25.17 a month. Starting in January 2025, eligible individuals can access services and supports costing up to $36,500.
Can I Opt-Out of This Program?
You may permanently opt-out of the program by proving you have purchased private long-term care insurance. To opt-out, you must:
- Purchase a private long-term-care policy before November 1, 2021; and
- Apply for an exemption from the Employment Security Department (ESD) between Oct. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2022.
- If ESD grants the exemption, you are responsible for notifying your payroll office for your agency to stop the deduction of the premium tax assessment.
However, once you are exempt, you may not become a qualified individual or eligible for the benefit and will remain permanently ineligible for coverage under the program.
More Information
The agencies responsible for managing the program, Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), ESD, and Health Care Authority (HCA), have created the WA Cares Fund website:
Join a WA Cares Fund Webinar
Join a live webinar to learn more about the WA Cares Fund and get your questions answered. Pre-registration to attend is not required.
We will be sharing more information about this new program with staff as it becomes available. Please send all questions to the WACaresFund@dshs.wa.gov.
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One of the most frequently used resources on the DCYF intranet is our Organizational Charts page.
Some staff may be surprised to know that each program or division is responsible to keep their own organizational chart current – not Human Resources.
In the case of a new employees, employees leaving the program/agency, or a change in reporting structure – each division will need to revise their org chart. If you happen to find outdated information on a program or division level org chart, let that program know.
There is a Visio Professional DCYF Organizational Chart Template available on the Communications & Branding intranet pages, listed on the Templates page. Remember to add the current date.
Once finalized, turn your program org chart into a PDF and send it to dcyf.commsupport@dcyf.wa.gov.
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Delta Heiberg, Integration Specialist for Preschool Development Grant (PDG) Birth-5, Early Learning Programs Division, wanted to share her appreciations for her amazing PDG teammates.
Tracie Kenney, PDG Administrator
Tracie goes above and beyond to support her team and make a meaningful impact on the communities we serve. “Tracie is a shining example of grace, kindness, and putting children and their families first. I couldn’t possibly ask for a better supervisor and leader in this work,” shared Delta.
Lindsey Lasher, PDG Grant Specialist Senior
“Lindsey is always willing to step in however is necessary to support the team,” Delta said. “She’s picked up my slack on more than one occasion and always does it with kindness. When she joined the team in January of this year she really hit the ground running and has proven to be an invaluable part of team PDG."
Abbey Bergquist – PDG Grant Specialist
Abbey has proven herself to be flexible and quick on her feet, supporting the team in a variety of roles and adapting as our work has changed over the last two years. Delta added, “Abbey is thoughtful and offers up fresh perspectives to our work.”
“My co-workers are incredible and I’m so privileged to work with them,” said Delta.
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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Currently, there are 78 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:
If you have any questions or want the Recruitment Team to highlight your job posting, please contact dcyf.jobs@dcyf.wa.gov.
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Monday, Aug. 16 | ORESJ Foundational Racial Equity Training | 12 – 5 p.m. | Register
Tuesday, Aug. 17 | BIPOC Affinity Group | 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. | Register
Thursday, Aug. 19 | Peer Support Gathering | 9 - 10 a.m. | Register
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