It can be hard to keep up with child welfare policy updates along with the day-to-day responsibilities of your job. DCYF rolls these out as needed throughout the year so that you can be aware of updated practice expectations. These eLearning courses will provide you with specifics on what the policy changes are and why the change is being made.

Each course is named with the timeframe of the policy changes. The latest eLearning is called DCYF Rollout: December 2021 which is available in the Alliance catalog in the Washington Learning Center (WLC). You must use Chrome as your web browser. Please note, even if you completed the November 2021 Policy Rollout eLearning, due to recent changes you will need to complete the December 2021 Policy Rollout eLearning. These policies go into effect on Dec. 31, 2021.

• 4451 Day and Overnight Camp Authorization – New policy

• 1150 Case Plan – PIP
  • 2332 Child Protective Services (CPS) Family Assessment Response (FAR) – PIP
  • 3000 Family Voluntary Services
    • 4122 Case Transfer (This is not a PIP policy)
• 2310 Child Protective Services (CPS) Initial Face-to-Face (IFF)
• 46100 Monthly Clinical Supervision Case Reviews – PIP
  • 4430 Courtesy Supervision – PIP
• 4420 Health and Safety Visits with Children and Youth and Monthly Visits with Parents and Caregivers – PIP

We would like to thank the 1,216 employees that have completed the 2021 Employee Engagement survey. This is a good start, but to reach our goal of 70% staff completion, we have a long way to go.  

Remember, this is your opportunity to give your honest, unfiltered opinion on various aspects of your job and DCYF as a whole. Your feedback is critical to DCYF and will be used to improve our work environment.

If you have any questions about the survey, please email HR Data Analytics and Reporting Consultant Bobbi Foreman at roberta.foreman@dcyf.wa.gov.

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this critical initiative and sharing your valuable insights!

The 2021 DCYF Employee Engagement Survey remains open until 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 17.

The Canine Connections program was established at Echo Glen Children’s Center more than 20 years ago. The program pairs rescue dogs with the young people in residence who train them in basic obedience over an eight-week session. At the end of the session, the dog goes home with its new adoptive family.

Enrollment in the program is in high demand, and not all residents can participate. However, spending time with animals, especially dogs, can be very therapeutic for residents. After one youth received some devastating news just weeks before their release date, Canine Connection staff Tina and Laura created a campus-wide program for residents to spend time with Gwena, Echo Glen’s certified therapy dog.

Gwena has been on the Echo campus since she was a puppy. Initially, Gwena received service dog training but due to physical limitations, was ineligible to become a full-fledged service dog. Happily, she found her calling as a therapy dog and lives in the cottages where she received her training.

Gwena happily serves the residents and facility that helped raise her and thanks to this new program, one-on-one visits with Gwena are now available to all residents to ease the pain of “ruff” news or to help reinforce treatment goals.

To learn more about the Canine Connection program, visit www.dcyf.wa.gov/news/20-years-canine-connections-echo-glen.

"The job is rewarding because I can help guide families in the right direction by showing them support and encouraging them along the way," says Kathy Eirls with Better Futures Together Family Services. "I feel like we have the ability to make a difference in the child's life, as well as the parent, by being a support that they look forward to."

Eirls has been a Family Time provider for almost seven years, serving families in Ferry, Grant, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, and Whitman counties.

Every morning before she leaves her home, she makes sure she has the proper car seats installed in her car for her morning visit. She also verifies she has the correct forms. Some days, she is picking up children at daycare; other times, she is helping children get their coats on as she picks them up from a foster home.

Once the children are safely buckled in, they head to the location of the visit.

"My number one priority is to keep the children safe," says Eirls, who adds she jots down as many notes as possible during supervised visits.

This is typical when a visit goes smoothly. Eirls often helps redirect the parent to ensure the child is safe and makes the most of the visit. Once the visit is over, the parents help bring the children to the car and buckle them in. Providers will then head back to the drop-off location, take the children in, sign the transportation log, and drive back to the office.

"There have been several families that I have worked with where I've noticed a difference family time has made," said Reina Rodriguez, a Family Time provider with Pathways to Connections. "A parent who is consistent can build on their relationship and strengthen their bond through the difficult moment."

For the last three years, Rodriguez has been providing Family Time services and helping reconnect families in Chelan and Douglas County.

"It has been very rewarding to see families be reunited after working with them for so long. It's great to work alongside parents who are actively working to better themselves for their children as well as meeting the foster families who provide care for these children," she said.

Eirls says she understands parents go through a lot to reunite with their children but sometimes just seeing their child and knowing that providers are not there to judge them, and are there to support them, is all parents need to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"I had a visit one time, where the mom had lost five children before having her sixth. She started coming to visits and was determined to get her child back," recalls Eirls. "I encouraged her to keep coming and working hard to do what was requested by DCYF. She ended up getting pregnant with twins. In the end, she was reunited with her child and was able to keep the twins in her care. It's very rewarding to see families reunited."

According to Rodriguez, transporting families to and from visits can range from two miles to 30 miles; however, some supervisors do drive out further when children are placed outside of the counties they serve.

Eirls says she typically drives 150 to 200 miles a day for visits. Once she returns to the office, she cleans out her car, washes and sanitizes everything, puts in the car seats for her next visit, prepares the visit room, and submits reports and timesheets. She will call families at the end of the night to remind them of their upcoming visit.

"Family time is vital in the reunification of families because it allows the children to keep and strengthen their parent-child relationship," says Rodriguez. "It fills my heart to be part of the reunification process."

If you’re planning to retire within the next year, your first step is to request a benefit estimate from DRS.

You can do this by logging into to your online retirement account and providing your planned retirement date. If you are a member of multiple DRS retirement systems or you prefer to complete a paper application, DRS will mail you an application with your benefit estimate.

A Retirement Specialist will review your account and provide you a document that shows your estimated retirement benefit. This will also include information about how your benefit will be reduced if you select a survivorship option.

Though DRS prioritizes applications for earlier retirement dates, it’s best to complete your retirement application 30-90 days before you plan to retire. Check out our resources about how to retire.

To stay current on retirement information, sign up for News Updates from DRS. To learn more about your retirement options, please visit the training section on the DRS website for training webinars or call 800-547-6657.