The DCYF Office of Practice and Professional Learning (OPPL) is excited to share our efforts to enhance learning and workforce development across the agency! One colleague recently expressed enthusiasm about integrating systems and programs to better train staff and support children, youth, families, and providers. This aligns perfectly with our mission. 

What We Do

OPPL provides strategic leadership to align workforce goals and learning culture throughout the agency. Through guidance and consultation, we work with teams to define staff preparation goals and refine implementation strategies. Our approach drives innovation while upholding DCYF’s Operating Principles and commitment to racial equity and social justice.

Our Services

• Workforce Preparation: Facilitate the growth and ongoing development of staff and help determine the effectiveness of learning solutions.
• Workforce Data Management: Provide guidance on the collection and use of training data to inform continuous improvement.
• Vendor and Contractor Guidance: Provide standards and templates to enhance professional learning contracts and monitoring practices, ensuring teams have the tools and resources needed to achieve objectives.

Stay Connected

Visit the OPPL SharePoint Hub for updates, standards, and resources. If your team is working on related initiatives or wants to collaborate, email OPPL Strategic Partnership Administrator Mallerie Lopez at mallerie.lopez@dcyf.wa.gov.

Washington State’s 2024-2029 Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) 5-Year Prevention Plan is now available for public comment. The prior plan expires this year.

FFPSA was signed into law in 2018 to help children stay with their families and caregivers by providing services that strengthen families.

The new plan outlines how Title IV-E federal funds can be used to provide prevention services, including mental health treatment, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and in-home, skill-based parent programs. It also includes recently available policy flexibility, priorities identified through a recent community engagement process and current prevention-focused work in progress at DCYF.

DCYF is posting the 5-Year Prevention Plan draft for public comment for 14 days – until Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. Following the public comment period, the plan will be submitted to the Children’s Bureau, under the Office of the Administration for Children and Families for approval.

You can send your feedback in a couple of ways:

• Email it to familyfirstact@dcyf.wa.gov
• Fill out the Plan Comments and Feedback form

If you want to go paperless for your W-2, visit MyPortal. Once logged into MyPortal, you can opt in for online-only forms W-2 using the My Online Selections tile. If you opt-in before the end of the calendar year, you will not receive a mailed W-2 form for 2024. You can still view and print your form online when it becomes available in January 2025.

Everyone should log into MyPortal before the end of the year to ensure your mailing address and other information, such as your emergency contact, is current. For more information, visit the OFM MyPortal information web page: https://ofm.wa.gov/it-systems/myportal.

MyPortal - my online selections

If you have additional questions on your forms W-2, email Payroll at dcyf.payroll@dcyf.wa.gov.

Bailey Smith and Eugene Barkley with JR

Mental Health Coordinator Bailey Smith and Counselor 3 Eugene Barkley did an excellent job representing the frontline and service staff at Green Hill School when they spoke at Gov. Inslee's press event on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. They shared the deep impacts overcrowding has on staff, residents, treatment service delivery, and safety.  

Watch the full press conference: Governor Jay Inslee Press Conference - TVW.

JR Director of Operations, Safety and Security Jennifer Redman, shared the kudos for Bailey and Eugene.

Training from The Alliance for December

The December training schedule from The Alliance is available now. 

NEW! Comprehensive Qualified Expert Witness (QEW) Training: This training offers information you need to provide Qualified Expert Witness (QEW) testimony in Washington State DCYF Indian Child Welfare cases. This training provides a detailed look at QEW purpose, qualifications, and procedures, along with an overview of the following:

• History and impacts of colonization on Native American and Alaska Native children and families that led to the passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978
• Indian Child Welfare Act
• Washington Indian Child Welfare Act
• DCYF Dependency Cases

NEW! Supporting a Kinship-First Culture in a Workforce Environment: This course uses kin-first culture principles to help DCYF workers engage with kinship and relative caregivers to place youth successfully. 

Learn about all the upcoming classes by visiting: The Alliance's December Workforce Training Schedule. You can also explore its Calendar website feature to see the whole month at a glance. In addition, you can Sign up to get notices sent directly to your inbox.

Reviewing and Evaluating Transdisciplinary and Engaged Research Projects: Perspectives from Funding Programs

• Wednesday, Dec. 11 | 10 – 11:30 a.m. | Register for Webinar

As more funding agencies support transdisciplinary and engaged research to create real-world benefits, we can learn from programs that have already adopted these approaches. The focus on engagement throughout the research process highlights the importance of partnerships, relationships, and trust in translating research into practice and policy. However, recognizing these qualities in proposals and reports can be challenging. In this webinar, program leaders who have been funding and evaluating transdisciplinary research will share their insights on how to craft proposals that encourage such practices, review and assess proposals, and the criteria and tools they use to evaluate the outcomes and impacts of projects.