New State Laws Help Open Doors to More Child Care Access
Great news! Recent legislation reduces barriers to early education and child care providers.
Individuals wanting to become licensed child care providers, and community organizations, such as churches, seeking to use existing facilities for child care programs, can benefit from local siting and zoning changes aimed to expand places where child care can be made available.
Three new laws, that are effective July 27, 2025, were created to ease the burden to do business in Washington state for child care providers, or prospective child care providers. Further, the legislature funded DCYF to provide technical assistance to individuals and organizations that want to become a provider or expand their early learning child care facilities.
To learn more about the new law changes, read the DCYF web article.
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Spread the Word about Free/Low-Cost Child Care
Many families living in Washington state qualify for free or low-cost child care, but they may not know about it. You can help by sharing information with parents, caregivers, and your community.
The Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) has put together a toolkit with ready-to-use materials that make spreading the word easy!
Visit www.dcyf.wa.gov/childcare/toolkit to access printable flyers, sample social media posts, and email templates.
Whether you work directly with families or want to help your community stay informed, these resources make it easy to connect families to the support they need.
Want to know more about the Working Connections Child Care Subsidy Program? Visit www.dcyf.wa.gov/childcare or call 844-626-8687. Help is available by phone in multiple languages.
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“Don’t teach all our children exactly the same thing, if you teach them everything all the same, they won’t need one another, and the world will split apart.”
-Bruce Miller, Skokomish Elder
Each week, DCYF ESIT Tribal Program Consultant, Brian Frisina, provides a key topic to help us get to know our Tribal Nation Partners better.
This week’s term is:
Teachings of the Tree People: The Work of Bruce Miller
Teachings of the Tree People is a tribute to the life and work of Skokomish elder Gerald Bruce Miller (subiyay), a nationally prominent cultural leader and teacher who brought his talents home to lead a cultural renaissance in the Pacific Northwest. His story offers a powerful model of cultural and environmental stewardship. IslandWood is honored to have worked with Bruce as a cultural advisor and teacher.
“The trees were our first teachers” (28.34):
Teachings of the Tree People: The Work of Bruce Miller
Book Recommendation
In Common With: The Fish Wars, the Boldt Decision, and the Fight to Save Salmon in the Pacific Northwest by Bill Wilkerson: "[....] an insider’s look at a number of successful negotiations between historic adversaries. They included an international salmon treaty between the US and Canada, a long-term cooperative management agreement between the state and Tribes, and a major accord between the state, Tribes, and forestland managers to protect salmon habitat on privately owned forestlands."
Sources
Celebrating 20 Years of Dedication: Vanessa Hagerty’s Impact at SPARC
“I really enjoy working with kids and families and I love watching their journey,” shared Vanessa Hagerty, Lead Family Resources Coordinator (FRC) at Skagit Preschool and Resource Center (SPARC). That passion is more than words—Vanessa has been putting it into action for 20 years. Vanessa Hagerty was nominated for her dedication to Guiding Principle number six, the role of the service provider is to work with a team to support the IFSP functional outcomes, based on the family’s needs and priorities.
Her two decades at SPARC reflect a deep commitment not only to children with special needs but also to the families who care for them. Vanessa plays a crucial role in helping families navigate what can often be an overwhelming and emotional journey. She consistently reminds parents, “You are the professional too. You know what will work best for your child, family, culture, routines, and priorities.” Her message is clear: while professionals provide expertise, parents bring the heart and daily insight essential to their child’s development.
Vanessa was drawn to SPARC because of its mission as a nonprofit organization—and the supportive, flexible work culture it fosters. She appreciates SPARC’s recognition of employees, offering flexible schedules and remote work opportunities that help staff balance their own lives while supporting others. But for Vanessa, the biggest reward is the impact she makes. “I just love working with children with special needs,” she says simply, but with conviction.
A standout element of Vanessa’s work is the biweekly team meetings where she and her colleagues collaborate to ensure that each family's concerns, values, and routines are reflected in their child’s Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). These conversations lead to real, practical support for families—like the recent case of a mother concerned about her daughter, who is blind in one eye. Vanessa, connected her with a mobility specialist, easing the mother’s fears and providing tools for independence. The mom later reached out to express her gratitude, saying she now feels like she has a strong support system in place.
Vanessa describes the work as “Great and hard work! More rewarding than it is hard.” And after 20 years of unwavering service, it’s clear that the children and families of SPARC are thriving thanks to her dedication.
Principles
Submit Your Nomination!
The ESIT state leadership team plans to highlight individual providers or ESIT provider agencies that are demonstrating one or more of the Seven Key Principles in their work in a new section of the ESIT Weekly titled Key Principles in Action. This new section will help us recognize the high-quality agencies and efforts of individual providers across the ESIT statewide system. Nominators will remain anonymous (though we may contact you for more details about your nomination). To make a nomination, please complete the form linked below:
Nominate an ESIT Program or Colleague
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DCYF and King County are partnering to host an ongoing meeting space to support ESIT Providers who work with immigrant and refugee families. The space will provide best practice training, guidance, resources, and reflective practice to ESIT Providers, in response to the evolving needs of families. Providers will have the opportunity to process, connect, and reflect with one another.
This statewide group will be held on the fourth Monday of each month, 9:30 - 11 a.m. The August session will include training, discussion, and reflection about family safety planning. We will be exploring resources from DCYF and community organizations, as well as their use within ESIT.
Who should attend?
Any Provider who works with immigrant and refugee families! We recommend any ESIT staff, especially those who support the intake/referral, service coordination, and evaluation/assessment process, to attend. Registration is open now!
Monday, Aug. 25 | 9:30 - 11 a.m.
Supporting Providers Working with Immigrant and Refugee Families
Accommodation Requests
ASL, live captioning, and other accommodations to fully participate in this webinar are available to you upon request. Please submit the Training and Event Access Support request form at least two weeks prior to the event. DYCF may not be able to fulfill requests made less than two weeks in advance.
Questions?
Contact Technical Assistance Specialist, Molly Stryker, at molly.stryker@dcyf.wa.gov or King County Program Manager, Norma Renteria Lobo, at nrenteri@kingcounty.gov.
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SICC Member Application
The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is recruiting members for two open positions on the State Interagency Coordinating Council:
- (1) Public or private provider of Early Intervention Services,
- (1) Member of the State Legislature.
Apply on the Governor's website, and under 'Board Information,' select Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and Their Families, State Interagency Coordinating Council:
Apply here for SICC board
SICC Sub-Committees Application
The SICC Data, Finance, Personnel & Training, Public Policy, and Service Delivery Committees are accepting applications from qualified and interested individuals:
Complete Sub-Committee Interest form
If you have any questions, please contact DCYF ESIT Community Collaboration Coordinator, E Renae` Antalan.
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ESIT is excited to share that recruitment is officially open for PIE (Parent Institute for Engagement) Cohort 8!
PIE is a powerful opportunity for families who are passionate about advocacy, leadership, and equity in early intervention. Through this program, families connect, grow, and influence systems of support for infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities across Washington state. Follow the link below to apply:
PIE Cohort 8 Application
Application Deadline: Sept. 25
Notification of Acceptance: Week of Sept. 29
Flyers are available for providers and partners to distribute to families. To request flyers, application links, or for any questions, please contact Vanessa Allen, Family Engagement Coordinator. For more information about PIE, visit the ESIT Parent Rights page.
Let’s continue building strong family leaders, one cohort at a time.
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*CLAs and ESIT Provider Agencies, please widely share with your ESIT contractors*
ESIT's Resource and Sustainability Team is hosting several Fiscal Learning Opportunities! Priority registration will be given to budget/fiscal staff.
Revenue/Expenditure Year-End Report Sessions
Year-End Revenue/Expenditure Report Sessions will include guidance on completing your organization’s FY24 ESIT Revenue & Expenditure Year-End Report using the updated instructions and template within the Fiscal Workbook.
Dates and Times
- Tuesday, Sept. 9 | 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. | Registration
- Wednesday, Sept. 10 | 9 – 10 a.m. | Registration
- Tuesday, Sept. 23 | 10 – 11 a.m. | Registration *for County Lead Agencies and their affiliated ESIT Provider Agencies.
Fiscal Workshops
Fiscal Workshops will include guidance on the following topics:
- Part C Purpose and Fiscal Requirements,
- State Lead Agency (SLA) Responsibilities, and
- ESIT Fund Sources and Contracts.
* Workshops are two hours. All workshops will cover the same material (no need to attend all four).
Dates and Times
Accommodation Requests
ASL, live captioning, and other accommodations to fully participate in this webinar are available to you upon request. Please submit the Training and Event Access Support request form at least two weeks prior to the event. DYCF may not be able to fulfill requests made less than two weeks in advance.
Questions?
Email ESIT's Resource Allocations Manager, Kali Wraspir, at kali.wraspir@dcyf.wa.gov.
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Research Study for Providers Working with Children with Neurogenetic Conditions
Are you an early intervention provider with experience working with children with neurogenetic conditions? Pixi is especially interested in reaching providers that work with families who are less represented in research studies in neurogenetic conditions. If you're interested in sharing more about your experience, please join us for a virtual interview.
Participation may include:
Zoom interviews: answering questions about your experiences working with diverse families of children (1 hour).
Web-based questionnaires (15 minutes).
Participants will be compensated for their time.
Interested in learning more? Reach out to Sam Scott, at sjscott@rti.org, call 919-248-8533, or complete the online information form.
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