 Providing Background Check Relief for Child Care Providers
DCYF has received thoughtful and timely feedback from providers about ongoing challenges with the background check process. Although we seem to be on our way out of the worst global health crisis in more than 100 years, we recognize that the economic impacts of the pandemic are still very real and being felt by child care and early learning providers across the state. Hiring continues to be a challenge. This is exacerbated by interruptions in background check vendor services. Based on the feedback received from providers, we are taking some immediate actions to help alleviate the pressures on this already over-tapped system:
- Delay the July 1 background check requirements. For the next 12 months, DCYF will continue to allow staff to work supervised after submitting their background check application.
- Move forward with eliminating background check fees.
- Update our contract with our statewide background check vendor to reduce the distance providers must travel and the time they must wait to get their fingerprints.
- Pilot fingerprinting at DCYF offices. DCYF will test having the ability for staff in its field offices to perform the fingerprinting needed for background checks.
More details on these actions can be found on our website.
In addition to these important steps, the Office of Financial Management has begun work on the interagency Background Check Workgroup, created by the 2022 supplemental operating budget (Section 130(17), Chapter 297, Laws of 2022). We are pleased to announce that DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter has been appointed chair of this workgroup. This workgroup will review existing requirements and processes for conducting applicant background checks, and to provide a feasibility study and implementation plan for establishing a state central background check office. The workgroup’s preliminary plan is due in December, and final plan due June 2023.
Tracking Homelessness Among Youth Exiting Systems of Care in Washington State: RDA Dashboard
The Department of Social and Health Services Research and Data Analysis Division (RDA) and the Department of Commerce have published their 2022 report, “Homelessness Among Youth Exiting Systems of Care in Washington State.” This report details progress on the requirements of SB 6560 (2018) that unaccompanied youth discharged from a publicly funded system of care be discharged into safe and stable housing. The report provides an overview of housing status of youth and young adults who exited Washington state criminal justice systems, foster care, or residential behavioral health centers from July 2019 to June 2020.
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Home Visiting Advisory Committee Provides Recommendations for Improvement
Home visiting programs are voluntary, family-focused services offered to expectant parents and families with new babies and young children to support the physical, social, and emotional development of a child. Through the Home Visiting Services Account (HVSA), Washington State funds 44 programs with the capacity to serve about 2,800 families statewide.
In 2021 the Legislature adopted a budget proviso recognizing the complexities of the current home visiting system as well as the potential for expansion. The Legislature requested that the Home Visiting Advisory Committee (HVAC) “make recommendations to [DCYF] and the Legislature by June 1, 2022, containing strategies for supporting home visiting providers and serving additional families.”
Over the past year, the HVAC, comprised of home visiting providers, advocates, state agency partners, and other allied professionals, conducted a process to deliver recommendations for improvements to the home visiting system. The recommendations highlight the importance of continued expansion of home visiting slots and emphasize the investments necessary to support our home visiting workforce and improve equity.
Broken down by immediate, short-, medium-, and long-term (as well as by anticipated budgetary impact), this report details overarching recommendations, as well as recommendations for workforce development, true cost of service, and data enhancement. The included recommendations build upon previous studies and expand upon the positive outcomes of the existing home visiting system and investments.
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Daybreak Youth Services Receiving Center is Now Open
DCYF recently worked with Daybreak Youth Services to finalize contracts and disperse funds to open the first receiving center in Washington State for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC). This is the first center of its kind in Washington State and the first in the nation to receive youth in a licensed behavioral health facility.
The Daybreak Restorative Receiving Center specifically serves CSEC or those at high risk of CSEC. This center differs from shelters or other services in that it offers assessments for mental health and substance use disorders within 72 hours, followed by a referral. The program is voluntary, and youth receive case management, discharge planning, and referrals to other housing as needed.
DCYF’s Missing and Exploited Youth Program Manager is currently making referrals for dependent youth. Find out more by reaching out to dcyf.meyreceivingcenters@dcyf.wa.gov. Daybreak also has a 24/7 hotline for community direct access.
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UW Evans School Analysis of Disproportionality in the Washington State Juvenile Legal System
The DCYF Government Affairs team and Juvenile Rehabilitation division partnered with a team of graduate student consultants from the UW Evans School of Public Policy and Governance on a project titled, “Reducing Racial Disproportionality & Advancing Racial Equity in the Washington State Juvenile Legal System.”
Through the six-month duration of the collaboration, the consulting team performed a robust review of elements of the Juvenile Legal System in Washington State that contribute to racial disproportionality in outcomes, and have come up with a series of recommendations outlined in their report. The consulting team has presented their finding to DCYF leadership and other community partners. Included in the findings are recommended actions toward specific policy/policy areas that DCYF and community partners will be reviewing in order to help advance racial equity.
Read the full report.
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Parent Pay Repeal Goes into Effect
SHB 2050 went into effect on June 9, 2022, repealing RCW 13.40.220, Washington State’s Parent Pay Statute. Washington State will no longer require parent payment for the cost of their child’s support, treatment, and confinement in DCYF’s’ Juvenile Rehabilitation residential facilities. The law also repeals the ability of courts to order parents or custodial persons to pay or contribute to the payment of the costs of their child’s detention.
With the enactment of SHB 2050, existing debts or other obligations, including interest charges owed by the parents or other legally obligated persons are canceled, and all pending actions or proceedings against parents or other legally obligated persons to recover the debt owed are terminated. The law does not apply to money collected or paid to DCYF or the courts before the effective date.
An official letter and FAQ was sent to parents of youth in JR facilities, as well as a digital version posted on our website.
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New Youth Villages LifeSet Services Funded in Central Washington
DCYF’s Adolescent Programs and Youth Villages recently awarded new contracts to Catholic Charities of Central Washington for LifeSet services in Yakima, Benton, and Franklin Counties for youth between the ages 17.5 to 22 who are transitioning out of systems of care (child welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral health).
LifeSet, a program of Youth Villages, pairs a highly trained specialist with each young person to help identify and accomplish goals that support independence. These services help to reduce youth homelessness, increase economic well-being, and support better mental health. So far, the program has helped more than 20,000 young people become successful adults across the country.
This is the second DCYF contract for these services in the state (the first is in King County with the YMCA Social Impact Center). Funds for the contracts were awarded via a combination of legislative proviso in ESSB 5693 (2021) and Ballmer Group funds. The contracts total more than $500,000 and take effect on July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.
This work aligns with DCYF’s strategic priorities to successfully transition youth into adulthood and improve the quality and availability of provider services. This work also aligns with SB 6560’s legislative requirements for DCYF to ensure no young person discharges into homelessness from a system of care.
“LifeSet provides critical support through intensive case management services which help adolescents exiting systems of care succeed as they transition into adulthood,” said DCYF Prevention Program Manager Cole Ketcherside. “DCYF and Youth Villages are excited to be contracting with Catholic Charities to expand LifeSet to Yakima, Benton, and Franklin communities.”
Learn more about LifeSet services.
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