DCYF Caregiver Connection – December 2021

DCYF Caregiver Connection – December 2021

thank you

Thank you Foster Parents and Kinship Caregivers!

Members of DCYF’s Targeted Recruitment Specialist (TRS) Team attended the FPAWS Pacific North West Caregivers Conference at Great Wolf Lodge to show appreciation for our amazing caregivers.

This Thanksgiving, we wanted to give thanks where it is definitely due, and express our gratitude to our amazing foster parents and kinship caregivers!

You tirelessly navigate so many different systems all for the well-being of children, youth, and families. You provide the unconditional love and support our children and youth need to heal and grow during this challenging time in their lives. You manage all the feelings, the highs and lows, and do so with dignity and grace. Thank you for your hard work, perseverance, patience, compassion, and dedication to our kids. We are thankful for you!

If you know anyone that might be interested in becoming a foster parent, feel free to share these links for our foster parent information sessions! As a reminder, our information sessions are the first Tuesday of every month, with two time slots, at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. Our next information sessions are scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 7
12-1 p.m. | Register here: https://dcyf.zoom.us/meeting/register/ tZYqcO6hqzkjHdTsxx9AFLfkDm_uTM80HeJ6
6-7 p.m. |Register here: https://dcyf.zoom.us/meeting/register/ tZUrceyrrzosH9xof9Ok_NYDJO9JuopSRoYo


Change in Flu Shot Verification Requirement

Licensing Division implemented a practice change in August of 2021, regarding yearly influenza verification requirements for licensed caregivers caring for medically fragile children or children under age of 2 years. Licensed caregivers are no longer required to submit yearly flu shot verification to their licensor; however, it is still the licensed caregiver’s responsibility to ensure that all household members receive and maintain documentation/verification of annual influenza immunizations, if caring for children under 2 or medically fragile. For families licensed when the influenza immunization is not available, they will provide proof of current influenza immunization for all household members at the time of their first modification, amendment or license renewal, as applicable.  Caregivers of medically fragile children or children under two who cannot provide verification and documentation of current influenza vaccination may receive a valid licensing violation and their license may be modified to an older age range.

DCYF Recruits Foster Parents at Spokane Hockey Game

foster parent

Our Targeted Recruitment Specialist team attended the Chief’s Hockey Game to celebrate National Adoption Day in Spokane.In collaboration, DCYF and Morning Star Boys Ranch joined up to share resources and information on how to become a foster parent with community members in attendance.DCYF looks forward to continued partnerships with the Spokane Chief’s organization and plans to have more in person recruitment events during their regular season games. DCYF continues to work alongside Child Placing Agency partners to increase awareness and recruit for quality, diverse caregivers for our children and youth experiencing foster care.


DCYF Joins Child Welfare Leaders from Across the Country to Form National Partnership for Child Safety

In an effort to improve child safety and realign child welfare toward a more preventative child and family well-being system, DCYF has joined child welfare leaders representing 26 state, county and tribal child and family serving agencies to form the National Partnership for Child Safety (NPCS). The mission of NPCS is to improve child safety and prevent child maltreatment and fatalities by strengthening families and promoting innovations in child protection. Supported by Casey Family Programs, NPCS is a quality improvement collaborative formed to further key recommendations and findings of the federal Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities, which highlighted the importance and impact of safety science and data sharing to system change and reform.
“Just as transportation industries apply safety science as a tool to better understand and prevent injury and fatalities, child welfare leaders are dedicated to working collaboratively to develop approaches and share information that will help prevent child abuse and fatalities and support more families in keeping children safe and thriving in their own homes,” said Jodi Hill-Lilly, executive committee co-chair of the National Partnership for Child Safety. The collaboration currently encompasses agencies that serve an estimated 807,000 children who are subjects of an investigation by child protection services each year across the country. 
“Better data and data sharing across jurisdictions are critical steps to developing approaches to address children who are most at risk,” said Chip Spinning, executive committee co-chair of the National Partnership for Child Safety. “Working together, we can build the knowledge base of evidence-based practices that can reduce harm and prevent fatalities, before they occur. ”To strengthen accountability, promote collaboration and improve child safety outcomes, members of this partnership will share data and apply a set of strategies, including implementing a standardized platform for critical incident review and reporting of data, comparing critical incident and team culture data, sharing cross-jurisdictional safety notices and more.

Adoption Consortium Connects Foster Youth with Adoptive Families

holding hands

Adoption consortium is a service that assists caseworkers in identifying adoptive homes for youth in need of permanency. This service also provides potential adoptive families an opportunity to hear about youth in need of a permanent home, ask questions, and present themselves to the caseworkers as a potential match.
Who Can Participate? Any youth or sibling group in need of a permanent adoptive home. The youth does not need to be legally free to use this service but the case should be in the TPR process and must have court or parent approval for participation. Any licensed or adoptive family who are currently approved for placement. This includes families licensed or home-studied through a private agency. Consortiums are held monthly via Zoom. Join us at one of our upcoming events: December 21,2021 | 9 a.m. -12 p.m. If you are an adoptive family seeking to identify a child or youth, you can email Elisha Chambers ([email protected]) and Julie Pettit ([email protected]) regarding your interest in presenting your family. To learn more, view this publication.


DCYF Asks Legislature to Repeal Parent Pay Statute

fund

DCYF proposed a bill to the Legislature that would repeal RCW 13.40.220, Washington’s “Parent Pay” statute, which charges families for their child’s incarceration. The law currently requires parents to pay a percentage of their income to DCYF for the cost of their child’s support, treatment, and confinement in Juvenile Rehabilitation (JR). It disproportionately impacts low-income families and represents a dated policy and philosophy that are not aligned with current racial equity and social justice reforms. “It puts families at risk,” said one parent of a youth in JR care. “They’re going to garnish [wages]. You don’t have a choice on how much to pay or when to pay. You have to choose between vehicle, rent, food – something has to go if you’re going to pay it. It impacts the whole family in a negative way. ”Pursuing these parents is unfair and sometimes forces them to make impossible trade-offs when they are most vulnerable. Placing them in debt may also result in unstable home environments, which impedes successful youth reentry back into the community. Eliminating parents’ financial obligation to pay for their child’s incarceration advances racial equity and supports successful transition into adulthood for the youth in our care, two of DCYF’s strategic priorities. For more information on this agency request legislation, read the Parent Pay fact sheet.

Conference Sponsors

Previous slide
Next slide
24/7 support hotline
Foster Families
Family Time Network
Visitation Services

All Family Time related inquiries

Upcoming Events

march, 2024

Search
Small Donations, Bigger Impact

Support Families Helping Families

become a Friend of FPAWS