The DCYF oversight committee meetings are open to the public on Zoom, and accepts topics for the meeting agenda through this public survey (also linked from the homepage) https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PYBJ696. Past meetings are recorded for public viewing at https://dcyfoversight.wa.gov/video-archive
The next committee meeting is on March 17/2022 from 10:00am to 1:00pm
Each year they release a report on how well DCYF is doing against 18 measures. In 2021;
The report concludes DCYF is achieving improved outcomes for:
- Increasing the number of proportion of children kindergarten-ready
- Increasing the proportion of children in quality early learning programs
- Reducing the number of children entering out-of-home care
- Reducing the length of stay for children in out-of-home care
- Increasing family reunifications, and
- Increasing high school graduation rates for youth in the child welfare and juvenile rehabilitation systems
The report also concludes DCYF’s practice and operations need improvement on:
- Eliminating racial and ethnic disproportionality and disparities in system involvement across child and youth outcomes
- Increasing the available supply of licensed child care
- Licensing more foster homes than there are children in out-of-home care
- Increasing the stability of placement for children in out-of-home care
- Developing strategies to demonstrate to foster families that their service and involvement are highly valued by the agency
- Improving adolescent outcomes, and
- Eliminating the discharge of youth from institutional settings into homeless
Areas of concern for DCYF’s practice include:
- Reducing maltreatment of youth while in out-of-home care, and
- Reducing the number of children re-entering out-of-home care
Read the full report: https://dcyfoversight.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-12/DCYF%20Oversight%20Board%202021%20Annual%20Report%20-%20Final%20Dec%202021_0.pdf#page35