The Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) is excited to announce the release of its first Request for Application (RFA) for Early ECEAP (Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program). 

Early ECEAP will provide an opportunity to serve more at-risk infants and toddlers with comprehensive early learning and family support services modeled after the successful Early Head Start center-based program funded at the federal level by the Office of Head Start.

As a new leader in the child welfare space, I thought it would be worth my while to do some listening before I made any big changes. So I went on a tour all over the state of Washington. I talked to caseworkers, foster parents, birth families, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and anyone else I could find who had an opinion. I got an earful.

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) was selected as one of nine recipients of the Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families grant, administered by the Children’s Bureau within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children, Youth and Families.

DCYF’s proposal was selected to receive more than $540,000 annually over the next five years to focus on prevention of maltreatment and reduction of entry into foster care.

In September 2019, DCYF licensed its first outdoor, nature-based preschool program: Kaleidoscope Forest School on Orcas Island.