DCYF Secretary Ross Hunter provided the following update and welcome to the legislature on Monday, Jan. 9, the start of the 2023 Legislative Session.
Welcome to the 2023 legislative session.
Through the Capitol Classroom program in Juvenile Rehabilitation (JR), young people have the opportunity to work alongside peers and youth engagement specialists to learn about and propose legislation that can dramatically affect juvenile justice.
The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) seeks to expand and enhance less restrictive, community-based settings for youth and young adults placed in the agency’s Juvenile Rehabilitation (JR) institutions.
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.
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).
The 2021 Legislative Session resulted in strong investments and positive policy changes for children, youth, and families across Washington state. Legislators displayed an immense amount of trust in the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to implement major initiatives and distribute new resources on ambitious timelines.
The 2021 Legislative Session convenes virtually today, Jan. 11, and will last 105 days. While the unprecedented virtual structure presents many challenges, rest assured we will be hard at work communicating with lawmakers throughout the session.
In a May 13 memo, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) directed state agencies to identify operating budget savings options to reduce state spending by 15% from the fiscal year 2021 state appropriation.
We are in week six of the 2020 Legislative Session and have already passed the first two major deadlines. Last week brought the house of origin fiscal cutoff, where all proposed legislation needed to be voted out of fiscal committees. Following that, committee members began spending their time on the floor debating and voting on bills.
