Families and children can find love and support in many ways – through places in communities that offer a sense of belonging, from teachers who inspire and lift children, or through home visitors who step in and offer support and guidance to families.

DCYF's Strengthening Families team is preparing to observe Child Abuse Prevention Month this April by raising awareness in communities about child abuse and neglect prevention.

The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is now accepting applications for the Organizational License Pilot (Spanish, Somali).

Passed during the 2020 Legislative Session, House Bill 2607 aims to assist young people under age 25 experiencing homelessness with obtaining state identification (ID) cards.

Providing the young people in DCYF’s care an opportunity to write about their lived experiences achieves many goals at once – writing is often therapeutic and strengthens writing skills while helping youth to claim their stories, thereby fostering personal growth.

Foster parents and kinship caregivers may claim a tax deduction on certain foster care payments for children who have been placed in their care for more than half of the tax year. Exceptions apply for a foster child born within the tax year; caregivers will need to check with their tax advisor in these situations.

This month, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families is joining the country to celebrate Social Work Month.

As DCYF works to eliminate racial disproportionalities and advance racial equity, it’s essential to continue supporting the voices of BIPOC youth and acknowledge their history as an embedded part of our community every day of the year.

February is Black History Month. As a late-stage boomer, I got almost none of this history in school, despite growing up in a majority Black city (Philadelphia) and a big academic focus on American History in my youth.