View the full June Secretary Newsletter.

Advancing Racial Equity

I want to begin by acknowledging the range of emotions you may be feeling, including anger, confusion, grief, disbelief and numbness evoked by recent events. By now, we’ve all seen the brutal murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis –  officers who are supposed to “serve and protect” the community.

After spending 948 days in foster care, Christopher Hankins, 5, and De’Andre Porter, 7, were officially adopted by relatives living in Michigan.

The Child Care COVID-19 Grant, which provided critical support and stabiliza

Under the governor’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order, many parts of our lives have been put on hold, postponed or cancelled. For people that struggle with addiction, this has been an incredibly difficult period as many if not all in-person support groups have been cancelled. 

Gabriel and Holly Gregory have been licensed foster parents since August 2013. 

During this time, they opened their home to foster children with a wide array of care needs and have been champions for keeping sibling sets together, increasing emotional and behavioral stability for children and supporting successful permanency plans (both reunification and alternate options).

In Washington State and around the country, Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Echo Glen recently participated in a pilot project aimed at developing cultural adaptations to improve access to evidence-based trauma interventions for youth of color and to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in their treatment.

In April, children and families in Benton City had a good day when Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) staff at Educational Service District (ESD) 123 collected and delivered donations of essential items such as food, paper products, diapers, hygiene items and Walmart gift cards to families at the Carrusel Childcare Center.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many early intervention services have switched from in-person to virtual.