Child Welfare

DCYF works to achieve permanency for children as quickly and safely as possible. The goal is to reunify children with their families when parents demonstrate that they are able to safely care for their children. When children cannot be safely reunified, DCYF makes efforts to achieve permanency through adoption and guardianship as quickly as possible. Of children who were removed from their parents in state fiscal year 2022, over 40 percent were able to achieve permanency within 12 months of their placement out of their parent’s home; the federal target is 37.9 percent or more. Over 96 percent of the children achieving permanency within 12 months were reunified with their families.

Children Placed in Safe and Permanent Homes Within 12 Months of Entering Care, SFY 2010-2022

 

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Children Placed in Safe and Permanent Homes Within 12 Months of Entering Care, SFY 2010-2022

Source: DCYF. (October 2023). Child welfare priority performance measures [July 2009-June 2023]. infoFamlink.
Notes: State fiscal year reflects the year the child entered care, allowing for 12 months to exit to permanency. Excludes children who were placed fewer than eight days.

It is important that children who are removed from their homes experience stability while they are in out-of-home care. To monitor the stability of children in out-of-home placement, DCYF monitors the number of placement moves per 1,000 days in out-of-home care for children and youth entering care during a 12-month cohort period (federal measure) and during the first 90 days (state measure). The federal target is 3.98 moves or fewer; in state fiscal year 2023, Washington had an overall rate of 5.20 on this measure, 1.22 percentage points higher than the federal target. Disaggregation by placement setting however, shows that the kinship care stability rate meets the federal target, while rate for non-kin foster care does not. The state measure of stability is typically greater than the federal measure because a high proportion of the moves that children and youth experience occur in the first 90 days.

Between 2015 and 2019, the gap between employment rates for young adults who have experienced foster care and those who have not, decreased in Washington State. During the same time period however, the gap in median earnings between the two groups widened, and that increase cannot be attributed to differences in number of hours worked. Longitudinal analysis shows that over time, the employment rate for young adults who have experienced foster care approaches the employment rate for young adults who have not, but that the gap in median earnings continues to increase.

READ THE ERDC REPORT ON EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE

Employment Among Young Adults, Age 18+, by Former Foster Status, 2015-2019

 

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Employment Among Young Adults, Age 18+, by Former Foster Status, 2015-2019

Source: Chen, V. W. and Hough, G. C. (2021) Education and Workforce Outcomes for Children and Youth in Foster Care. Olympia, WA: Education Research and Data Center, Office of Financial Management.

One of DCYF’s strategic priorities is that we create successful transitions to adulthood for youth and young adults in our care. Graduation from high school is an outcome indicator for this priority. Statewide, the 2023 four year graduating cohort included 85,306 students, 84% of whom graduated on time. In most years, an additional 2-3 percent of the class have graduated by the end of their fifth year. Among that 2023 cohort, 552 youth were indicated as having been in foster care. Youth who have not been in foster care graduated at the rate of the overall class, whereas 53% of youth who had been in foster care graduated on time.

VIEW THE Washington State Education REPORT CARD Dashboard

Housing instability is a balancing indicator for our outcomes related to creating successful transitions to adulthood. Youth and young adults who exit the foster care system without being placed into a permanent family through reunification, adoption, or guardianship are often referred to as "aging out" of foster care. These youth are at higher risk of becoming homeless or unstably housed than those who have a family to support them at this critical life transition. Across the past five years, within 12 months of leaving care, about 20% of former foster youth experienced an episode of housing instability or homelessness.

Analysis has also been done about the housing instability of youth and young adults (ages 12 to 25) who are released from a Juvenile Rehabilitation institution. From 2018-2022, the rates of homelessness for youth and young adults leaving Juvenile Rehabilitation institutions has mirrored those of former foster youth. Across the past five years, 18 percent experienced an episode of housing instability or homelessness within 12 months of discharge.

VIEW THE REPORT FROM THE RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYSIS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

When a child or group of children meets the legal criteria for an emergent response or is determined to be at "imminent risk" of harm, a worker must initiate a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation and make face-to-face contact with the child within 24 hours of receipt of the report. During state fiscal year 2023, 81.3 percent of children in emergent reports were seen within 24 hours.

A Child Protective Services (CPS) report meeting the criteria for a non-emergent response requires workers to initiate a CPS investigation or a CPS Family Assessment Response (FAR) and make face-to-face contact with the child within 72 hours of receipt of the report. During state fiscal year 2022, 89.4 percent of children in non-emergent reports were seen within 72 hours.

A child experiences re-abuse or recurrence when they have experienced a founded allegation of abuse or neglect within 12 months of a previous finding of abuse or neglect. An allegation is founded if the worker concluded that the maltreatment likely occurred. For reports with multiple allegations, the report is considered founded if any of the allegations are founded. State fiscal year reflects the year of the first founded allegation and we must wait 12 months to determine if there was a new founded allegation. In state fiscal year 2021 the rate of recurrence was 8.6 percent, 2.6 percentage points above the federal performance target of 6.0 percent.

Recurrence of Maltreatment, SFY 2010-2021

 

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Recurrence of Maltreatment, SFY 2010-2021

Source: DCYF. (October 2023). Child welfare priority performance measures [July 2009-June 2021]. infoFamlink.
Notes: Percentage of children with a founded allegation of abuse or neglect who had another founded allegation within 12 months. This measure excludes additional reports in the first 14 days.

DCYF works to ensure the safety of children who are in the placement and care authority of DCYF, including children who are placed in licensed care, those placed with unlicensed kin, and those placed with their parents on a trial return home. We measure the number of founded reports of maltreatment for the total number of days children were in DCYF placement and care authority and display this as the rate of maltreatment per 100,000 care-days. In state fiscal year 2022, the rate was 7.9; the federal target is 6.8 or less.

DCYF attempts to place children and youth with relatives whenever it is safe and possible. To balance these efforts, we are monitoring the rates of maltreatment by placement setting. In most years, rates of maltreatment are lower in kinship care than in foster care.