Safely Reduce the Number of Children and Youth in Out-of-Home Care by Half

The term "kinship care" refers to the full-time care of a child by relatives or suitable others (unrelated kin). In State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2023, over 50% of children experiencing out-of-home care were placed with kin. DCYF strongly encourages kinship caregivers to be licensed and can provide additional support to licensed caregivers, including foster care reimbursement. Over the past few years, the percentage of licensed kinship caregivers has more than doubled.

LEARN MORE ABOUT FOSTER CARE LICENSING FOR KINSHIP CAREGIVERS

Number and Percent Kinship Care Providers Licensed, Last Day of State Fiscal Year, 2013-2023

 

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Number and Percent Kinship Care Providers Licensed, Last Day of State Fiscal Year, 2013-2023

Source: Source: DCYF. (October 2023). Relative versus non-relative [July 2012-June 2023]. infoFamlink.
Notes: Point-in-time data taken last day of State Fiscal Year. This chart has been corrected, as the previously posted chart erroneously reported number/percent of children placed in licensed vs. unlicensed Kinship Care, rather than number/percent of Kinship Care providers.

An intake is the process by which DCYF receives and processes reports of child abuse or neglect. In State Fiscal Year 2023, 54% of children referred for intake had cases that were screened-in for further investigation. Since 2010, Washington State’s population has grown by 18% (Office of Financial Management), and the number of annual intakes has accordingly increased. The percentage of children whose intake cases were screened-in however, has remained fairly consistent since 2015.

Intakes by Screening Decision and State Fiscal Year, 2010-2023

 

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Intakes by Screening Decision and State Fiscal Year, 2010-2023

Source: DCYF. (October 2023). CPS victims by CAN type [July 2009-June 2023]. infoFamlink.
Notes: Intakes are deduplicated by child within each state fiscal year. Where a child has both DLR and DCFS intakes, the DCFS intake is selected. If both founded and unfounded intakes exist for a child, the earliest founded intake is selected. If all intakes are unfounded, the earliest unfounded intake is selected. If only screened-out intakes exist, the earliest screened-out intake is selected.

One of DCYF’s strategic priorities is to safely reduce the number of children and youth in out-of-home care. The outcome indicator for this priority is the number of children and youth in out-of-home care. In SFY 2023, one third of the 9,677 children and youth under age 18 who were placed in out-of-home care for one or more days were under three years old.

Although the number of children and youth in out-of-home care at any single point in time is far fewer than the number who experience any out-of-home care over the course of the year, by either measure, the number has been declining. On the last day of the state fiscal year, 2023, there were 5,969 children and youth in out-of-home care. At that time, 55.9 percent of all children and youth under 18 in out-of-home care were placed with kin or relatives.

VIEW THE ANNUAL POINT-IN-TIME DATA FROM SFY 1979 TO PRESENT

When children must be removed from their families, DCYF strives to move them into permanent homes as quickly as is safely possible and to support reunification and other permanency goals so that children do not return to out-of-home care. In state fiscal year 2022, 4.7 percent of children who exited out-of-home care to permanency through reunification or guardianship re-entered care in the following 12 months. The national performance, which is the standard to which DCYF is held, is 5.6 percent or less. DCYF monitors re-entry into care as a balancing indicator for safely reducing the number of children and youth in out-of-home care.

Numbers of children and youth entering and exiting out-of-home placement is another driver indicator for number of children and youth in out-of-home care. The number of children and youth entering out-of-home care has been declining since 2017. In SFY 2023, 3,302 children and youth entered out-of-home care, while 4,022 exited.

Children Entering and Exiting Out of Home Placement, SFY 2010-2023

 

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Children Entering and Exiting Out of Home Placement, SFY 2010-2023

Source: DCYF. (October 2023). Out of home exits and entries [July 2009-June 2023]. infoFamlink.
Notes: Entries identify the number of children who entered out-of-home care and were in the Placement and Care Authority (PCA) of DCYF. Exits identify each child that achieved permanency within each year, dismissing them from the PCA of DCYF.

DCYF strives to return children and youth home as soon as safely possible, and when this is not possible – to place them in an alternate permanent home.  The agency monitors the median length of stay for children in out-of-home care as a driver indicator for the number of children and youth in out-of-home care.  In state fiscal year 2021, the most recent year that can be reported, the median length of stay was 534 days, an increase of 68 days from the previous year.

Median Length of Stay (in Days) in Out-of-Home Care, SFY 2010-2021

 

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Median Length of Stay (in Days) in Out-of-Home Care, SFY 2010-2021

Source: DCYF. (October 2023). Child welfare priority performance measures [July 2009-June 2021]. infoFamlink.
Notes: Median number of days children are placed in out-of-home care on the last day of the state fiscal year. Episodes of less than seven days are not included, but days spent in any Trial Return Home period are included up to a maximum of 30 days. The cases included in this metric calculation have been changed from those with 60+ days in out-of-home care to those with 7+ days in out-of-home care. The metric has been updated to reflect the new standard, and as a result, medians for all years are lower than previously reported. 
“Median” is the middle number in a list of numbers in value order (for example, lowest to highest). There is an equal probability of falling above or below the median.