Strategic Priority Driver

  • Out-of-Home Care Length of Stay

    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 2020, the most recent year that can be reported, the median length of stay was 511 days, a decrease of 10 days from the previous year.

    Median Length of Stay (in Days) in Out-of-Home Care, SFY 2010-2020
      graph
    Median Length of Stay (in Days) in Out-of-Home Care by Race/Ethnicity, SFY 2010-2020
      graph

  • Equity in Dialectical Behavior Therapy in JR

    Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is the primary residential treatment for youth and young adults in Washington’s Juvenile Rehabilitation (JR) facilities. Two integral components of DBT are individual counseling sessions and skills groups. JR’s standard is for residents to attend 4 of each per month. Equitable access to appropriate treatment is a driver of equitable outcomes. Overall, in State Fiscal Year 2022, eligible clients accessed an average of 2.73 individual sessions and 2.64 skills groups each month. White and Hispanic youth and young adults received somewhat more DBT treatment, on average, than did residents who are Black/African American or Asian/Pacific Islander.

    Average Number of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Individual Sessions Attended per Month by Juvenile Rehabilitation Facilities Residents, by Race/Ethnicity, SFYs 2021-2022
      graph
    Average Number of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skills Groups Attended per Month by Juvenile Rehabilitation Facilities Residents, by Race/Ethnicity, SFYs 2021-2022
      graph