Strategic Priority Outcome

  • Equity in Kindergarten Readiness

    Although the statewide rate of kindergarten readiness has improved somewhat over the past six years (as measured by the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills assessment), this change has not benefitted all racial/ethnic groups equally. The readiness rates for American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander children remain substantially below the rates for children from other groups. Readiness rates for all groups have returned to their pre-COVID levels, but Asian and White children continue to have the highest rates of kindergarten readiness and those rates have increased faster than have the rates for other groups. Equity in kindergarten readiness is an outcome indicator for our strategic priority to eliminate racial disproportionality and advance racial equity.

    Kindergarten Readiness by Race/Ethnicity, 2015-2024 School Years

      Line graph showing kindergarten readiness by race/ethnicity for the 2015-2024 school years. While the specific percentages have risen somewhat for all groups during that time period, the pattern of readiness among groups is consistent. Asian children are most ready, followed by White children, with children of 2 or more races very close behind. Then there’s a significant gap in readiness, and Black children are the group in the middle of the distribution. There is another gap, albeit a smaller one, between the readiness of Black children and the three groups that follow. American Indian/Alaska Native children, Hispanic/Latino children, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander children are less ready than other groups. In 2024, 65% of Asian children, 60% of White children, 60% of children of 2 or more races, 48% of Black children, 41% of American Indian/Alaska Native children, 40% of Hispanic/Latino children, and 37% of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander children were fully ready for kindergarten.
     
    Early Learning
    Racial Equity
    Strategic Priority Outcome

  • Disproportionality and Disparity in Child Welfare

    Please visit DCYF's Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability's (OIAA) Disproportionality and Disparity in Child Welfare dashboard. 

    This dashboard includes measures of disproportionality in all intakes (screened-in and screened out), in screened-in intakes, and in removals within 12 months of intake. Users can select whether disproportionality is measured in relation to the general population of Washington state or in relation to the population with incomes limited to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level or less. This dashboard additionally includes measures of disparity in out-of-home placement and in lengths of stay longer than two years.

     
    Child Welfare
    Racial Equity
    Strategic Priority Outcome

  • Foster Care Kindergarten Readiness

    Children who experience foster care are prepared for kindergarten at lower rates than children who do not experience foster care. Although the overall rate of kindergarten readiness has increased over the past few years, there has not been a substantial increase in kindergarten readiness for children who have experienced foster care.

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

    Kindergarten Readiness by Foster Care Status, 2015-2024 School Years

      Line graph showing kindergarten readiness by foster care status, for the 2025-2024 school years. Students who have experienced foster care are consistently less ready for kindergarten than their peers who have not experienced foster care. For both groups, annual readiness rates vary, but for non-foster students, improvements made prior to 2020 have been maintained since 2020. In the 2015-2016 school year, 46.8% of non-foster students were ready for kindergarten, and in 2024-2025, 57.1% of them were ready. For foster students there is annual variation but not evidence of sustained improvement in kindergarten readiness. In 2015-2016, 33.1% of non-foster students were ready for kindergarten, and in 2024-2025 34.6% were ready.
     
    Early Learning
    Strategic Priority Outcome

  • ECEAP Kindergarten Readiness

    Kindergarten readiness is an outcome indicator for the DCYF priority to create a high-quality, integrated B-8 system. During the 2023-2024 school year, 88% of children who participated in the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) came from families that qualified for Free or Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL). Across the years, children who participate in ECEAP are prepared for kindergarten at higher rates than their FRPL-qualifying peers.

    READ THE ECEAP ANNUAL REPORT

    ECEAP Kindergarten Readiness by Domain, Relative to Income, School Years 2018-2023

      Clustered column chart comparing the percent of kindergarten ready children who come from higher income families to those who come from lower income families and those who participated in ECEAP, by domain, for the school years 2018-2023. The domains presented are Social-Emotional, Math, and Ready in All 6 domains measured by the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKids). Across all years and for all domains, children from higher-income families are ready at higher rates than lower-income or ECEAP children, but children who participate in ECEAP, and who are mostly also from lower-income families, are ready for kindergarten at higher rates than their peers from lower-income families. In the 2023-2024 school year, 84% of children from higher-income families were ready for kindergarten in the social-emotional domain, compared to 74% of ECEAP participants and 72% of children from lower-income families. In the math domain, 84% of children from higher-income families were ready for kindergarten, compared to 64% of ECEAP participants and 61% of children from lower-income families. And in all six domains measured by WaKIDS, 68% of children from higher-income families were ready for kindergarten, compared to 45% of ECEAP participants and 42% of children from lower-income families
     
    Early Learning
    Strategic Priority Outcome

  • Employment After Foster Care

    Between 2017 and 2023, the gap between employment rates for young adults who have experienced foster care and those who have not, remained fairly consistent 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, while the employment gap remains steady, the gap in median earnings continues to increase. It is widest for people without post-secondary education credentials, and narrowest for those with four-year post-secondary credentials, but the earnings gap between people who have experienced foster care and those who have not persists across all levels of educational attainment.

    Read the Education Research and Data Center (ERDC) Report

    Employment Among 2017 Cohort of Young Adults, by Former Foster Status, 2017-2023

      Line graph showing employment rates from 2017-2023 for a cohort of young adults who turned 18 in 2017, by former foster status. Employment rates declined during those years for both those who had experienced foster care and those who had not, with a persistent gap of about 11 percentage points. In 2017, when they were 18 years old, 56% of the former foster youth had employment, compared to 68% of those who had not experienced foster care. By 2023, when they were 23 years old, 51% of the former foster youth had employment, compared to 62% of those who had not experienced foster care.
     
    Child Welfare
    Strategic Priority Outcome
    Youth

  • High School Graduation of Youth in Foster Care

    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

    Four Year Graduation Rate, by Foster Care Status, Classes of 2013-2023

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    Child Welfare
    Strategic Priority Balancing Indicator
    Strategic Priority Outcome
    Youth

  • Foster Care and Mental Health

    A DCYF strategic priority is to improve the quality and availability of provider services. As an outcome indicator, we are monitoring the needs and provided treatment of children and youth in foster care. Research shows that exposure to traumatic events and chronic stress — such as poverty, housing instability, family conflict, abuse and neglect, and exposure to caregivers’ mental illness or substance use disorder — contribute to the greater behavioral health needs of children and youth experiencing out-of-home care.

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

    Needs and Treatment of Children and Youth in Foster Care, SFY 2014-2021

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    Child Welfare
    Mental Health
    Strategic Priority Outcome