DCYF’s Strategic and Racial Equity Plan from 2020 asked us to reduce racial inequities, improve how we work with families and service providers, and prevent harm to children and youth as early as possible.
The Thriving Families Initiative included several projects that focused on preventing harm, supporting families and staff, and improving DCYF staff’s day-to-day work.
It worked to improve outcomes for families by:
- Safely lowering the number of children placed outside their homes
- Helping families so children and youth could stay safely at home
- Placing children with relatives when they could not stay at home
- Making sure all placements were safe and stable
- Helping children find permanent homes
With the last strategic plan coming to a close in 2026, this initiative is also ending. This means that no new projects will be added to this initiative. However, the work does not stop! Some of these projects are complete, and others will continue through their own programs until they are finished. Click below to learn more about each project.
Projects
The project goal is to build a comprehensive assessment system that:
- Helps caseworkers with decision making
- Documents critical case information
- Supports finding services for families
- Provides data integrity and validity
This work continues in partnership with the case management information system project.
The goal of Caregiver Supports was to provide resources that support both young people and people who care for them. The project began by replacing the monthly payment system. The second part of the project involves offering supports like:
- Education advocacy
- Coordinating medical and health related appointments
- Ways to support children as they become adults
- Creating strategies to manage behavioral health
- Case Aide Hours
For updates, visit the Caregiver Supports webpage.
DCYF continues to work to achieve the outcomes required under this lawsuit. View updates on the D.S. Lawsuit and Settlement Agreement webpage.
FFPSA’s goal is to keep children safely with their families and prevent the traumatic experience of entering foster care. This includes developing pathways that expand access to community-based services to avoid child welfare involvement. This work continues to be at the center of everything the agency does. Future progress updates can be found on the FFPSA webpages.
This project uses a model designed with community members and people with lived experience.
DCYF believes that moving Family Reconciliation Services (FRS) to this model will mean:
- Greater access to culturally relevant and appropriate services for at-risk 12- to 17-year-olds and their families
- Less stigma and association with child abuse and neglect investigations
DCYF submitted two decision packages requesting funding to expand this statewide by 2030. As of March 11, 2026, Senate House Bill 1509 funded continuing one pilot site. This pilot is located at Cocoon House and is available to young persons and their families in the Everett area.
Working with Tribes, this project updated DCYF’s Indian Child Welfare (ICW) policies, procedures, forms, and trainings. These updates make sure that the agency:
- Follows federal and state Indian Child Welfare laws (ICWA and WICWA)
- Improves how the agency does its work
- Helps create better outcomes for Tribal children and families
In July 2025, DCYF completed the Kinship Licensing Standards project. It made it easier and quicker for children and youth placed with kinship caregivers (relatives and non-related kin) to get financial help. The new process helps make sure these homes are safe, stable, and support permanency. It also allows some flexibility to meet each child’s unique needs, following the rules under WAC 110-149.
The project also updated the Kinship Caregiver webpage to explain the legal rights and rules for licensed kinship caregivers. These same rules now apply to unlicensed caregivers too, so everything is clearer and more consistent for everyone.
In September 2025, the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) moved Motivational Interviewing (MI) for DCYF staff to the Alliance. This shift helps make sure staff across the agency are consistent in their language and practice when working with clients. They are also supported by ongoing training.
The Service Expansion project was completed in July 2025. The goal of this project was to increase service delivery to families. The agency also wanted to build a system of providers that are available, supportive, and culturally responsive.
Since the project was finished:
- DCYF staff now have a dashboard of available providers to refer families to.
- Additional culturally responsive services have started statewide.
- DCYF is informing future efforts based on this report.
For more information, visit the child welfare contracted services webpage.
