Child Welfare

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.

Washington state law requires DCYF to monitor a random sample of no less than 10 percent of the total number of DCYF licensed family foster homes by July 1 of each year and to report the results annually (RCW 74.13.260; RCW 74.13.031(6)). In state fiscal year 2023, 12.1 percent of licensed homes received a random health and safety visit.

Licensed Foster Homes Monitored Annually, SFY 2013-2023

 

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Licensed Foster Homes Monitored Annually, SFY 2013-2023

Source: DCYF. (October 2023). DLR health and safety visits [July 2012-June 2023] & Counts of CA licensed providers by location and type [July 2012-June 2023]. infoFamlink.

When a child is placed in agency custody, DCYF strives to see the child at least once during each calendar month. During state fiscal year 2023, 96.5 percent of children in out-of-home placement received a visit from their worker each month, which is 1.5 percentage points higher than the federal performance target of 95 percent

Children in Placement Who Receive a Monthly Health and Safety Visit, SFY 2010-2023

 

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Children in Placement Who Receive a Monthly Health and Safety Visit, SFY 2010-2023

Source: DCYF. (October 2023). Monthly health and safety visits with child [July 2009-June 2023]. infoFamlink.

Since 2016, the proportion of White children and youth in out-of-home care has decreased by four percentage points, and the proportion of American Indian/Alaska Native children and youth has increased by four percentage points. The proportions of other racial/ethnic groups have varied by one or two percentage points annually.

Children in Care by Race/Ethnicity, Last Day of SFY 2016-2023

 

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Children in Care by Race/Ethnicity, Last Day of SFY 2016-2023

Source: DCYF. (October 2023). Relative versus non-relative [July 2015-June 2023]. infoFamlink.
WSRDAC/M: American Indian/Alaska Native, Multiracial combined with American Indian/Alaska Native and Black/African American, Multiracial combined with Black/African American, and Asian/Pacific Islander, Multiracial combined with Asian/Pacific Islander.

On the last day of the state fiscal year, 2023, there were 5,969 children in out-of-home care. Washington has one of the highest kinship care placement rates among all states in the nation. On the last day of the state fiscal year, 2023, 55.9 percent of all children and youth under 18 in out-of-home care were placed with kin or relatives.

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

Source: Iverson, A., Pavelle, B. Lucenko, B. & Felver, B. (2023). "Behavioral Health Treatment Needs and Outcomes among Medicaid-Enrolled Children in Washington State." Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Research and Data Analysis.
Notes: Total in out-of-home care includes all children and youth age 0-17 ever in out-of-home care, for any length of time, during the state fiscal year. Mental health treatment need includes any mental health diagnosis, prescription, or service recorded in state administrative data in the past 24 months. Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment need includes one or more substance-related diagnosis, procedure, prescription, treatment, or arrest in the past 24 months. Treatment need indicators that are not captured by state administrative data, including privately paid or insured services, are not included. SUD is not measured for children under age 12.

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.