Washington

Washington Highlights

2018 Report by the Office of Family and Children's Ombuds

In addition to complaint investigations, OFCO monitors practices and procedures within the child welfare system and makes recommendations to better serve children and families. Systemic issues discussed in this report include: the ongoing use of hotels as emergency placements for children in state care and the need for a continuum of placement resources; foster care and involvement in the criminal justice system; meeting the educational needs of youth in out of home care; and enhancing parent-child and sibling visits.

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Facts & Data

10,161 Children 0-17 in foster care

5% Youth who are not with a family (in group/institution)

22 Average length of stay for children in FC (months)

704 Number of children at risk for aging out

33% Youth with 1 placement

26% Youth with 2 placements

15% Youth with 3 placements

26% Youth with 4 or more placements

Contact

Contact

• Web www.dshs.wa.gov/children

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Policy Topics

Access to health care Adoption Birth & foster parent partnership Caseworker support Child health Child well-being COVID-19 Decision making Education Family First Act Family permanence Financial support foster care caseload Foster Parent Bill of Rights Foster parent feedback Foster parent licensing Foster parent support foster parenting Kinship care National Foster Parent Day National Foster Parent Month Opiods Oversight Permanence Prevention Quality Parenting Initiative Recruitment Respite care Retention Stability Training Visitation Youth transition to adulthood Youth voice

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Year

2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

Author

Brad Hansen CHAMPS Crystal Charles Marci

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Results

Most Recent Alphabetical Grouped by Type Relevance to State

How We Found More Black Foster Parents and Confronted the Racial Disparity in Foster Care

published: Mar 1, 2018

author: CHAMPS

topics: Recruitment

type: News Article

state: Washington

Youth Today published this important article featuring a community outreach program in the Seattle area to engage African American foster families.  

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House passes Dent foster parent 'Bill of Rights' legislation (Washington)

published: Feb 14, 2018

author: CHAMPS

topics: Foster Parent Bill of Rights

type: News Article

state: Washington

See this new release about the passage of a foster parent bill of rights by the Washington State House of Representatives. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Dent (R-WA), speaks about his own experience as a foster parent and the need for…

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Foster Parents Advocate for Stronger Rights (Washington)

published: Jan 19, 2018

author: CHAMPS

topics: Foster parent support, Recruitment, Retention

type: News Article

state: Washington

See this article about how more than 100 foster parents organized an advocacy event on the state's Capitol steps to call attention to the need to support foster parents.  Advocacy efforts are focused on ensuring effective implementation of a law…

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Foster Parents Advocate for Stronger Rights

published: Jan 19, 2018

author: CHAMPS

type: News Article

state: Washington

Foster parents in the state of Washington are mobilizing to raise awareness about the need for greater support. This article covers a rally in January 2018 on the state capitol’s steps led by a new foster parent organization called Fostering…

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Foster Parent Survey

published: Jun 1, 2017

author: CHAMPS

topics: Foster parent feedback

type: Report

state: Washington

See this report about the findings of a survey of foster parents conducted by the Washington State Department of Social and Human Services.  The survey aims to determine the level of satisfaction among foster parents in the support and training…

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Sign the Pledge

Sign the pledge to show your support for today’s amazing foster parents and the importance of quality foster parenting.

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See the Latest

CHAMPS is an exciting new policy campaign with dozens of partner organizations working together to highlight the vital importance of foster parents to the health and well-being of children in foster care. Check out what’s going on nationally and in the states.

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