Report to the Legislature: Child Welfare and Early Learning Partnerships
Author: Washington State Department of Early Learning (DEL)
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Child Welfare,Early Childhood Education,Welfare Services,Home Visits,Child Care,Grants,Infants,Toddlers,Cooperation,Coordination

House Bill 2519, sponsored by Representative Tana Senn, was passed during the 2014 legislative session and signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee. HB 2519 directs the Department of Early Learning (DEL) and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to jointly develop recommendations on methods to &quot;better partner to ensure children involved in the child welfare system have access to early learning services and developmentally appropriate child care services and report these recommendations to the governor and appropriate legislative committees.&quot; (See the full bill language) In developing the content for this report, Department of Early Learning and Department of Social and Health Services staff conducted interviews with stakeholders. The stakeholders included philanthropic and non-profit organizations, advocacy groups, early learning providers and Children's Administration veteran parents. There was consensus about the importance of high quality early learning environments for all children, but especially for children involved in the child welfare system. Stakeholders echoed the same areas of success detailed in the report and urged DEL and DSHS to continue to look for or create more opportunities for linkages and collaboration. There was agreement on the importance of cross sector, cross agency trainings on child development, parent engagement and available resources. Veteran Parents credited peer-mentoring as one of major reasons they were able to successfully regain custody of their children. One veteran parent called a peer-mentor a &quot;culture navigator.&quot; For the purposes of this report: (1) DEL and DSHS are defining &quot;children involved in the child welfare system&quot; as both children involved in Child Protective Services programs [Family Assessment Response (FAR) and investigations] and children involved in Child and Family Welfare Services; and (2) DEL and DSHS are defining &quot;early learning services and developmentally appropriate child care services&quot; to include home visiting offered through the Home Visiting Services Account; child care subsidy programs; the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), and the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT ) program. Staff from DEL and DSHS met multiple times during the summer and fall of 2014 to discuss what is working well in linking children involved in the child welfare system with early learning services, and how we can improve our communication and collaboration on behalf of these children. Staff also spoke with early learning advocates and veteran parents from the child welfare system to get their perspective on what is working well and what could be improved. This report articulates successes, challenges and opportunities for DEL and DSHS in providing children involved in the child welfare system with high-quality early learning services.