DCYF accountability board

AN ACT Relating to the department of children, youth, and 1
families accountability board; amending RCW 43.216.015; adding a new 2
section to chapter 43.216 RCW; and creating a new section.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that, when 5
it established the department of children, youth, and families, it 6
also created an independent oversight board to ensure transparency, 7
accountability, and public confidence in the department's operations 8
and decision making. The legislature further recognizes that, since 9
the department's inception, both the agency and the oversight 10
structure have evolved, and that the existing statutory framework no 11
longer reflects the present scope, functions, or operations of either 12
entity.13
(2) The legislature finds that a modernized oversight structure 14
is necessary to promote effective collaboration between the 15
department and its oversight body, ensure accountability for 16
outcomes, and provide clear statutory direction consistent with the 17
department's current stage of development. 18
(3) Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to 19
reconstitute the existing oversight board as the department of 20
children, youth, and families accountability board. The legislature 21
H-2944.1
HOUSE BILL 2529
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Dent, Bergquist, Pollet, and Nance
Read first time 01/16/26. Referred to Committee on Early Learning &
Human Services.
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intends that this new board retain its independent accountability 1
role while operating under clarified authority, streamlined statutory 2
provisions, and updated responsibilities that focus on policy review, 3
performance monitoring, and public transparency. The legislature 4
further intends to remove obsolete or duplicative provisions, align 5
oversight activities with current departmental priorities, and 6
strengthen the mechanisms through which the department and the 7
oversight body coordinate to advance the well-being of Washington's 8
children, youth, and families. 9
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.216 10
RCW to read as follows: 11
(1) The department of children, youth, and families 12
accountability board is established and shall reside in the office of 13
financial management for administrative purposes only. The board is 14
created to provide independent accountability over the department's 15
operations, policies, and outcomes. The purpose of the board is to 16
monitor the department's progress toward achieving its stated goals 17
and performance outcomes; ensure accountability in the department's 18
decision-making and policy implementation; and promote transparency 19
and public trust in the department's work on behalf of children, 20
youth, and families. 21
(2)(a) The board shall consist of the following members:22
(i) Two members of the Washington state senate, one member from 23
each major caucus; 24
(ii) Two members of the Washington state house of 25
representatives, one member from each major caucus;26
(iii) One nonvoting representative from the governor's office;27
(iv) One subject matter expert in early learning;28
(v) One subject matter expert in child welfare;29
(vi) One subject matter expert in juvenile rehabilitation and 30
justice; 31
(vii) One subject matter expert in eliminating disparities in 32
child outcomes by family income and race and ethnicity;33
(viii) One tribal representative from west of the crest of the 34
Cascade mountains; 35
(ix) One tribal representative from east of the crest of the 36
Cascade mountains; 37
(x) One current or former foster parent or kinship care provider 38
representative; 39
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(xi) One representative of an organization that advocates for the 1
best interest of children; 2
(xii) One parent stakeholder group representative;3
(xiii) One law enforcement representative; 4
(xiv) One child welfare caseworker representative;5
(xv) One early childhood learning program implementation 6
practitioner; 7
(xvi) One current or former foster youth under age 25;8
(xvii) One individual under age 25 with current or previous 9
experience with the juvenile justice system; 10
(xviii) One physician or advanced practice clinician with 11
experience working with children or youth; and 12
(xix) One judicial representative presiding over child welfare 13
court proceedings or other children's matters. 14
(b) The senate members of the board shall be appointed by the 15
leaders of the two major caucuses of the senate. The house of 16
representatives members of the board shall be appointed by the 17
leaders of the two major caucuses of the house of representatives. 18
Members shall be appointed before the close of each regular session 19
of the legislature during an odd-numbered year. 20
(c) The remaining board members shall be nominated by the 21
governor, subject to the approval of the appointed legislators by 22
majority vote and shall serve four-year terms. When nominating and 23
approving members, the governor and appointed legislators must ensure 24
that at least five of the board members reside east of the crest of 25
the Cascade mountains. 26
(3) The board has the following powers, which may be exercised by 27
majority vote of the board: 28
(a) To receive and request reports of the office of the family 29
and children's ombuds; 30
(b) To obtain access to all relevant records in the possession of 31
the office of the family and children's ombuds, except as prohibited 32
by law; 33
(c) To select its officers and adoption of rules for orderly 34
procedure; 35
(d) To request investigations by the office of the family and 36
children's ombuds of administrative acts; 37
(e) To request and receive information, outcome data, documents, 38
materials, and records from the department relating to children and 39
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family welfare, juvenile rehabilitation, juvenile justice, and early 1
learning; and 2
(f) To determine whether the department is achieving the 3
performance measures. 4
(4) Upon receipt of records or data from the office of the family 5
and children's ombuds or the department, the board is subject to the 6
same confidentiality restrictions as the office of the family and 7
children's ombuds is under RCW 43.06A.050. The provisions of RCW 8
43.06A.060 also apply to the board. 9
(5) At least twice per year, the board shall convene or otherwise 10
meet with individuals, groups, community representatives, and 11
organizations engaged with or affected by the department's programs 12
and services. 13
(6) The board is subject to the open public meetings act, chapter 14
42.30 RCW, except to the extent disclosure of records or information 15
is otherwise confidential under state or federal law.16
(7) Records or information received by the board is confidential 17
to the extent permitted by state or federal law. This subsection does 18
not create an exception for records covered by RCW 13.50.100.19
(8) Unless specified otherwise, board members shall receive no 20
compensation for their service on the board, but shall be reimbursed 21
for travel expenses incurred while conducting business of the board 22
when authorized by the board and within resources allocated for this 23
purpose. Appointed legislators shall be reimbursed for travel 24
expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060. Board 25
members with direct lived experience may receive compensation as 26
provided in RCW 43.03.220 and 43.03.270 and are entitled to be 27
reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and 28
43.03.060. 29
(9) The board shall select, by majority vote, an executive 30
director who shall be the chief administrative officer of the board 31
and shall be responsible for carrying out the policies adopted by the 32
board. The executive director is exempt from the provisions of the 33
state civil service law, chapter 41.06 RCW, and shall serve at the 34
pleasure of the board established in this section.35
(10) The board shall maintain a staff not to exceed one full-time 36
equivalent employee. The board-selected executive director of the 37
board is responsible for coordinating staff appointments.38
(11) Starting in 2027, the board shall submit a biennial report 39
to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by 40
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July 1st of each odd-numbered year. The report will assess the 1
department's progress toward meeting priority performance measures 2
that are selected biennially by the board to maintain flexibility and 3
data relevancy. 4
Sec. 3. RCW 43.216.015 and 2025 c 179 s 1 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1)(a) The department of children, youth, and families is created 7
as an executive branch agency. The department is vested with all 8
powers and duties transferred to it under chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd 9
sp. sess. and such other powers and duties as may be authorized by 10
law. The vision for the department is that Washington state's 11
children and youth grow up safe and healthy — thriving physically, 12
emotionally, and academically, nurtured by family and community.13
(b) The department, in partnership with state and local agencies, 14
tribes, and communities, shall protect children and youth from harm 15
and promote healthy development with effective, high quality 16
prevention, intervention, and early education services delivered in 17
an equitable manner. An important role for the department shall be to 18
provide preventative services to help secure and preserve families in 19
crisis. The department shall partner with the federally recognized 20
Indian tribes to develop effective services for youth and families 21
while respecting the sovereignty of those tribes and the government-22
to-government relationship. Nothing in chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd 23
sp. sess. alters the duties, requirements, and policies of the 24
federal Indian child welfare act, 25 U.S.C. Secs. 1901 through 1963, 25
as amended, or the Indian child welfare act, chapter 13.38 RCW.26
(2) ((Beginning July 1, 2018, the )) The department must develop 27
definitions for, work plans to address, and metrics to measure the 28
outcomes for children, youth, and families served by the department 29
and must work with state agencies to ensure services for children, 30
youth, and families are science-based, outcome-driven, data-informed, 31
and collaborative. 32
(3)(a) ((Beginning July 1, 2018, the )) The department must 33
establish short and long-term population level outcome measure goals, 34
including metrics regarding reducing disparities by family income, 35
race, and ethnicity in each outcome. 36
(b) In addition to transparent, frequent reporting of the outcome 37
measures in (c)(i) through (viii) of this subsection, the department 38
must report to the legislature an examination of engagement, resource 39
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utilization, and outcomes for clients receiving department services 1
and youth participating in juvenile court alternative programs funded 2
by the department, no less than annually ((and beginning September 1, 3
2020)). The data in this report must be disaggregated by race, 4
ethnicity, and geography. This report must identify areas of focus to 5
advance equity that will inform department strategies so that all 6
children, youth, and families are thriving. Metrics detailing 7
progress towards eliminating disparities and disproportionality over 8
time must also be included. The report must also include information 9
on department outcome measures, actions taken, progress toward these 10
goals, and plans for the future year. 11
(c) The outcome measures must include, but are not limited to:12
(i) Improving child development and school readiness through 13
voluntary, high quality early learning opportunities as measured by: 14
(A) Increasing the number and proportion of children kindergarten-15
ready as measured by the Washington kindergarten inventory of 16
developing skills (WAKids) assessment including mathematics; (B) 17
increasing the proportion of children in early learning programs that 18
have achieved the level 3 or higher early achievers quality standard; 19
and (C) increasing the available supply of licensed child care in 20
child care centers, outdoor nature-based child care, and family 21
homes, including providers not receiving state subsidy;22
(ii) Preventing child abuse and neglect; 23
(iii) Improving child and youth safety, permanency, and well-24
being as measured by: (A) Reducing the number of children entering 25
out-of-home care; (B) reducing a child's length of stay in out-of-26
home care; (C) reducing maltreatment of youth while in out-of-home 27
care; (D) licensing more foster homes than there are children in 28
foster care; (E) reducing the number of children that reenter out-of-29
home care within twelve months; (F) increasing the stability of 30
placements for children in out-of-home care; and (G) developing 31
strategies to demonstrate to foster families that their service and 32
involvement is highly valued by the department, as demonstrated by 33
the development of strategies to consult with foster families 34
regarding future placement of a foster child currently placed with a 35
foster family; 36
(iv) Improving reconciliation of children and youth with their 37
families as measured by: (A) Increasing family reunification; and (B) 38
increasing the number of youth who are reunified with their family of 39
origin; 40
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(v) In collaboration with county juvenile justice programs, 1
improving adolescent outcomes including reducing multisystem 2
involvement and homelessness; and increasing school graduation rates 3
and successful transitions to adulthood for youth involved in the 4
child welfare and juvenile justice systems; 5
(vi) Reducing future demand for mental health and substance use 6
disorder treatment for youth involved in the child welfare and 7
juvenile justice systems; 8
(vii) In collaboration with county juvenile justice programs, 9
reducing criminal justice involvement and recidivism as measured by: 10
(A) An increase in the number of youth who successfully complete the 11
terms of diversion or alternative sentencing options; (B) a decrease 12
in the number of youth who commit subsequent crimes; and (C) 13
eliminating the discharge of youth from institutional settings into 14
homelessness; and 15
(viii) Eliminating racial and ethnic disproportionality and 16
disparities in system involvement and across child and youth outcomes 17
in collaboration with other state agencies. 18
(4) ((Beginning July 1, 2018, the)) The department must:19
(a) Lead ongoing collaborative work to minimize or eliminate 20
systemic barriers to effective, integrated services in collaboration 21
with state agencies serving children, youth, and families;22
(b) Identify necessary improvements and updates to statutes 23
relevant to their responsibilities and proposing legislative changes 24
to the governor no less than biennially; 25
(c) Help create a data-focused environment in which there are 26
aligned outcomes and shared accountability for achieving those 27
outcomes, with shared, real-time data that is accessible to 28
authorized persons interacting with the family, child, or youth to 29
identify what is needed and which services would be effective;30
(d) Lead the provision of state services to adolescents, focusing 31
on key transition points for youth, including exiting foster care and 32
institutions, and coordinating with the office of homeless youth 33
prevention and protection programs to address the unique needs of 34
homeless youth; and 35
(e) Create and annually update a list of the rights and 36
responsibilities of foster parents in partnership with foster parent 37
representatives. The list of foster parent rights and 38
responsibilities must be posted on the department's website, provided 39
to individuals participating in a foster parent orientation before 40
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licensure, provided to foster parents in writing at the time of 1
licensure, and provided to foster parents applying for license 2
renewal. 3
(5) The department is accountable to the public. To ensure 4
transparency, ((beginning December 30, 2018, )) agency performance 5
data for the services provided by the department, including outcome 6
data for contracted services, must be available to the public, 7
consistent with confidentiality laws, federal protections, and 8
individual rights to privacy. Publicly available data must include 9
budget and funding decisions, performance-based contracting data, 10
including data for contracted services, and performance data on 11
metrics identified in this section. The board must work with the 12
secretary and director to develop the most effective and cost-13
efficient ways to make department data available to the public, 14
including making this data readily available on the department's 15
website. 16
(6) The department shall ensure that all new and renewed 17
contracts for services are performance-based. 18
(7) The department must execute all new and renewed contracts for 19
services in accordance with this section and consistent with RCW 20
74.13B.020. When contracted services are managed through a network 21
administrator or other third party, the department must execute data-22
sharing agreements with the entities managing the contracts to track 23
provider performance measures. Contracts with network administrators 24
or other third parties must provide the contract administrator the 25
ability to shift resources from one provider to another, to evaluate 26
individual provider performance, to add or delete services in 27
consultation with the department, and to reinvest savings from 28
increased efficiencies into new or improved services in their 29
catchment area. Whenever possible, contractor performance data must 30
be made available to the public, consistent with confidentiality laws 31
and individual rights to privacy. 32
(8)(((a) The board shall begin its work and call the first 33
meeting of the board on or after July 1, 2018. The board shall 34
immediately assume the duties of the legislative children's oversight 35
committee, as provided for in RCW 74.13.570 and assume the full 36
functions of the board as provided for in this section by July 1, 37
2019. The office of innovation, alignment, and accountability shall 38
provide quarterly updates regarding the implementation of the 39
department to the board between July 1, 2018, and July 1, 2019.40
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(b) The office of the family and children's ombuds shall 1
establish the board. The board is authorized for the purpose of 2
monitoring and ensuring that the department achieves the stated 3
outcomes of chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd sp. sess., and complies with 4
administrative acts, relevant statutes, rules, and policies 5
pertaining to early learning, juvenile rehabilitation, juvenile 6
justice, and children and family services.7
(9)(a) The board shall consist of the following members:8
(i) Two senators and two representatives from the legislature 9
with one member from each major caucus;10
(ii) One nonvoting representative from the governor's office;11
(iii) One subject matter expert in early learning;12
(iv) One subject matter expert in child welfare;13
(v) One subject matter expert in juvenile rehabilitation and 14
justice;15
(vi) One subject matter expert in eliminating disparities in 16
child outcomes by family income and race and ethnicity;17
(vii) One tribal representative from west of the crest of the 18
Cascade mountains;19
(viii) One tribal representative from east of the crest of the 20
Cascade mountains;21
(ix) One current or former foster parent representative;22
(x) One representative of an organization that advocates for the 23
best interest of the child;24
(xi) One parent stakeholder group representative;25
(xii) One law enforcement representative;26
(xiii) One child welfare caseworker representative;27
(xiv) One early childhood learning program implementation 28
practitioner;29
(xv) One current or former foster youth under age twenty-five;30
(xvi) One individual under age twenty-five with current or 31
previous experience with the juvenile justice system;32
(xvii) One physician with experience working with children or 33
youth; and34
(xviii) One judicial representative presiding over child welfare 35
court proceedings or other children's matters.36
(b) The senate members of the board shall be appointed by the 37
leaders of the two major caucuses of the senate. The house of 38
representatives members of the board shall be appointed by the 39
leaders of the two major caucuses of the house of representatives. 40
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Members shall be appointed before the close of each regular session 1
of the legislature during an odd-numbered year. 2
(c) The remaining board members shall be nominated by the 3
governor, subject to the approval of the appointed legislators by 4
majority vote, and serve four-year terms. When nominating and 5
approving members after July 28, 2019, the governor and appointed 6
legislators must ensure that at least five of the board members 7
reside east of the crest of the Cascade mountains.8
(10) The board has the following powers, which may be exercised 9
by majority vote of the board:10
(a) To receive reports of the office of the family and children's 11
ombuds;12
(b) To obtain access to all relevant records in the possession of 13
the office of the family and children's ombuds, except as prohibited 14
by law;15
(c) To select its officers and adoption of rules for orderly 16
procedure;17
(d) To request investigations by the office of the family and 18
children's ombuds of administrative acts;19
(e) To request and receive information, outcome data, documents, 20
materials, and records from the department relating to children and 21
family welfare, juvenile rehabilitation, juvenile justice, and early 22
learning;23
(f) To determine whether the department is achieving the 24
performance measures;25
(g) If final review is requested by a licensee, to review whether 26
department licensors appropriately and consistently applied agency 27
rules in inspection reports that do not involve a violation of health 28
and safety standards as defined in RCW 43.216.395 in cases that have 29
already been reviewed by the internal review process described in RCW 30
43.216.395 with the authority to overturn, change, or uphold such 31
decisions;32
(h) To conduct annual reviews of a sample of department contracts 33
for services from a variety of program and service areas to ensure 34
that those contracts are performance-based and to assess the measures 35
included in each contract; and36
(i) Upon receipt of records or data from the office of the family 37
and children's ombuds or the department, the board is subject to the 38
same confidentiality restrictions as the office of the family and 39
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children's ombuds is under RCW 43.06A.050. The provisions of RCW 1
43.06A.060 also apply to the board. 2
(11) The board has general oversight over the performance and 3
policies of the department and shall provide advice and input to the 4
department and the governor.5
(12) The board must no less than twice per year convene 6
stakeholder meetings to allow feedback to the board regarding 7
contracting with the department, departmental use of local, state, 8
private, and federal funds, and other matters as relating to carrying 9
out the duties of the department.10
(13) The board shall review existing surveys of providers, 11
customers, parent groups, and external services to assess whether the 12
department is effectively delivering services, and shall conduct 13
additional surveys as needed to assess whether the department is 14
effectively delivering services.15
(14) The board is subject to the open public meetings act, 16
chapter 42.30 RCW, except to the extent disclosure of records or 17
information is otherwise confidential under state or federal law.18
(15) Records or information received by the board is confidential 19
to the extent permitted by state or federal law. This subsection does 20
not create an exception for records covered by RCW 13.50.100.21
(16) Unless specified otherwise, board members shall receive no 22
compensation for their service on the board, but shall be reimbursed 23
for travel expenses incurred while conducting business of the board 24
when authorized by the board and within resources allocated for this 25
purpose. Appointed legislators shall be reimbursed for travel 26
expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060. Board 27
members with direct lived experience may receive compensation as 28
provided in RCW 43.03.220 and 43.03.270 and are entitled to be 29
reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in 43.03.050 and 30
43.03.060.31
(17) The board shall select, by majority vote, an executive 32
director who shall be the chief administrative officer of the board 33
and shall be responsible for carrying out the policies adopted by the 34
board. The executive director is exempt from the provisions of the 35
state civil service law, chapter 41.06 RCW, and shall serve at the 36
pleasure of the board established in this section.37
(18) The board shall maintain a staff not to exceed one full-time 38
equivalent employee. The board-selected executive director of the 39
board is responsible for coordinating staff appointments.40
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(19) The board shall issue an annual report to the governor and 1
legislature by December 1st of each year with an initial report 2
delivered by December 1, 2019. The report must review the 3
department's progress towards meeting stated performance measures and 4
desired performance outcomes, and must also include a review of the 5
department's strategic plan, policies, and rules.6
(20))) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 7
section and sections 1 and 2 of this act unless the context clearly 8
requires otherwise. 9
(a) "Board" means the ((oversight board for children, youth, and 10
families established in subsection (8) of this section )) department 11
of children, youth, and families accountability board established in 12
section 2 of this act. 13
(b) (("Direct lived experience" has the same meaning as provided 14
in RCW 43.03.220.15
(c))) "Director" means the director of the office of innovation, 16
alignment, and accountability. 17
(((d))) (c) "Performance-based contract" means results-oriented 18
contracting that focuses on the quality or outcomes that tie at least 19
a portion of the contractor's payment, contract extensions, or 20
contract renewals to the achievement of specific measurable 21
performance standards and requirements. 22
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