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Focused On The Well-being of
Children and Families. 

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DCYF is committed to serving at-risk children and youth, with the goal of producing stronger families with better outcomes in all Washington communities. 

Children Embracing in Circle

Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families

On July 6, 2017, Governor Inslee signed House Bill 1661, creating DCYF. The new agency restructured the state's services for at-risk children and youth, and includes all Children's programs previously administered through DSHS. DCYF works to ensure that, "All Washington's children and youth grow up safe and healthy-thriving physically, emotionally, and educationally, nurtured by family and community." 

Family Time Specialist 

A Family Time Specialist provides parent-child, sibling, or transportation only

services for children, youth and families (DCYF). The Family Time Specialist will serve and support clients in the following manners:

  • Develop transportation schedules to transport client(s) to and from family time/sibling visits.

  • Ensure and maintain the safety and well-being of program participants during visits.

  • Facilitate engagement between parent(s), and sibling(s) with an atmosphere that supports the parent-child, or relationship between siblings.

  • Supervise/monitor the family time/sibling visit with the professional working with the family.

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Happy Family

Family Preservation Services (FPS)

Family Preservation Services provides family-focused, behavior-oriented, in-home counseling, and support to youth who are at substantial, risk of placement or for children returning to the home from out-of-home care. Services provided include:

  • Crisis Stabilization –services delivered by Professional Staff that are short-term, acute, and use an active and systematic approach to stabilization.

  • Engagement – activates aligned with the principles and skills associated with Motivational Interviewing.

  • Parenting Strategies –helping and teaching parents and caregivers to learn and use the skills they specifically need to safely parent their children. 

  • Family Resources - Engaging families to strengthen parent advocacy, identify personal growth opportunities, and identify accessible and supportive natural supports and community resources that directly support child safety in the home. 

Positive Parenting Program

The Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) provides professional level services to improve family functioning to promote the child’s or adolescent’s health, safety, well-being, and welfare, supporting the family to remain intact and allow children to remain or return home. The benefits of this program include: 

  • Increased appropriate parenting skills. 

  • Increased appropriate parental discipline and behavior management.

  • Improved parent-child relationship. 

  • Decreased child behavior problems. 

Father Playing with Daughters
Baby with Teddy Bear

Promoting First Relationships
(PFR)

Promoting First Relationships is early support for infants and toddlers​ up to the age of three years old who have been diagnosed with a physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in developmental delays. Families eligible for this program will receive services to strengthen the following capabilities and skills for their children including:

  • Cognitive delays.

  • Physical (fine or gross motor) delays.

  • Communication (receptive or expressive language) delays.

  • Social or Emotional delays.

  • Adaptive delays.

In-home Family Therapy and Counseling
Services

In-home Family Therapy and Counseling Services are services are performed by licensed professionals and are delivered consistent with cognitive behavioral treatment modalities. Therapy and counseling services are focused on the needs of the family as they directly relate to child safety. Benefits of these services include:
 

  • Support for a family managing difficult child and teenage behaviors, including monitoring and safety concerns.

  • Family discipline support for caregivers in monitoring pre/teenage youth.

  • Support for moderate to high family conflict, youth is displaying some high risk behaviors.

  • Support with adolescent behavior problems including self-destructive behavior and provoking dangerous reactions in caregiver.

Child Psycholgist
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