DCYF begins facilities planning to expand child‑care supply; consulting interviews under way

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families is developing an implementation plan to address facility needs that limit expansion of child care, agency staff told the Provider Supports Subcommittee.

Diana Stokes, DCYF’s Early Care and Education Access Project Manager, said the facilities project began in November and is examining the technical and local‑government barriers providers face when building new programs or expanding existing ones. The agency has contracted Burke Consulting to conduct interviews and focus groups with providers, school districts, planners, architects and local officials.

Stokes said the work looks at practical issues such as usable square footage for classrooms (licensing counts usable classroom space differently than an architect counts total footprint), zoning and permitting challenges, and capital‑planning barriers. The project will review other states’ models and Washington funding history and will produce an implementation plan and cost modeling for legislative and agency review.

The facilities work group includes representation from providers, school districts, and county and city planning experts, Stokes said. DCYF is collecting site‑level experience from providers and said it will hold interviews and group focus sessions for teams that developed successful adaptations or expansions.

Next steps include finalizing the implementation plan and sharing it with legislative staff and agency partners. Stokes said DCYF would continue interviews and focus groups and that the final plan will inform capital budget and technical assistance recommendations.

Ending: DCYF encouraged interested providers and local entities to participate in interviews and focus groups to inform the plan and said more materials and cost modeling would be posted when available.