DCYF outlines Fair Start for Kids recommendations aligned with Access and Living Wage plan
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Summary
Department of Children, Youth, and Families staff reviewed how Fair Start for Kids report recommendations were merged with the agency's Access and Living Wage Implementation Plan, emphasizing three goals for child care access, workforce compensation, and facilities, and identifying items considered out of scope.
Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) officials presented an overview of recommendations from the Fair Start for Kids (FSK) report and how those recommendations were aligned with the agency's Access and Living Wage Implementation Plan at a special Early Learning Advisory Council (ELAC) webinar. Diana Stokes, Access and Living Wage Manager in DCYF's Early Learning Division, led the presentation and described the recommendations DCYF will carry forward.
The FSK recommendations were reorganized to align with the implementation plan: DCYF consolidated previous priorities into three goals focused on (1) improving child care access and affordability, (2) supporting a thriving early care and education workforce, and (3) ensuring adequate facilities for system expansion. Stokes said the goals include creating what the agency described as a child care guarantee for Washington families who need and choose care, changes to Working Connections eligibility and co-payment scales to preserve access and affordability, and maximizing use of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) in funding strategies.
Stokes said the recommendations also address equity and access by reducing barriers to enrollment (including a streamlined, multilingual online application and eligibility process), expanding before- and after-school, summer and nonstandard-hour care, and updating the state's special-needs rate so services are not delayed while families await diagnoses. On workforce issues, the presentation highlighted the cost-of-quality care rate model as a path to ensure subsidy rates reflect the true costs of high-quality care and the agency's intent to work with the Department of Labor & Industries (LNI) on a wage scale that sets a wage floor in different bands. DCYF intends to support provider capacity with state-approved trainers, Early Achievers coaches and raters, linguistically and culturally aligned training and professional development, and continued partnership with the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.
Mental health supports for infants and early childhood were included among the recommendations: DCYF plans to continue expansion of mental-health consultation and related strategies for children and providers. Data and systems alignment also featured in the presentation; Stokes said DCYF intends to improve data quality and system alignment to inform decisions and accountability.
Regarding facilities, Stokes noted a recent legislative increase of about $10,000,000 for the Early Learning Facilities (ELF) grant program and said DCYF is conducting a facilities exploration project to identify technical assistance, startup cost needs, and other supports for opening or expanding early care facilities.
Stokes and Marlene White, DCYF Community Engagement Manager, said some recommendations in earlier drafts were removed or recast because they either duplicate existing agency work or fall outside the department's statutory authority. Examples the presenters listed as out of scope included seeking parity with school district employee compensation, use of MERIT for direct workforce incentives (which DCYF said MERIT does not currently support), and legislative advocacy to fully fund early learning (DCYF said it will submit decision packages but does not advocate). DCYF also said it already conducts a combined market-rate and cost-of-quality survey and clarified the survey frequency and other details in the recommendations.
Stokes said next steps include finalizing the FSK report and routing it through internal DCYF review before submission to legislative staff; she said DCYF will provide more detailed presentations at future ELAC sessions.
Ending: DCYF staff said they would return to ELAC with more detailed materials and implementation plans in coming meetings, and that the department would continue to solicit feedback through advisory groups and upcoming presentations.
