Governor's proposed budget preserves many DCYF programs, delays some expansions and trims other items

SEATTLE — The governor's proposed budget for the 2025–27 biennium would maintain many existing services at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) while funding targeted new investments, agency officials said during a Jan. webinar. Lisonbee Kreutzinger, director of public affairs at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, and Renee Newkirk, DCYF chief financial officer, walked stakeholders through which agency decision packages the governor included, partially funded or left out.

The proposal arrives as Washington faces a projected $10 billion to $12 billion state budget shortfall for the coming biennium, Newkirk said, and the governor’s team prioritized measures intended to “be the least harmful to the clients that we serve.” The package, she added, includes program delays, some reductions and a targeted wealth-tax proposal to raise revenue.

Why it matters: The governor’s proposal sets the administration’s priorities and will shape agency planning, but it is not law. “None of this is law. None of this has passed,” Kreutzinger said, and the legislature will take up and revise the proposal over the coming months.

Major juvenile rehabilitation investments

The governor’s proposed budget would fund staff and infrastructure to support DCYF’s juvenile rehabilitation (JR) operations, including resources to stand up an internal infractions unit, expand classification staffing, and improve video storage and privacy protections. The proposal funds temporary contracted security at Echo Glen until a planned fence replacement and other capital work are complete.

The budget also includes funding to create a 48-bed Emerging Adult Leaders unit at Stafford Creek, an initial capacity increase DCYF said will open in winter (February–March) of fiscal year 2026. Agency officials stressed that they view this as insufficient to meet overall capacity needs and said they expect further conversations with the legislature and the incoming governor about long-term capacity and care options.

Treatment, reentry and staff supports

The governor’s proposal includes continued funding for opioid-treatment and medically assisted opioid use disorder (MOUD) services within JR, additional nursing and physician support, and ongoing resources for a reentry-focused opioid treatment pilot DCYF operated with Seattle Children’s. It also funds staff tied to a high-quality classification process for JR placements.

Capital upgrades and master planning

Capital spending in the proposal targets basic but necessary infrastructure: parking and entry upgrades and HVAC/boiler replacements at Echo Glen and Green Hill, plus predesign and construction cost estimates for a new family visit center. The budget also funds a six-year facilities master plan to reassess capacity needs and the configuration of JR facilities following changes in law and practice.

Child welfare and prevention funding

On prevention and child welfare, the governor’s proposed budget would: - Fund the Plan of Safe Care to support pregnant people with substance use disorder and substance-exposed infants (tied to the governor’s opioid-response priorities). - Provide funding to implement Positive Indian Parenting, an 8–10 week program developed by the National Indian Child Welfare Association to reduce out-of-home placements for American Indian and Alaska Native children and meet federal requirements. - Fund two FTEs for screening and response to commercially sexually exploited children as required by Senate Bill 6006 and add one position to help locate missing tribal youth. - Provide $750,000 in one-time funding for Independent Living supports for youth ages 15–22, and expand the Lifeset model (developed by Youth Villages) to two additional counties: Clark (FY26) and Pierce (FY27), increasing availability from six to eight counties.

Settlement obligations and placement capacity

The governor’s budget continues funding tied to DCYF’s obligations under a settlement referred to in the webinar as the DS settlement agreement, including measures intended to reduce hotel and night-to-night placements and to support group care placement acceptance-rate requirements (85% for group-receiving care and 100% for intensive group-receiving care).

Early learning and child-care provisions

The budget would delay expanded eligibility for Working Connections Child Care until fiscal year 2030 but funds outreach to enroll currently eligible families and partially funds dual-language rate increases. The governor’s proposal fully funds the agency’s requested center-based provider rate increases that bring center rates to roughly the 80th percentile of current market rates; family child-care increases are subject to collective bargaining with SEIU 925. For ECAP (the Early Childhood Assistance Program), the governor proposes delaying full entitlement until the 2030–31 school year while providing an 18% slot-rate increase in FY26, some conversions from part-day to full-day slots, and additional full-day slots in FY27.

Child welfare technology, collective bargaining and staffing

The proposal continues phased funding for DCYF’s new comprehensive child-welfare information system (case management system) with implementation not expected until FY30; the system will be necessary for some federal claiming (FFPSA/Title IV-E prevention-related funds). The budget also includes general-state employee increases negotiated in collective bargaining: 3% on July 1, 2025, and 2% on July 1, 2026, plus job-class and premium-pay adjustments for certain classifications and facilities.

Reductions, rightsizing and underspends

Because of the projected deficit, the governor’s proposal also takes several reductions or “underspends” DCYF included when asked to provide options. Notable items discussed: - Funding originally intended to open two CSEC receiving centers was removed as an underspend; DCYF said existing funding levels were too low to procure and operate those centers and that past procurements were unsuccessful. - DCYF plans to right-size combined in-home services line items where some subaccounts are underspent; staff said that concrete goods spending (one-time family supports) has exceeded the current budget and will be reduced to meet budget targets. - Other underspends include a portion of attorney general services and certain aggressive-youth program balances.

Next steps and timeline

Agency officials emphasized that the governor’s proposal is only the start of the legislative process. Kreutzinger said the legislature convenes the week after the webinar and will work through budget deliberations over roughly 105–110 days, with indicators and revised proposals expected in late March and early April and final action by April in a typical schedule. DCYF said it will provide follow-up briefings after the legislature and the House and Senate release their budget proposals.

Sources and attribution

The information above is drawn from presentations and answers by Lisonbee Kreutzinger, director of public affairs, and Renee Newkirk, chief financial officer, at a DCYF government affairs webinar reviewing the governor’s proposed 2025–27 budget.