Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Social workers, providers and family members press board on investigation accuracy, workforce strain and insurance crisis
Summary
Multiple public commenters urged the oversight board to require recorded, accurate investigations; DCYF social workers testified to staffing shortages, underfunded policy rollouts (extended foster care) and burnout; providers warned of a growing liability‑insurance crisis threatening contracts and services.
Public comment at the May 21 oversight board meeting surfaced concerns about investigative accuracy, staff capacity and provider viability.
Kathy Elkins, a grandparent who has been involved in investigations, urged recorded investigations and said transcriptions and later summaries sometimes misstate interviews. “If we prioritize children, the number one thing we should be doing is having accurate investigations,” she said, recounting cases where records and later testimony differed.
Several DCYF caseworkers spoke on workforce strain. Colleen Starbell, a DCYF social worker of more than nine years, said extended foster care (EFC) has been chronically underfunded and under‑staffed after legislative changes, leaving units shorthanded and youth without promised resources. “The legislature underfunded the bill,” she said, adding that repeated vacancies force remaining workers to carry unsustainable caseloads.
Jill May, executive director of the Washington Association for Children and Families, described an acute liability‑insurance problem for youth‑serving private agencies, saying premiums have risen dramatically and some agencies have closed because they cannot secure or afford coverage. She pointed the board to a Department of Commerce report (December 2025) on contracting sustainability and urged contract and reimbursement changes.
Board members asked staff to follow up on the public comments and indicated interest in scheduling deeper briefings on extended foster care, WAC impacts and the insurance/contracting crisis.
