Statewide, DCYF estimates that families of about 305,000 children age B-5 not yet in school need child care. Only about 34% of those children are enrolled in licensed child care or preschool.

The percent of need met for child care and preschool for young children varies widely across the state.

The maps below illustrate the estimated percent of child care need for these families currently met by licensed child care and preschool. To capture the variability of met need across the state, maps are available by County, Legislative District, and Zip Code

Statewide, DCYF estimates that families of about 305,000 children age B-5 not yet in school need child care. Only about 34% of those children are enrolled in licensed child care or preschool. The percent of need met for child care and preschool for young children varies widely across the state.

Statewide, DCYF estimates that families of about 305,000 children age B-5 not yet in school need child care. Only about 34% of those children are enrolled in licensed child care or preschool. The percent of need met for child care and preschool for young children varies widely across the state.

These data are related to DCYF’s Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability (OIAA) prevention dashboards, published to support the agency’s efforts to prevent child maltreatment. Those dashboards can be found here: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/practice/oiaa/reports/prevention-dashboard

Much of the data requested by the Strengthen Families Locally communities to inform their planning, and thus contained in these initial dashboards and datasets, are what we know about children entering out-of-home care (OOH care) – age distribution, counts, rates, trends over time, and race/ethnicity. In 2022, about 3,370 children entered out of home care statewide, a record low for Washington State.

The prevention dashboards and datasets also include descriptive data on children in Child Protection Services (CPS) intakes – rates of intakes “screened-in” for a CPS response, as well as the types of referents referring to CPS. In 2022, DCYF received CPS intakes involving over 89,000 children statewide, and 46,000 total children in intakes screened in for a CPS response.

Some of the data focus on children aged 0 to 1 (or birth to just under 2 years old). This group of children enter out-of-home care at a high rate, and the Strengthen Families Locally communities have identified that early intervention with this group of children and their families can be especially impactful.

OIAA expects to update these dashboards and datasets annually. In addition, we will be working to develop additional dashboards to support other related DCYF prevention efforts.

These data are related to DCYF’s Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability (OIAA) prevention dashboards, published to support the agency’s efforts to prevent child maltreatment. Those dashboards can be found here: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/practice/oiaa/reports/prevention-dashboard

Much of the data requested by the Strengthen Families Locally communities to inform their planning, and thus contained in these initial dashboards and datasets, are what we know about children entering out-of-home care (OOH care) – age distribution, counts, rates, trends over time, and race/ethnicity. In 2022, about 3,370 children entered out of home care statewide, a record low for Washington State.

The prevention dashboards and datasets also include descriptive data on children in Child Protection Services (CPS) intakes – rates of intakes “screened-in” for a CPS response, as well as the types of referents referring to CPS. In 2022, DCYF received CPS intakes involving over 89,000 children statewide, and 46,000 total children in intakes screened in for a CPS response.

Some of the data focus on children aged 0 to 1 (or birth to just under 2 years old). This group of children enter out-of-home care at a high rate, and the Strengthen Families Locally communities have identified that early intervention with this group of children and their families can be especially impactful.

OIAA expects to update these dashboards and datasets annually. In addition, we will be working to develop additional dashboards to support other related DCYF prevention efforts.

Statewide, DCYF estimates that families of about 305,000 children age B-5 not yet in school need child care. Only about 34% of those children are enrolled in licensed child care or preschool. The percent of need met for child care and preschool for young children varies widely across the state.

These data are related to DCYF’s Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability (OIAA) prevention dashboards, published to support the agency’s efforts to prevent child maltreatment. Those dashboards can be found here: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/practice/oiaa/reports/prevention-dashboard

Much of the data requested by the Strengthen Families Locally communities to inform their planning, and thus contained in these initial dashboards and datasets, are what we know about children entering out-of-home care (OOH care) – age distribution, counts, rates, trends over time, and race/ethnicity. In 2022, about 3,370 children entered out of home care statewide, a record low for Washington State.

The prevention dashboards and datasets also include descriptive data on children in Child Protection Services (CPS) intakes – rates of intakes “screened-in” for a CPS response, as well as the types of referents referring to CPS. In 2022, DCYF received CPS intakes involving over 89,000 children statewide, and 46,000 total children in intakes screened in for a CPS response.

Some of the data focus on children aged 0 to 1 (or birth to just under 2 years old). This group of children enter out-of-home care at a high rate, and the Strengthen Families Locally communities have identified that early intervention with this group of children and their families can be especially impactful.

OIAA expects to update these dashboards and datasets annually. In addition, we will be working to develop additional dashboards to support other related DCYF prevention efforts.

These data are related to DCYF’s Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability (OIAA) prevention dashboards, published to support the agency’s efforts to prevent child maltreatment. Those dashboards can be found here: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/practice/oiaa/reports/prevention-dashboard

Much of the data requested by the Strengthen Families Locally communities to inform their planning, and thus contained in these initial dashboards and datasets, are what we know about children entering out-of-home care (OOH care) – age distribution, counts, rates, trends over time, and race/ethnicity. In 2022, about 3,370 children entered out of home care statewide, a record low for Washington State.

The prevention dashboards and datasets also include descriptive data on children in Child Protection Services (CPS) intakes – rates of intakes “screened-in” for a CPS response, as well as the types of referents referring to CPS. In 2022, DCYF received CPS intakes involving over 89,000 children statewide, and 46,000 total children in intakes screened in for a CPS response.

Some of the data focus on children aged 0 to 1 (or birth to just under 2 years old). This group of children enter out-of-home care at a high rate, and the Strengthen Families Locally communities have identified that early intervention with this group of children and their families can be especially impactful.

OIAA expects to update these dashboards and datasets annually. In addition, we will be working to develop additional dashboards to support other related DCYF prevention efforts.

Statewide, DCYF estimates that families of about 293,000 children age B-5 not yet in school need child care, because all available parents in the home are working. Only about 27% of these children are served by licensed child care, preschool, and/or subsidized child care.
Additionally, we estimate that families of over 491,000 school-age children (kindergarten through age 12) are in need of care, and only about 12% of these children are served by licensed child care, preschool, and/or subsidized child care.

The percent of need met for child care, preschool, and/or subsidized child care for children of all ages varies widely across the state.

*https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/practice/oiaa/reports/early-learning-dashboards/child-care-need-supply-data

This dashboard highlights the number of children in eligible families who participate in Working Connections Child Care (WCCC). In estimating eligibility, we count children in households that the Census Bureau estimates to have an income level at or below 60% of the State Median Income (SMI) and where all available parents are working. Statewide, this is about 296,000 children under the age of 13.

About 44,000 children are currently served with childcare subsidies. Statewide, we estimate the uptake of subsidies among all eligible children at about 15%. These estimates vary by age group and time. Currently, DCYF estimates about 11% of infants, 25% of toddlers, 31% of preschool-age, and 10% of school-age children in eligible households are participating in subsidized childcare.
For additional information please refer to: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/practice/oiaa/reports/early-learning-dashboards/subsidy-takeup