DCYF Workload Reform

Excessive workloads, chronic understaffing, and turnover continue to make it harder for DCYF workers to provide the timely support, investigations, and services that children and families need.  

WFSE seeks funding for DCYF in 2027 to improve staffing levels and establish workload standards that allow workers to effectively serve children and families. 

Legislators need to hear from WFSE members on the ground to understand how workloads affect outcomes for children and families.  

For years, DCYF workers have sounded the alarm about excessive workloads, understaffing, and turnover that make it harder to provide the services children and families need.  

Social workers, child welfare professionals, and support staff are being asked to do more with less while serving some of Washington's most vulnerable children and families.  

Workload reform is not just a workplace issue. It's a public safety issue. As far too many WFSE members know, caseloads and staffing levels are a matter of life and death.  

High caseloads reduce the time workers can spend building relationships, connecting families to resources, conducting investigations, supporting placements, and helping children achieve stability.  

Chronic understaffing also contributes to burnout and turnover, creating a cycle in which experienced workers leave, remaining staff absorb additional responsibilities, and families face greater disruptions in service.  

Children and families deserve a system where workers have the time and capacity to provide meaningful support rather than simply managing impossible workloads.  

Meaningful change will require workers to continue organizing, sharing their stories, meeting with legislators, and advocating alongside their union for policies that strengthen services.