Title 43 — Title 43 STATE GOVERNMENT—EXECUTIVE
178 chapters · 3,474 sections in this title.
RCW 43.216.005 Findings.
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(1) The legislature finds that state services are not currently organized and delivered in a way that achieves the optimal outcomes for children, youth, and families. The legislature believes that, to improve service delivery and outcomes, existing services must be restructured i…
RCW 43.216.010 Definitions.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2317.SL) ***The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Agency" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or facility that provides child care and early learning …
RCW 43.216.015 Department of children, youth, and families—Created—Duties—Agency performance data—Oversight board for children, youth, and families—Powers and restrictions—Stakeholder meetings.
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(1)(a) The department of children, youth, and families is created as an executive branch agency. The department is vested with all powers and duties transferred to it under chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd sp. sess. and such other powers and duties as may be authorized by law. The vis…
RCW 43.216.020 Department duties.
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(1) The department shall implement state early learning policy and coordinate, consolidate, and integrate child care and early learning programs in order to administer programs and funding as efficiently as possible. The department's duties include, but are not limited to, the fo…
RCW 43.216.021 Opioid overdose reversal medication and training.
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The department shall provide opioid overdose reversal medication and training in the use of such medication to all department staff whose job duties require in-person service or case management for child welfare or juvenile rehabilitation clients.[ 2023 sp.s. c 1 s 21.]
RCW 43.216.022 Annual quality assurance report.
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The department shall prepare an annual quality assurance report that must, at minimum, include: (1) Performance outcomes regarding health and safety of children in the children's services system; (2) children's length of stay in out-of-home placement from each date of referral; (…
RCW 43.216.025 Secretary—Appointment—Salary.
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(1) The executive head and appointing authority of the department is the secretary. The secretary shall be appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate, and shall serve at the pleasure of the governor. The secretary shall be paid a salary to be fixed by the governor i…
RCW 43.216.030 Secretary's authority.
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(1) The secretary or the secretary's designee has the full authority to administer oaths and take testimony, to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses before him or her together with all books, memoranda, papers, and other documents, articles, or instruments, and t…
RCW 43.216.035 Office of innovation, alignment, and accountability—Duties and focus.
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(1) Beginning July 1, 2018, the office of innovation, alignment, and accountability shall have a director, appointed by the secretary, who shall set the agenda and oversee the office, who reports to the secretary. The secretary shall ensure that the leadership and staff of the of…
RCW 43.216.040 Family services and programs—Administration.
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The secretary shall administer family services and programs to promote the state's policy as provided in RCW 74.14A.025.[ 2017 3rd sp.s. c 6 s 107.]Notes:Effective date—2017 3rd sp.s. c 6 ss 102, 104-115, 201-227, 301-337, 401-419, 501-513, 801-803, and 805-822: See note followin…
RCW 43.216.045 Advisory committees or councils—Travel expenses.
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The secretary may appoint such advisory committees or councils as may be required by any federal legislation as a condition to the receipt of federal funds by the department. The secretary may also appoint statewide committees or councils on such subject matters as are or come wi…
RCW 43.216.050 Evaluation and research materials and data on private nonprofit group homes—Availability.
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The secretary shall make all of the department's evaluation and research materials and data on private nonprofit group homes available to group home contractors. The department may delete any information from the materials that identifies a specific client or contractor, other th…
RCW 43.216.055 Federal and state cooperation—Rules—Construction.
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In furtherance of the policy of the state to cooperate with the federal government in all of the programs under the jurisdiction of the department, such rules as may become necessary to entitle the state to participate in federal funds may be adopted, unless expressly prohibited …
RCW 43.216.060 Policies to support children of incarcerated parents.
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(1)(a) The secretary shall review current department policies and assess the adequacy and availability of programs targeted at persons who receive assistance who are the children and families of a person who is incarcerated in a department of corrections facility. Great attention…
RCW 43.216.065 Private-public partnership—Secretary's duties.
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(1) In addition to other duties under this chapter, the secretary shall actively participate in a nongovernmental private-public partnership focused on supporting government's investments in early learning and ensuring that every child in the state is prepared to succeed in schoo…
RCW 43.216.070 Reports to the governor and legislature.
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Two years after the implementation of the department's early learning program, and every two years thereafter by July 1st, the department shall submit to the governor and the legislature a report measuring the effectiveness of its programs in improving early childhood education. …
RCW 43.216.075 Early learning advisory council—Policy development and implementation—Early achievers review subcommittee.
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(1) The early learning advisory council is established to advise the department on statewide early learning issues that contribute to the ongoing efforts of building a comprehensive system of quality early learning programs and services for Washington's young children and familie…
RCW 43.216.080 Integration with other entities.
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(1) The foundation of quality in the early care and education system in Washington is the quality rating and improvement system entitled the early achievers program. In an effort to build on the existing quality framework, enhance access to quality care for children, and strength…
RCW 43.216.085 Early achievers program—Quality rating and improvement system.
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(1) The department, in collaboration with tribal governments and community and statewide partners, shall implement a quality rating and improvement system, called the early achievers program. The early achievers program provides a foundation of quality for the early care and educ…
RCW 43.216.087 Early achievers program—Participation of culturally diverse and low-income center, family home, and outdoor nature-based child care providers.
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(1)(a) The department shall, in collaboration with tribal governments and community and statewide partners, implement a protocol to maximize and encourage participation in the early achievers program for culturally diverse and low-income center, family home, and outdoor nature-ba…
RCW 43.216.089 Early achievers program—Final report—Mitigation plan for areas not achieving required rating levels—Data availability—Reports.
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(1) By December 15, 2020, the department, in consultation with the statewide child care resource and referral network, and the early achievers review subcommittee of the early learning advisory council, shall submit, in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, a final report to the governo…
RCW 43.216.090 Early achievers program—Mental health consultants.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall administer or contract for infant and early childhood mental health consultation services to child care providers and early learning providers participating in the early achiev…
RCW 43.216.091 Early achievers program—Administrative policies—Rating and rerating.
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The department must adopt administrative policies in the early achievers program, within the department's appropriations, to:(1) Consider child care provider schedules and needs and allow flexibility when scheduling data collection and rating visits at a facility;(2) Prioritize r…
RCW 43.216.092 Early achievers program—Administrative policies—Various.
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Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department must adopt administrative policies in the early achievers program to:(1) Eliminate rating scale barriers, to the extent possible, within the assessment tools and data collection methodol…
RCW 43.216.100 Community information and involvement plan—Informing home-based, tribal, and family early learning providers of early achievers program.
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The department, in collaboration with the office of the superintendent of public instruction, shall create a community information and involvement plan to inform home-based, tribal, and family early learning providers of the early achievers program under RCW 43.216.085.[ 2019 c 3…
RCW 43.216.105 Native language development and retention—Dual language learning—Rules.
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(1) The department of children, youth, and families must work with community partners to support outreach and education for parents and families around the benefits of native language development and retention, as well as the benefits of dual language learning. Native language me…
RCW 43.216.110 Core competencies for early care and education professionals and child and youth development professionals—Adoption and implementation—Updating.
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By December 31, 2012, the department shall adopt core competencies for early care and education professionals and child and youth development professionals and develop an implementation plan. The department shall incorporate the core competencies into all appropriate professional…
RCW 43.216.115 Partnership responsibilities—Department's duties—Partnership's duties.
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(1) In order to meet its partnership responsibilities, the department shall:(a) Work collaboratively with the nongovernmental private-public partnership; and(b) Actively seek public and private money for distribution as grants to the nongovernmental private-public partnership.(2)…
RCW 43.216.120 Reduction of barriers for using local or private funds for early learning opportunities.
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To the greatest extent possible, the department must reduce barriers and increase efficiency for using local or private funds, or both, to provide more high quality early learning opportunities.[ 2017 c 178 s 3. Formerly RCW 43.215.112.]Notes:Intent—2017 c 178: See note following…
RCW 43.216.125 Parental notification of report alleging sexual misconduct or abuse—Notice of parental rights.
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The department and an agency must, at the first opportunity but in all cases within forty-eight hours of receiving a report alleging sexual misconduct or abuse by an agency employee, notify the parents or guardian of a child alleged to be the victim, target, or recipient of the m…
RCW 43.216.130 Home visiting services account—Purpose—Administration—Funding.
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(1)(a) The home visiting services account is created in the state treasury. Revenues to the account shall consist of appropriations by the legislature and all other sources deposited in the account. All federal funds received by the department for home visiting activities must be…
RCW 43.216.135 Child care providers—Subsidy requirements—Tiered reimbursements—Copayments.
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(1) Existing child care providers serving nonschool-age children and receiving state subsidy payments must complete the following requirements to be eligible for a state subsidy under this section:(a) Enroll in the early achievers program by August 1, 2016;(b) Complete level 2 ac…
RCW 43.216.152 Definitions.
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The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Community-based early learning providers" includes for-profit and nonprofit licensed providers of child care and preschool programs.(2) "Program" means the program of …
RCW 43.216.155 Home visitation programs—Findings—Intent.
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The legislature finds that:(1) The years from birth to three are critical in building the social, emotional, and cognitive developmental foundations of a young child. Research into the brain development of young children reveals that children are born learning.(2) The farther beh…
RCW 43.216.157 Home visitation programs—Definitions.
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The definitions in this section apply throughout this section and RCW * 43.215.145, * 43.215.147, and ** 43.121.185 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Evidence-based" means a program or practice that has had multiple site random controlled trials across heterogene…
RCW 43.216.159 Home visitation programs—Funding—Home visitation services coordination or consolidation plan.
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(1) Within available funds, the department shall fund evidence-based and research-based home visitation programs for improving parenting skills and outcomes for children. Home visitation programs must be voluntary and must address the needs of families to alleviate the effect on …
RCW 43.216.162 Home visitation—High-potency synthetic opioids substance use disorder.
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(1) Home visiting established by RCW 43.216.130 has been shown to enhance child development and well-being by reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect, promoting connection to community-based supports, and increasing school readiness for young children and their families…
RCW 43.216.165 Early start account.
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(1) The early start account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. Revenues in the account shall consist of appropriations by the legislature and all other sources deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the purposes listed in RCW…
RCW 43.216.170 Applicants for positions with the department—Investigation and background checks.
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(1) The secretary shall investigate the conviction records, pending charges, and disciplinary board final decisions of any current employee or applicant seeking or being considered for any position with the department who will or may have unsupervised access to children. This inc…
RCW 43.216.180 Education of students in the custody of juvenile rehabilitation facilities—Duties—Creation of a comprehensive plan.
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(1) The department shall meet regularly with the school districts that educate students who are in the custody of medium and maximum security facilities operated by juvenile rehabilitation to help coordinate activities in areas of common interest, such as communication with paren…
RCW 43.216.190 Assistance with submission of Washington state identicard application materials.
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The department shall assist licensed or contracted providers in following the process established under RCW 46.20.036 for providers submitting Washington state identicard application materials for individuals qualifying for a Washington state identicard under RCW 46.20.117(1)(c)(…
RCW 43.216.195 Child care centers—Negotiated rule making.
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When the secretary elects to engage in negotiated rule making pursuant to RCW 34.05.310(2)(a), the department must include the largest organization representing child care center owners and directors; the largest organization representing supervisors, teachers, and aides; and oth…
RCW 43.216.200 Imagination library of Washington program.
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(1) The following definitions apply to this section:(a) "Eligible children" means children from birth to age five;(b) "National nonprofit foundation" means a national nonprofit foundation that exists for the purpose of working with local entities to identify eligible children and…
RCW 43.216.205 Youth and young adults exiting publicly funded system of care—Rapid response team.
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(1) The department, in coordination with the office of homeless youth prevention and protection programs, the department of social and health services, and the health care authority, shall develop and implement a rapid response team that is prepared to respond appropriately to su…
RCW 43.216.250 Secretary's licensing duties.
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It shall be the secretary's duty with regard to licensing under this chapter:(1) In consultation and with the advice and assistance of persons representative of the various type agencies to be licensed, to designate categories of child care facilities or outdoor locations for whi…
RCW 43.216.255 Licensing standards.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2219-S.SL) ***(1) No later than November 1, 2016, the department shall implement a single set of licensing standards for child care and the early childhood education and assistance program. The department shall produce the single set of licensing stand…
RCW 43.216.260 Minimum requirements for licensure.
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Applications for licensure shall require, at a minimum, the following information:(1) The size and suitability of a facility or location for an outdoor nature-based child care program, and the plan of operation for carrying out the purpose for which an applicant seeks a license;(…
RCW 43.216.265 Fire protection—Powers and duties of chief of the Washington state patrol.
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The chief of the Washington state patrol, through the director of fire protection, shall have the power and it shall be his or her duty:(1) In consultation with the secretary and with the advice and assistance of persons representative of the various type agencies to be licensed,…
RCW 43.216.270 Character, suitability, and competence to provide child care and early learning services—Fingerprint criminal history record checks—Background check clearance card or certificate—Shared background checks—Capacity to perform checks.
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(1)(a) In determining whether an individual is of appropriate character, suitability, and competence to provide child care and early learning services to children, the department may consider the history of past involvement of child protective services or law enforcement agencies…
RCW 43.216.271 Background check clearance registry—Background application form.
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The department shall maintain an individual-based or portable background check clearance registry. Any individual seeking a child care license or employment in any child care facility or outdoor nature-based child care program licensed or regulated under current law shall submit …