Washington State DCYF Held 195 Children In Hotels Or Department Offices While Waiting For A Placement Last Year

Between September 1, 2017 and August 31, 2018, the Washington State Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) placed 195 children in a hotel for one or more nights, or kept them in a DCYF office, while waiting for an appropriate foster home or therapeutic placement. These 195 children spent 1,090 nights in "placement exceptions" that were largely due to limited placement resources in DCYF Regions 3 (counties north of Seattle including Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom Counties) and 4 (King County, including the greater Seattle area); and because overall, the number of children requiring out-of-home care has . . .