Featured Resources

SB 6068 Legislative Report

SB 6068 set a new standard for Washington state’s dependency system by clarifying that achieving legal permanency for children is not enough—courts and agency partners must also work to ensure relational permanency and well-being for children. In response, FYJP contracted with evaluation consultants who engaged over 80 lived and professional experts in a collaborative effort to conceptualize and strategize how to use data to support relational permanency and child well-being. This report summarizes the engagement process, results, and recommendations.

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2021 Washington Baseline Safety Hearing Quality Report

A multi-method evaluation conducted in early 2021 across seven Washington counties assessing how dependency courts incorporate child-safety decision-making into hearings. Using court observations, case file reviews, and stakeholder and parent surveys, the report establishes a baseline of current practice to guide training and system improvements under the state’s Program Improvement Plan.

2022 Washington Safety Decision-Making Hearing Quality Evaluation Report

A statewide pre‑ and post‑evaluation of Washington dependency courts, this report measures the impact of “Safety Summit” multidisciplinary trainings (Oct 2021–May 2022) on judges’ safety decision‑making practices. Comparing court observations and case file reviews from seven counties before training to five counties months afterward, it documents improvements in use of safety assessments and courtroom discussions focused on safety threats, vulnerabilities, safety planning, and conditions for return—highlighting areas of progress and remaining opportunities to strengthen implementation of the state’s safety framework.

2023-2024 FYJP Legislative Report

An updated legal reference for Washington juvenile dependency cases, covering key statutes and case law across 33 topics—from guardianship to emancipation—designed to guide judicial decision-making.

ABA Article: Being the Change and Seeing the Change: Cross-System Improvement

This article from the ABA Litigation Section explores Washington State’s long-standing efforts to enhance child welfare through collaborative initiatives involving courts, agencies, and tribal entities. It highlights programs like the Court Improvement Training Academy and the Family Well-Being Community Collaborative, which integrate data-driven strategies and community partnerships—including those with individuals with lived experience—to address systemic challenges and promote family well-being.

Annual Judicial Academy

Every year, FYJP hosts a multi-day conference for judicial officers hearing dependency cases.

Benchbook

FYJP publishes the Washington State Juvenile Non-Offender Benchbook (“Benchbook”) which outlines the state and federal statutory requirements for judicial officers hearing cases involving the welfare of children. The Benchbook contains topical sections as well as statutory and case law citations, including hyperlinks.

Blue Triangle Imagery

A visual tool to assist courts in applying the Safety Framework to child welfare cases. It includes diagrams and imagery that illustrate key concepts such as threats, vulnerabilities, and protective capacities, aiming to enhance understanding and consistency in safety decision-making.

C.A.R.E Checklist

A practical tool designed to guide child welfare professionals through the foster care placement process. Structured around four key principles—Communicate, Affirm, Recognize, and Ensure—the checklist provides a comprehensive set of prompts to support children during the transition into foster care.

Child and Youth Trafficking in Dependency Cases Benchcards

This series of four benchcards informs judicial decisions regarding the removal and placement of children, family time visitation, and case plan services for families.

Court Access Videos

These videos are meant to reduce some of the stress that families feel by helping them be prepared.

Dash Demo

Brief overview demonstration of the Dependency Dashboard utilized in Washington State to track key performance metrics for child dependency cases.

Data Management Framework

Provides context, framework, and the major steps for developing and managing a performance and quality improvement support structure for Early Childhood Courts (ECC) in Washington State.

Dependency 101 for Judicial Officers Course

The Dependency 101 for Judicial Officers Course is designed to facilitate the delivery of quality, interactive, on-demand virtual trainings that examine the information, practices, and skills judicial officers need to effectively preside over child abuse and neglect cases in Washington State. The modules in this course examine the essential principles of dependency court systems and judicial decision-making that ensure safety, due process, timeliness, permanency, and well-being for children and families.

Dependency 201 for Judicial Officers

The Dependency 201 for Judicial Officers Course is designed as the next step for judicial officers who have completed Dependency 101 or who are seeking deeper engagement with the complexities of child abuse and neglect cases in Washington State. These interactive, on-demand modules explore advanced topics in dependency law and practice. They build on foundational knowledge to strengthen judicial officers’ skills in balancing competing interests, analyzing complex case dynamics, and ensuring decisions are legally sound, trauma-informed, and responsive to the needs of children and families

Dependency Dashboard

An interactive dashboard by the Washington State Center for Court Research (WSCCR) provides up-to-date, county-level data on child dependency cases.

Dependency Practice Tips

Dependency Practice Tips are great summary to tools that focus on specific issues or topics relevant to dependency court practice. These practice tips come in multiple different forms such as articles, videos, and infographics.

Dependency Rotation Judicial Support Guide

The Dependency Rotation Judicial Support Guide is designed to support judicial officers rotating onto the dependency bench. Recognizing the complexities and high stakes involved in dependency court, this resource provides essential tools, resources, and training to help judicial officers navigate this critical area of the law. Whether you are new to dependency court or seeking to deepen your expertise, this resource will serve as an invaluable tool throughout your rotation.

Drop-off Analysis

The Drop-Off analysis is a strategy used to determine where in the process a program loses participants. Courts can use this analysis in their Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) efforts.

Early Childhood Court (ECC) Community of Practice

An opportunity for coordinators to strengthen their expertise, share innovative strategies, and collaborate on advancing effective, family-centered practices in their communities.

Early Childhood Courts (ECC) Enrollment Monitoring Tool

For use by courts to easily display their ECC’s breakdown of child race demographics, and compare those to representation of infants and toddlers in the regular dependency system and the larger geographic region.

Early Childhood Courts Training for Judicial Officers

The Washington State Legislature passed SB 5331 in 2021, establishing the Early Childhood Court (ECC) program. Included in the legislation is a requirement that judicial officers who preside over ECC hearings participate in an introductory eight-hour training program. This page contains courses from a variety of sources that focus on aspects of dependency cases involving children under the age of 3.

Early Childhood Courts (ECC) Community Level Indicators

Summarizes the contextual community characteristics that may facilitate or impede successful implementation of the ECC.

Equity & Engagement Framework

A roadmap co-designed by and for those most impacted by the child welfare court system.

Family Treatment Court Community of Practice

A chance for coordinators and other FTC members to enhance their skills, exchange ideas, and contribute to the development of effective practices within their communities.

FJCIP Data Mapping Tool

Guides courts and coordinators in using data entry tools and templates to track, analyze, and continuously improve dependency court performance.

FJCIP Data Training Modules

Provides FJCIP Coordinators with an overview of the background, purpose, and structure of the child dependency court system in Washington State.

Guidance for Courts: Harms of Removal Across Stages of Child Development

Presents targeted guidance for dependency courts on the potential short‑ and long‑term impacts of removing children from their homes at different developmental stages—infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and beyond.

Harm of Removal Map

This ever-evolving concept map depicts the numerous ways that children might be negatively impacted by the experience of family separation by child welfare.

Hope and Burnout in Child Welfare

A research-based report highlighting how hope—more than resilience—serves as a powerful protective factor against burnout among child welfare professionals.

Hope as a Coping Resource Among Parents

A 2018 study published in the Journal of Family Social Work examines how hope serves as a protective buffer for parents at moderate to high risk of child maltreatment.

Hope Focused Benchcard

A quick-reference guide for judges, hearing officers, and juvenile justice professionals, designed to integrate hope-focused principles into courtroom practice.

Hope Guide Pamphlet Example

Modeling how to integrate hopeful dialogue into youth‑justice settings—perfect for distribution in courtrooms, training sessions, or orientation packets.

How Hope and Resilience Can Lower Burnout Among Child Welfare Workers

Explores how cultivating hope and resilience can reduce burnout among child welfare professionals.

iDecide

This interactive, web-based application designed to support successful implementation of the new statutory requirements that resulted from the Keeping Families Together Act (HB 1227).

Judicial Community of Practice (JCoP)

This peer learning opportunity for judicial officers provides a safe space for judicial officers to learn about the best-practices being used in dependency courts and discuss the challenges and opportunities they are experiencing in their own courts. JCoP sessions will be led by one of our expert Jurists-in-Residence, who are retired judicial officers with years of experience hearing child dependency cases. Whether a judicial officer is new to the bench or has years of experience hearing child welfare cases, we invite them to participate in this exciting new opportunity!

Judicial Wellness

See this collection of resources, tools and support for judicial officers to maintain their health and wellness while serving on the bench.

Jurist-in-Residence Program

The Jurist in Residence (JIR) program supports high quality judicial practice by making experienced retired dependency court judges available to mentor and train dependency judicial officers across the state. The ultimate goal of this work is to enhance statewide judicial leadership practices in child welfare court systems.