Recent Research Reports
2026 Caregiver Survey Report
Every year, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families partners with the Research and Data Analysis Division of the Department of Social and Health Services to gather feedback from kinship and foster caregivers in Washington state. Between July 2025 and May 2026, DSHS surveyed 904 kinship caregivers and 444 foster caregivers who had a child in care in the past 12 months. The response rate was 77%. Surveys were completed over the phone (69%) or online (31%).
Washington State’s Parent-Child Assistance Program: An Outcome Evaluation
The Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) addresses substance use among pregnant and parenting women. PCAP has been operating in Washington state since it was developed at the University of Washington in 1991. In this report, we examine the effectiveness of PCAP using a quasi-experimental design assessing changes in a variety of maternal and child outcomes over the 4 years following childbirth for PCAP families and a statistically matched comparison group.
Mental Health Assessments for Young Children: Characteristics of Assessment Providers and of Children Receiving Assessments
This report is the second in a series of reports that examine the effects of Apple Health policy changes that went into effect January 2022, collectively referred to as Mental Health Assessment for Young Children (MHAYC). The MHAYC policy changes included reimbursement for multi-session assessments and for provider travel to home and community settings, as well as a requirement for providers to use the DC:0-5TM, the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood. This report describes characteristics of the providers who completed mental health assessments for young children and the characteristics of the young children who received assessments.
Transportation Pilot: Early-Stage Implementation Assessment
A stable caregiving workforce is critical for ensuring that clients who receive in-home services can consistently get the care they need to live safely in their homes. Transportation is one of several barriers that can make caregiving work difficult to enter or sustain. The Transportation Pilot was funded through the federal Money Follows the Person grant to provide free Lyft rides to eligible caregivers for travel between their homes and clients’ homes and between client locations. The pilot was designed to explore whether transportation support for caregivers could reduce barriers to their work and improve caregiver and client experiences. This report presents findings based on surveys of caregivers and clients, and administrative data collected during the pilot’s implementation.
Access to Food Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Clients Experiencing Homelessness
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Basic Food entries increased sharply among housed individuals but declined among those experiencing homelessness. This report examines the factors contributing to these diverging trends and finds that pandemic-era policy changes, including waived Mid-Certification Reviews (MCRs) and extended certification periods, reduced benefit disruptions and subsequent re-entries among existing clients. However, reduced access to in-person services may have created additional barriers to Basic Food entry for individuals experiencing homelessness who were not recently connected to the program. These findings highlight the importance of reducing administrative barriers associated with MCRs and eligibility reviews while maintaining accessible pathways to benefits for vulnerable populations during future service disruptions.
First Episode Psychosis: Estimating Annual Incidence Using Administrative Data in SFY 2024
This report presents estimated incidence rates of first episode psychosis (FEP) among the Washington Medicaid population in state fiscal year (SFY) 2024. Using administrative data from 1997 forward, we identified 4,583 Medicaid enrollees in Washington State who received their first psychotic disorder diagnoses in SFY 2024. The overall incidence rate of FEP was estimated at 284 per 100,000 Medicaid enrollees. The demographic characteristics, type of psychotic disorder diagnosis, and geographic distribution of Medicaid enrollees experiencing FEP are presented in the report.
Housing Stability Supports for Youth and Young Adults Exiting Systems of Care: Washington Systems of Care Grant-Funded Programs
Since 2019, the Office of Homeless Youth has partnered with private philanthropic donors to fund interventions that serve youth and young adults ages 12 to 25 at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness after exiting Washington’s child welfare, behavioral health, or juvenile rehabilitation systems. In this report we describe the demographic characteristics, prior housing status, and behavioral health needs of youth and young adults (YYA) served by these “System of Care” (SOC) grant-funded programs from July 2019 to December 2024. Findings indicate that participants received housing supports and food assistance at higher rates following their enrollment in SOC programs. Their measured rates of homelessness and housing instability also declined substantially, though findings should be interpreted with caution and may be partially an artifact of how homelessness is measured in the administrative data used in this study. Refining SOC program data collection in future studies could yield more specific and actionable insights.
Washington State Jail-based Opioid Treatment Networks: Descriptive Findings from 2019 to 2022
Since September 2018, the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) has received State Opioid Response (SOR) grants to improve access to FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and reduce overdose deaths. This evaluation focuses on five Washington State jails that receive SOR funding to implement Opioid Treatment Networks (OTNs). These programs begin MOUD treatment for people with opioid use disorder (OUD) before they are released from jail. The analysis looks at people's characteristics before they entered jail and compares people served by OTN and non-OTN jails. Evaluators found that many people entering the jails included in this study had both OUD and stimulant use disorder; having both diagnoses was more common than having either alone. People using opioids and stimulants may benefit from treatment approaches that address both conditions, but relatively little is known about how best to provide this care. It is also unclear whether people in jails with both conditions receive treatment. These findings point to opportunities for jails to better identify people who use both opioids and stimulants, offer them appropriate treatment, and connect them with treatment and other supports after they leave jail.
Long-Term Services and Supports: 2026 Annual Report
Long-term services and supports (LTSS) provide persons in need of assistance with daily living activities, help in their home, community, or facility settings depending on preferences, care needs, and service availability. This second annual report, directed by House Bill 1694 (2023), describes supply and demand projections for the LTSS workforce and LTSS needs in Washington State.
Preliminary Outcomes for Washington’s Housing Stability for Youth in Courts (H-SYNC) Program
Since 2019, the Housing Stability for Youth in Courts (H-SYNC) program has referred court-involved youth ages 12 to 18 who are at risk of homelessness to support services in their communities. This report describes the demographic characteristics, housing status, and criminal legal involvement of 112 program participants who enrolled in H-SYNC from July 2022 to March 2025, as well as 6-month pre-post outcomes for a smaller number (n = 45) of participants with sufficient follow-up data. Preliminary outcome analyses suggest that H-SYNC services were effective in connecting participants to housing services but provided insufficient evidence to identify impacts on other outcomes of interest. Several factors limited this study’s ability to evaluate the H-SYNC program including the small number of participants, the limited period for follow-up data, the absence of a statistically matched comparison group, and the lack of access to health-related outcome measures.
Children and Youth in Crisis Served by the Multiagency Rapid Care Team from January 2024 to June 2025
Washington State House Bill 1580 (2023-2024) created a multi-agency Rapid Care Team managed by the Office of the Governor to identify supportive services and living arrangements for children and youth in crisis. This report describes characteristics of children and youth referred to the Governor-led Rapid Care Team from January 2024 through June 2025 as part of a 2025 report to the legislature required by RCW 43.06.535. Measures examined include referral counts and case status, referral sources, setting at time of referral, demographic characteristics, state system engagement, health conditions, case duration, parent peer support, flexible funding, and living arrangements.