Governor Signs New Executive Order to Help Kids

Gov. Inslee signs executive order on February 18.

Yesterday, Governor Jay Inslee signed an executive order establishing a Blue Ribbon Commission on the Delivery of Services to Children and Families. The Governor expressed his interest in creating a Children and Family Department in Washington State government.  He is convinced that such a focus will increase the awareness of and advocacy for better outcomes for at-risk children in our state. 

According to the Governor's press release,

"Inslee intends to work with the Legislature to create a new cabinet agency charged with overseeing the services the state provides to vulnerable children and families. Many of these services are currently administered by the state Department of Social & Health Services."

Inslee cited growing evidence from states such as New Jersey, Tennessee, and Indiana that have created separate children’s departments and are seeing better outcomes due to the improved focus, visibility and accountability on children’s services.

This commission will consist of sixteen (16) members and is tasked with five outcomes due to the Governor by November 1, 2016.  DEL Director, Ross Hunter will serve on the commission along with two counterparts at the Department of Social and Health Services.  The commission will also include legislators, a representative from the Washington Federation of State Employees, judicial and tribal representatives and experts in child welfare.

"The core idea is to think about the services that we provide to children from a number of agencies and improve our coordination," said Hunter. "Can we do a better job of integrating what the Department of Health, the TANF system, child welfare, OSPI, the courts, juvenile rehab, etc. provide to kids to have better outcomes?"

Washington state made a similar move in 2007 to boost early learning by creating a Department of Early Learning. Rep. Ruth Kagi (D-Seattle), chair of the House Early Learning and Human Services Committee, said the success of DEL is one reason she’s supporting Inslee’s proposal.

"Our children and families will greatly benefit from an agency dedicated to improving outcomes for our youngest Washingtonians,” Kagi said. “I have opposed this idea for many years, but the Department of Early Learning has demonstrated how much alignment and focus on outcomes can dramatically improve both the quality of services and the efficiency of managing complex programs. I wholeheartedly support the governor’s proposal."

Relevant Links

Q&As on the governor’s Executive Order: Transforming Services for Children and Families in Washington state
Executive Order 16-03: Transforming Services for Children and Families in Washington state

Breastfeeding Friendly Washington Hospitals Supports the Healthiest Next Generation

In partnership with the Washington State Hospital Association, the Washington State Department of Health launched Breastfeeding Friendly Washington Hospitals on August 3. This voluntary program recognizes birthing hospitals that support breastfeeding and is part of Governor Jay Inslee’s Healthiest Next Generation Initiative.

Recognizing that Washington's future depends on the health of our children, Gov. Inslee launched the Healthiest Next Generation Initiative to help our next generation be the healthiest ever. Supporting breastfeeding is one of the initiative’s three areas of focus.

This program is based on the World Health Organization’s Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. The steps were adapted for birthing hospitals in Washington, using three tiers of recognition (bronze, silver and gold). Successful applicants will receive window decals, a letter and certificate of achievement from Secretary of Health John Wiesman, and a CD with logo files and a sample press release. Hospitals that qualify for the Gold Recognition Level will also receive a plaque. 

This program is not only about recognition for hospitals, but it is also a vehicle for families to learn about how hospitals are supporting breastfeeding. The promotional package hospitals receive will help with this awareness. Prospective parents can also search our website for a Breastfeeding Friendly Hospital nearby.

"The Governor declared the Healthiest Next Generation initiative, and breastfeeding was one of the key areas he wanted to focus on," said Michele Lord, Department of Health Breastfeeding Coordinator. "Through research, we have noted that Washington has a good breastfeeding initiation rate among moms. However this number declines, and by six months we have a low number of moms that are still breastfeeding. Putting the pieces together, we realized that there is something happening from the moment the mom leaves the hospital that can shape her success in continuing to breastfeed. So we decided to begin with hospitals to promote breastfeeding across the state, to get new moms off to a great start."

Ten Steps to the Breastfeeding Friendly Washington program:

1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all healthcare staff.
2. Train all healthcare staff in the skills necessary to implement this policy.
3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4. Place babies skin-to-skin with their mothers for 60 minutes immediately after birth and help mothers recognize and respond to feeding cues.
5. Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation even if they are separated from their infants.
6. Give infants no food or drink other than breastmilk unless medically indicated.
7. Practice rooming-in to allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8. Encourage breastfeeding on demand. Teach mothers cue-based feeding regardless of feeding method.
9. Give no artificial nipples or pacifiers to breastfeeding infants.
10. Establish a system for referring mothers to out-patient and community support. 

The Benefits of Breastfeeding:

Breastfeeding helps protect and maintain the health of both mothers and babies. Breastfeeding protects babies from infections and illnesses such as diarrhea, ear infections and pneumonia and breastfed babies are less likely to develop asthma. Research also shows that breastfeeding a baby for nine months reduces a baby’s risk of becoming overweight by more than 30 percent. Mothers who breastfeed have a decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancers, Type 2 diabetes and post-partum depression.

Supporting breastfeeding is also good for business– big and small. Businesses that support breastfeeding employees are better at retaining valued employees. When employees breastfeed, businesses see less sick time taken by both moms and dads for doctor visits and hospitalizations. Because breastfeeding protects the health of both moms and babies, businesses experience lower health care and insurance costs.

To learn more about the program, contact Michele Lord, Department of Health Breastfeeding Coordinator at michele.lord@doh.wa.gov or (360) 236-3625. To share how you are creating the healthiest next generation, use the hashtag: #HealthiestNextGen on social media!

Historic Early Start Act Passes: Governor Inslee's Speech

For those of you that missed the signing in Olympia, Governor Inslee gave an inspirational speech regarding the passing of the historic Early Start Act. Here are the remarks made yesterday:

More than 48,000 children in Washington will benefit from access to quality early learning thanks to historic new levels of early learning funding. Gov. Jay Inslee today signed the Early Start Act which helps expand and strengthen the state’s early learning programs and continues efforts to improve the quality of these programs. The governor’s remarks are below and photos are available online here. He was joined by Senator Steve Litzow, State Rep. Ruth Kagi, and numerous other legislators, supporters and more than a dozen of Washington’s youngest learners.

Governor Inslee signs the Early Start Act on July 6, 2015

“This landmark legislation will help ensure that 48,200 children like those here with us today will get the best start on their path to a world class education. In Washington, we have what I like to call a ‘continuum of education.’ And it starts here, with our youngest learners, and extends right on through college. I’ll be signing a bill later today to make that last step more affordable for students and their families.

“Today, we invest in a big way in the future of our youngest Washingtonians. Research soundly proves that early childhood education gives our kids a solid foundation for future learning and for life. We know that early learning programs help improve children’s health and boost kindergarten readiness. We know that because scientists at the University of Washington’s I-Labs tell us that children’s minds have a tremendous capacity for learning — by the age of 2, the human brain is almost 80 percent of adult size.

“This bill invests an additional $94.5 million for the Early Start Act alone as part of a total early learning budget of $158 million. Here are the just a couple of the many benefits of this bill:

“First, it maintains Early Achievers, our state’s quality rating and improvement system, and makes it the quality standard for all our state’s early learning programs. This way, Washington will continue its unwavering commitment to educating and training our child care and preschool providers in effective early learning strategies so children in ECEAP and Working Connections are prepared for kindergarten. By making Early Achievers mandatory, we’re not just raising the quality of care — we’re also funding the professional development of providers through scholarships, training and technical assistance. This will help ensure that providers are culturally responsive and that they mirror the diversity of the children they serve.

“I have heard concerns from providers and parents about the mandatory requirements of the bill, which have the potential to reduce the number of licensed child care providers in the state. I share those worries — and we will do what we can to make sure it doesn’t happen. That is why I am directing my staff to work to preserve our wonderful child care and early learning facilities and to take the steps necessary to ensure that we are growing the licensed care in our state, not shrinking it.

“This bill also ensures that when a young student participates in Working Connections Child Care — the state’s subsidized child care program for low-income and working families that now serves 31,000 children— that they get that benefit for a full 12 months. This allows children to develop and strengthen bonds with their caregivers, which brain science tells us is critical to healthy child development.

“I thank the bipartisan group of members who have shown outstanding leadership on this bill. Rep. Ruth Kagi has long been a champion for children and for early learning in particular. She has been instrumental in moving our state forward as the national leader in early learning. Sen. Steve Litzow was his chamber’s sponsor of the bill. I also recognize Rep. Walsh and Sen. Billig who have co-sponsored it over the past few sessions. And I appreciate the hard work of the budget team, Sens. Hill and Hargrove, and Reps. Hunter and Chandler.

“In addition to legislative support, a number of organizations have contributed to this effort — Thrive, Children’s Alliance, Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP, the League of Education Voters, SEIU 925, Fight Crime and Invest in Kids, and other members of the Early Learning Action Alliance.

“I also recognize my wife, Trudi, who has long supported early learning programs, and continues to advocate on behalf of all Washington’s children.”