BILL TO CONTRACT OUT CHILD WELFARE SERVICES HAS BEEN INTRODUCED

Sen. Jim Hargrove, chair of the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee, has introduced SB 5943 to contract out Child Welfare Services. Federation members in the DSHS Children's Administration will of course be weighing in on this with a thoughtful and firm response.

It comes in the wake of the release of the legislatively mandated Children's Administration Social Worker Workload Report.



That report came up for review Friday, Feb. 6, in the House Early Learning and Children's Services Committee. There, the Federation's Jeanine Livingston repeated the union's position that some social worker duties could be transferred to non-case carrying staff. But there's "not enough analysis to make a recommendation" on contracting out any of those duties, she said.

We'll keep you updated. But tough economic times are not the time to do wholesale contracting out.