September 22, 2009

State Task Force on Child Welfare Privatization Pilots Meets

The state Transformation Design Committee, the formal name for the task force on the legislatively mandated two pilot privatization projects in Child Welfare Services, met Sept. 16 and 17.

The committee dealt with many technical issues. But red flags went up again when DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus addressed the task force. She said she'd gotten the governor's approval to "be bold" and "innovative" with her intentions to "increase capacities in the communities" and "incorporate greater stakeholder input." Reading between the lines, that was taken by some to mean the state is interested in privatizing more of DSHS Children's Administration than just the two pilot demonstration sites in Child Welfare Services.

That has led to an urgent meeting of the Federation's TDC Steering Committee to continue working on "next step strategies." That meeting will be held during the Federation's state convention next week. The meeting will be 11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 2, at the SeaTac Doubletree Hotel in the Cascade 13 room.

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