About Us
The WACF is an association for people and organizations looking to strengthen children, youth, and families in Washington State and champion their cause.
The WACF connects organizations and provides them with a unified voice because of its flexibility, commitment to diversity, and ability to build collaboration and community amongst its members working towards the same goal.
Since 2018, WACF has been managed by Executive Director, Jill May, M.S.W., along with a diverse Board of Directors who are responsible for ensuring that the mission, values, and principles of WACF are carried out in its day-to-day operations.
WACF works with member agencies to support advocacy efforts at an administrative and legislative level.
Each initiative is focused on providing critical services for families and children. Those services can range from affordable housing and healthcare to providing basic necessities, like clothes and school supplies. The goal is to ensure the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families.There are dozens of member agencies in partnership with WACF, demanding an active effort to promote collaboration and communication.
WACF drives these efforts as well, so that children and families can rely on the benefits of a network of allies, rather than a list of disparate organizations.WACF also informs and engages its members and partners through training and discussion forums.
These efforts are aimed at creating a proactive approach to supporting families no matter how their unique needs evolve over time.
The mission... of the Washington Association for Children & Families is to engage a diverse and inclusive network of member agencies in collaboration, communication, improved service delivery, and mutual support among organizations.
WACF works on behalf of its agencies to support systemic improvement through administrative and legislative advocacy so that organizations can operate efficiently, inclusively, and at the highest quality, as well as provide critical services for as many children, youth, and families as possible.
Who Is WACF?
Founded in 2012, the Washington Association for Children & Families is an association of providers working to strengthen families and champion bright futures for children across Washington State.
WACF is a non-profit organization with a wide range of members including child placement agencies, counseling centers, community services, and family resource providers.
What Does WACF Do?
WACF works with its members to spearhead new initiatives, coordinate collaboration and conversation between agencies, and speak with a unified voice on the behalf of children, youth, and families.
The contributions of WACF and its member agencies are divided into four primary groups: Child Placing Agencies (CPAs), Intensive Services, Family Preservation and Support Services (FPSS) and Independent Living Services (IL).
CPAs support foster families with recruitment, licensing, training, and support. Intensive Services support children, youth, and families with multidimensional and complex needs, including behavioral therapy. Family preservation agencies help stabilize families so children don’t enter out-of-home care and Independent Living Services assist youth and young adults ages 15 - 23 in making the transition from foster care to self-sufficiency.
Why Does It Matter?
Families, of all types and sizes, are the fabric that knit our society together. Nothing is more important than the relationships that bind parents, children, youth, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and everyone in between.
Despite the importance of these unique bonds, some families are forgotten and overlooked. When that happens, the results can be tragic.
We believe Washington State families should always have the support they need to thrive. Families deserve a voice. They deserve an entire network of allies working to create a safer future for them. We’re building that network.
Our Commitment
Diversity & Inclusion
- Washington State is home to a wide array of unique families from a variety of backgrounds. They represent rural farming towns, sprawling urban hubs, immigrant backgrounds, LGBTQ identities, non-native speakers, and every race and ethnicity.
- Each family is different, and every one of them deserves the same opportunities. To that end, we are committed to curating a membership that reflects the diversity of the families we support.
- Our constant effort to broaden advocacy efforts and support service is aimed at creating an alliance of members who benefit all communities, regardless of their economic status, sexual orientation, language, or age.
- When we celebrate the diversity of our membership, it directly helps to create a safer future for children, youth, and families in Washington.
Unified Voice
- A collective voice allows us to focus the strength of our diverse membership on specific initiatives. When faced with important issues and difficult decisions, we take clear and straightforward positions that represent the voices of all members.
- Whenever we communicate, it is our goal to inspire, educate, and motivate others to take direct action that supports Washington State families.
- With clear communication and a unified voice, we apply accepted standards of practice across the continuum of care. Aligning in this way allows WACF’s members to work together more effectively.
Collaborative Community
- Just like the families we support, we thrive when we are working together. Collaboration allows us to utilize the talents and resources of our incredibly diverse community.
- Bringing these perspectives together to address a problem leads to more innovative solutions that represent all Washington families. WACF relies on lively debate, thoughtful discussion, and clear communication practices to ensure that all agencies are heard and acknowledged.
- Through this process, we ensure that we are responding to the unique needs of children and families that work directly with specific member agencies.
Annual Reports
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