State to study department for children’s programs

OLYMPIA – Washington should have a department dedicated solely to programs for children, Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday.

Resurrecting an idea that has been tried unsuccessfully at least three times over the past 28 years, Inslee signed an order to create a special commission to study how a cabinet-level Department of Children’s Services might be set up, how much it would cost and what programs should come under its umbrella. The commission is to report by November, so the 2017 Legislature could take up the proposal.

Legislators and other state officials have suggested a similar department in the 1980s, 1990s and early in this century. Inslee said he was a skeptic himself when the idea was brought up again because “I don’t believe in just changing boxes” but became convinced a separate department could provide greater accountability and visibility while advancing children’s priorities.

To emphasize the point, he signed the executive order surrounded by youngsters and with one toddler on his lap.

A Senate Republican later called the order an “empty gesture” at a time when state agencies are failing children. “When you don’t know what to do, you announce a study,” Sen. Mark Miloscia, R-Federal Way, said in a press release.