About the Dependency Dashboard
The State of Washington has long recognized the importance of reflection, accountability and continuous improvement in its child welfare court system. Since 2007, RCW 13.34.820External link - opens in a new window has required mandated dependency reporting statewide.
To meet this legislative requirement, AOC and the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) have maintained a series of data sharing agreements (DSAs), typically renewed every two to three years, with the most recent agreement ending in June 2025. Through these agreements, researchers at the WSCCR merge data from DCYF’s FAMLINK system with court data to produce the dependency reports mandated under RCW 13.34.820External link - opens in a new window.
For many years, WSCCR fulfilled this mandate through paper-based timeliness reports on dependency cases. These reports created a strong foundation of transparency and accountability across counties and helped courts and child welfare partners assess progress toward permanency for children.
Over time, WSCCR transitioned from paper-based to electronic reporting, culminating in the current public, interactive Dependency Dashboard. This dashboard transforms what was once a slow, manual reporting process into an accessible, user-friendly tool for judges, courts, agencies, researchers and community partners. Users can explore current and historical dependency data by county, view trends over time, and see detailed measures of court timeliness and outcomes.
Dependency Timeliness DashboardDashboard Features and Capabilities
The Dashboard Offers:
- Monthly and quarterly updates to ensure fresh and relevant data
- County-level detail and statewide views, including case filings, dismissal rates and timeliness metrics
- Interactive tools, such as clickable maps and sortable charts, allowing users to explore data visually and dynamically
- Race and ethnicity breakdowns for children in dependency cases to support equity analyses and accountability
- Historical context and trends, allowing users to compare current performance to past years, thus providing insights into how practice, policy or resource changes may correlate with shifts in outcomes.
WSCCR hopes the Dependency Dashboard will become a frequently used resource for tracking court performance, evaluating reforms and understanding how Washington’s dependency system operates over time.
If you have questions, ideas for improvements or want help interpreting the data, please reach out. WSCCR is committed to building this tool and growing it together with our partners.
Dashboard and Resources
Contact Us
For more information, contact Marissa Ogren.
