DCYF Recognized as National Leader in Performance-Based Contracting

November 23, 2021
Group of people holding hands up in triumph against the sky.

To improve outcomes and eliminate disparities, DCYF has been working diligently to shift its entire contracted client services portfolio to performance-based contracts (PBC), a key priority in the agency’s Strategic and Racial Equity Plan. To date, we have successfully initiated the shift in more than 70% of our agency portfolio, which includes more than 1,000 contracts that invest approximately $1 billion each biennium in services to children, youth, and families.

“That’s an incredible shift in the way we do business in our contracting – to actually make sure that we’re getting our bang for our buck when we make an investment in these really crucial services,” said Gov. Inslee in his opening remarks during the 2021 Washington State Government Lean Transformation Conference. “[DCYF] is the leading agency in the United States in the use of PBC, and it happened because people were willing to change the way we do business...That’s not an easy thing to do systemically. Congratulations to [DCYF]!”

Once the project is complete, DCYF will become the first state agency of its kind in the country to shift its entire portfolio to outcomes-oriented PBC. You can watch Gov. Inslee’s opening statements and learn more about PBC on the DCYF website.