Youth

  • Youth Suicide Rates

    One of DCYF’s health goals is for youth to experience positive behavioral and mental health. Trends in mental health over the past decade show an increase in rates of suicide and attempted suicide. Although rates began decreasing after 2021, in 2023 the rate of youth suicide and attempted suicide was still nearly 500% higher than it was ten years prior.

    Rate of Suicide and Suicide Attempts per 100,000 Adolescents Age 10-17, 2013-2023

      Line graph showing the Washington state rate of suicide and suicide attempts per 1000,000 adolescents age 10-17 for the years 2013-2023. The rate climbed steadily from 67 per 100,000 adolescents in 2013 to a peak of 414 per 100,000 in 2021. Between 2022 and 2023 the rate of adolescent suicide and suicide attempts decreased to 321 per 100,000

    Suicide and Suicide Attempts per 100,000 Adolescents Age 10-17, 5 Year Rate, 2019-2023

      Map of Washington state showing the 5-year rate of suicide and suicide attempts, per 100,000 adolescents age 10-17, by county, for 2019-2023. Rates ranged from a low of 56 per 100,000 suicides and suicide attempts in Asotin county to a high of 841 in Spokane county. The King county rate was 326, the Pierce county rate was 382, the Snohomish county rate was 360, and Clark county had 88 suicides and suicide attempts per 100,000 adolescents
     
    Child Outcome Goal
    Mental Health
    Youth

  • Adult Support when Depressed

    In the agency's efforts to improve and support the resilience of children, youth, and families in Washington, DCYF has set a goal that children and youth are supported by healthy relationships with adults. One way to measure this is by tracking the percentage of youth who report having support from adults when they are feeling sad or depressed. Youth who live with their parents/guardians are more likely to report having adult support when sad or depressed than youth who do not live with their parents/guardians.

    10th Graders with Adult Support when Depressed, by Living Situation, 2023

      Bar chart showing percent of 10th graders in 2023 who had adult support when they were depressed, by whether they lived with their parents/guardians. That year, when they were depressed, 59.9% of those who lived with their parents/guardians had adult support, while only 47.5% of those who did not live with their parents/guardians had it
    Child Outcome Goal
    Mental Health
    Youth

  • Extended Foster Care (EFC) Engagement

    The Extended Foster Care program offers young adults leaving foster care the opportunity to voluntarily continue receiving services while transitioning to independence. The additional support provided by EFC services has been linked to improved outcomes in adulthood. Former foster youth can choose to enter or leave EFC at any time during their years of eligibility (ages 18-21). DCYF tracks both initiation of EFC and longer-term utilization of services as a balancing indicator for our support of successful youth transitions. While the number of eligible young adults has decreased over the past five years, resulting from smaller numbers of children and youth in out-of-home care more broadly, the percentage of eligible young adults who initiate and utilize EFC services has consistently increased over the same time period.

    READ THE OIAA DATASHEET ON ANNUAL EXTENDED FOSTER CARE ENGAGEMENT RATES

    READ THE EFC REPORT FROM THE RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYSIS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

    Extended Foster Care Engagement among Former Foster Youth (Ages 18-21), State Fiscal Years 2021-2025

      Combination column chart and line graph showing percentages of eligible former foster youth who initiate extended foster care (EFC), utilize it, or do not engage at all with it, and the count of eligible young adults. Across all five years, the utilization rate of EFC is within 2 percentage points of the initiation rate. While the raw eligibility numbers have decreased each year, resulting from fewer children and youth in out-of-home care each year, the percent of eligible former foster youth who initiate and utilize EFC has grown each year, and the percent who do not engage at all with services has decreased each year. In state fiscal year 2025, 96% of the eligible population initiated EFC services, receiving them for one day or more since turning 18, 94% utilized EFC services, receiving them for at least 6 months since turning 18, and only 4% of eligible former foster youth did not engage at all with EFC
     
    Child Welfare
    Strategic Priority Balancing Indicator
    Youth

  • Employment After Foster Care

    Between 2017 and 2023, the gap between employment rates for young adults who have experienced foster care and those who have not, remained fairly consistent in Washington State. During the same time period however, the gap in median earnings between the two groups widened, and that increase cannot be attributed to differences in number of hours worked. Longitudinal analysis shows that over time, while the employment gap remains steady, the gap in median earnings continues to increase. It is widest for people without post-secondary education credentials, and narrowest for those with four-year post-secondary credentials, but the earnings gap between people who have experienced foster care and those who have not persists across all levels of educational attainment.

    Read the Education Research and Data Center (ERDC) Report

    Employment Among 2017 Cohort of Young Adults, by Former Foster Status, 2017-2023

      Line graph showing employment rates from 2017-2023 for a cohort of young adults who turned 18 in 2017, by former foster status. Employment rates declined during those years for both those who had experienced foster care and those who had not, with a persistent gap of about 11 percentage points. In 2017, when they were 18 years old, 56% of the former foster youth had employment, compared to 68% of those who had not experienced foster care. By 2023, when they were 23 years old, 51% of the former foster youth had employment, compared to 62% of those who had not experienced foster care.
     
    Child Welfare
    Strategic Priority Outcome
    Youth

  • High School Graduation of Youth in Foster Care

    One of DCYF’s strategic priorities is that we create successful transitions to adulthood for youth and young adults in our care. Graduation from high school is an outcome indicator for this priority. Statewide, the 2023 four year graduating cohort included 85,306 students, 84% of whom graduated on time. In most years, an additional 2-3 percent of the class have graduated by the end of their fifth year. Among that 2023 cohort, 552 youth were indicated as having been in foster care. Youth who have not been in foster care graduated at the rate of the overall class, whereas 53% of youth who had been in foster care graduated on time.

    VIEW THE Washington State Education REPORT CARD Dashboard

    Four Year Graduation Rate, by Foster Care Status, Classes of 2013-2023

      graph
     
    Child Welfare
    Strategic Priority Balancing Indicator
    Strategic Priority Outcome
    Youth

  • Housing Instability

    Housing instability is a balancing indicator for our outcomes related to creating successful transitions to adulthood. Youth and young adults who exit the foster care system without being placed into a permanent family through reunification, adoption, or guardianship are often referred to as "aging out" of foster care. These youth are at higher risk of becoming homeless or unstably housed than those who have a family to support them at this critical life transition. Across the past five years, within 12 months of leaving care, 16% of former foster youth experienced an episode of housing instability or homelessness.

    Analysis has also been done about the housing instability of youth and young adults (ages 12 to 25) who are released from a Juvenile Rehabilitation institution. Until 2021, the rate of homelessness for youth and young adults leaving Juvenile Rehabilitation institutions has largely mirrored those of former foster youth. In the most recent years however, new programs and resources have reduced homelessness among former foster youth, while rates of homelessness among youth and young adults leaving JR have changed very little. Across the past five years, 21% experienced an episode of housing instability or homelessness within 12 months of discharge.

    VIEW THE REPORT FROM THE RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYSIS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

    Homelessness Among Former Foster Youth (Ages 18-24) within 12 Months of Leaving Foster Care, 2018-2022

      Stacked, 100% column chart showing proportions of homelessness among former foster youth, ages 18-24, within 12 months of leaving foster care, for the years 2018-2022. Over the past five years, homelessness rates among former foster youth have declined, most notably beginning in 2021. The proportion experiencing homelessness was 22% in 2018, 19% in both 2019 and 2020, 12% in 2021, and 13% in 2022.

    Homelessness Among Youth and Young Adults (Ages 12-24) within 12 Months of Leaving Juvenile Rehabilitation, 2017-2023

      graph
    Child Welfare
    Strategic Priority Balancing Indicator
    Youth

  • Youth Depression

    The Healthy Youth Survey asks youth whether, over the past year, they ever felt so sad or hopeless, almost every day for two weeks or more in a row, that they stopped doing some of their usual activities. Results show that youth who live with their parents/guardians are less likely to report having been depressed than youth not living with their parents/guardians.

    10th Graders Reporting Depression, by Living Situation, 2023

      Bar chart showing percent of 10th graders in 2023 who had been depressed in the past year, by whether they lived with their parents/guardians. That year, 29.2% of those who lived with their parents/guardians had been depressed, while 47.7% of those who did not live with their parents/guardians had been depressed
    Child Outcome Goal
    Child Welfare
    Mental Health
    Youth

  • High School Graduation

    DCYF’s third outcome goal related to education is that high school students graduate on time. Among 85,306 high school students in the 2023 cohort, 71,329 (84%) graduated on time.

    Among that 2023 cohort, about half (45,070) are indicated as low-income students. Non-low-income students graduated at a rate of 91%. By comparison, 77% of low-income students graduated on time.

    View the Washington State Education Report Card Dashboard

    Four Year Graduation Rate, by Income Group, School Years 2013-2023

      Combination clustered column chart and line graph comparing the four-year high school graduation rates of low-income and non-low-income students to the overall state rate, for the school years 2013-2023. Graduation rates for both income groups and the overall state rate have increased over the past ten years. For non-low-income students, the four-year graduation rate has increased from 88% in 2013-2014 to 91% in 2023-2024. For low-income students, the rate has increased from 66% to 76% over those years, while the overall four-year graduation rate rose from 77% to 83%
     
    Child Outcome Goal
    Youth