Strengthening Families Washington

Strengthening Families Washington is an initiative within the Department of Early Learning (DEL) that focuses on helping families:

Strengthen family bonds
Understand childhood development
Cope with the challenge of parenting
Develop positive discipline skills

By reaching out to parents and encircling them with support, we can help strengthen families, which protects children and builds stronger communities overall. Preventing child abuse and neglect is an important way to promote healthy child and family development.

House Bill 1965, passed during the 2011 legislative session, transferred the Council for Children & Families to DEL. We now call this work Strengthening Families Washington.

Strengthening Families Washington is funded by the state’s general fund, the federal Community Based Child Abuse Prevention program, the Children’s Trust fund and private donations.

New Funding Opportunity

Strengthening Families Washington wants to work with local communities to increase program capacity to institute and expand the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework for children ages birth through 5. The Department of Early Learning requested Letters of Interest from Washington organizations that are engaged in child abuse prevention activities. The selected programs will be announced in early May 2013.

Child Abuse Prevention Month

Each April, people across the country join together during National Child Abuse Prevention Month to raise awareness and promote ways we can strengthen families in our communities. Strengthening Families Washington is the state chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America, the nation’s leading organization working solely to prevent the abuse and neglect of our nation’s children.

View photos from DEL's Pinwheels for Prevention campaign.