Since the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) was formed in 2017, it has nearly cut the number of children in out-of-home care in half. In 2018, there were 9,171 children placed outside their homes, while this year that has shrunk to 4,971 out-of-home placements. This is largely due to the department's Thriving Families Initiative, which aims to provide support for families so children can remain home. "We know that supporting and collaborating with families by providing access to services and programs increases their number of protective factors, leading to better outcomes," DCYF Assistant Secretary Natalie Green said in an Aug. 14 news release. "Giving families the tools they need to thrive and safely parent means more children and youth remain safely at home." While placements in foster care or group homes have decreased significantly, the number of child abuse and neglect complaints — about 93,000 in 2018 and 92,000 in 2023 — received by DCYF has not significantly changed. (COLTON RASANEN)
RUBÉN TREJO HONORED
Spokane's first stand-alone language immersion program will start the school year with a new name: the Rubén Trejo Dual Language Academy. The highly respected and loved Mexican-American sculptor died in 2009, but left a lasting legacy as an educator, artist and Latino advocate. The Spokane Public Schools board approved the new name honoring Trejo on Aug. 14. Before the vote, SPS Board President Nikki Otero Lockwood shared how Trejo impacted her academic journey at Eastern Washington University, where he advocated for her financial assistance. "I do have a huge, profound sense of gratitude for him and feel very honored to be voting for this tonight," Otero Lockwood said. Trejo advocated establishing the Chicana/o/x Studies program at Eastern in 1977, with a mission to create a better understanding of Latino heritage and culture and enhance first-generation participation in higher education. That legacy will continue at the Rubén Trejo Dual Language Academy, which was founded in 2017 as the Spokane Public Language Immersion Academy. The school has expanded by one grade each year, and currently teaches kindergarten to seventh grade, with an expected enrollment of 295 students this September. (VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ)
HERE COMES THE CHIEF
Spokane's new police chief will start slightly sooner than expected. On Monday, the City Council voted to approve Mayor Lisa Brown's appointment of Kevin Hall as Spokane's next police chief, with a start date of Aug. 26. Hall, who is leaving his current role as assistant police chief in Tucson, Arizona, will make $247,804 a year — that's more than Brown, who makes $179,148, and the same as former Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl, who announced his plans to retire shortly after Brown was elected in November 2023. Hall was selected from a nationwide search. "It always remains to be seen, but I really think we got the right choice," City Council member Michael Cathcart said on Aug. 19. Anwar Peace, who has spent decades as a police accountability advocate in Spokane, said Monday that during interviews Hall impressed him with his innovative approaches to community-based violent crime responses, alternative staff and response models, and budgeting. "Chief Hall will have his work cut out for him," Peace said, noting that Spokane has an unusually high rate of police shootings. Peace hopes Hall will become the "change agent that has been desperately needed in order to drag this department into 21st century policing." (NATE SANFORD) ♦
