Do you have a child in your family who is a budding artist or photographer, craving to get their creative work out into the world? Division of Child Support’s 2022 Children’s Art Contest could be that next opportunity for your talented little one to stretch their creative muscle. In celebration…

Unpaid caregiving accounts for 85% of all elder care in the United States, and the bulk of unpaid or informal caregiving roles are taken on by women. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this long-standing gap, taking and keeping women out of the workforce, lessening their economic opportunity and making…

Third round of P-EBT to start arriving late-July for Summer 2022, kids under age 6 and school-aged kids Contact: Norah West, DSHS Media Relations, 360–489–5587 OLYMPIA — Thanks to federal COVID-19 relief funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, many families in Washington state will soon have another round of…

One of the key actions outlined in the DSHS Truth, Social Justice and Anti-Racism three-year Action Plan details an effort to foster an environment for brave conversations and to embrace the discomfort. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Administrator John Levi is now at the center of this environment at Eastern State…

Contact: Chris Wright chris.wright@dshs.wa.gov OLYMPIA — Did you know LGBTQ+ older adults make up 2.7 million of our country’s aging population, a number that’s expected to double by 2030? Older LGBTQ+ people are less likely than their non-LGBTQ+ peers to have children and more likely to take on informal, unpaid…

The column below is from Karen Pitman, a DSHS nurse who is retiring this month. One of the best things about May is that it is the month set aside to honor nurses. According to the latest annual Gallup rating of various professions, nurses lead the nation in ratings for…

June is Adult Abuse Awareness Month Contact: Chris Wright chris.wright@dshs.wa.gov (360) 628–1043 OLYMPIA — Adult Protective Services, a division of the Department of Social and Health Services, received more than 66,600 reports of vulnerable adult abandonment, abuse, neglect, financial exploitation and self-neglect in 2021. Reports to APS have more than…

A 911 call on May 18 led to the Special Commitment Center Fire Department rescuing two young brothers stranded on a sailboat in Puget Sound. Although the day started off windy, when the wind calmed down the 17- and 10​-year-old boys decided to go sailing. When they got about a…

In honor of Nurses Month, we’ve been sharing stories from nurses throughout the Department of Social and Health Services. Please consider taking time to #ThankANurse this month. A couple of nurses from our Behavioral Health Administration were gracious enough with their time to answer a few questions we had about…