Child and Family Research Unit.
The Child and Family Research Unit (CAFRU) is a part of the Washington State University (WSU) extension, and works to address the public health challenge of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and resulting trauma by creating, promoting, and sustaining trauma-informed models of practice.

2015 "No School Alone" Report.
In 2014, legislation was enacted to direct the Education Resource and Data Center to contract with the WSU extension to conduct a geographic analysis to identify areas where family factors such as employment and health status correlated with academic and behavioral indicators of student success.  The report, entitled "No School Alone:  How Community Risks and Assets Contribute to School and Youth Success", was published by CAFRU (then the Area Health Education Center) in 2015.

The report uses as its unit of analysis locales, which are school districts or groups of school districts.  The report addresses: 

• the prevalence of family and community health, safety, and stability factors relevant to student success;
• the identification of resilience factors correlated with improved population outcomes even in populations with family, health, safety, and stability challenges;
• the identification of key community factors that can influence academic success and youth development, such as the severity of ACEs reported by adults, the poverty level in the school communities, and differences in school size and ethnic diversity;
• the value of using existing data sources as a framework to identify and track community factors; and
• the implications of the findings for policy targeted at improving kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) or post-secondary outcomes.

The report included eight recommendations, for example:

• investing in expanding public awareness of the scope and consequences of ACEs and trauma, including supporting educators and educating parents on the impact of trauma;
• creating robust local partnerships between schools and communities to integrate understanding of ACEs and trauma into strategies for prevention and intervention; and
• sustaining efforts to address the impact of poverty on communities and schools by integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) practices into schools' academic mission, and increasing access to trauma-informed early intervention and treatment resources for vulnerable students and families.  

Social-Emotional Learning.
Social-emotional learning helps students build awareness and skills in managing emotions, setting goals, establishing relationships, and making responsible decisions that support success in school and life.

In 2019, legislation was enacted that directed the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to adopt SEL benchmarks and standards and created the Social Emotional Learning Committee (Committee).  The Committee was directed to develop a trauma-informed, culturally sustaining and developmentally appropriate statewide SEL framework, and identify best practices for schools implementing the SEL framework.  Students in kindergarten through grade three must receive instruction in SEL.

COVID-19 Pandemic.
In 2020, the Governor prohibited most schools from conducting in-person educational, recreational, and other K-12 school programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In March 2021, the Governor issued an emergency proclamation noting that Washington children and youth are experiencing a mental and behavioral health crisis as a result of the pandemic, exacerbated by isolation and difficulty engaging with remote learning.

The Education Resource and Data Center must contract with the Children and Family Research Unit to produce two reports for the Legislature.  The first report must be completed by December 1, 2022, and must:

• summarize new educational services and related academic and nonacademic supports offered by public schools and accessed by elementary and secondary students and their families since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic;
• describe where and how social-emotional learning standards and benchmarks are being implemented in public schools; and
• recommend educational programs, services, and related academic and nonacademic supports that are shown through evidence to increase student educational outcomes, including changes to state laws to make use of best practices more consistent across the state.

The second report must be completed by December 1, 2023.  It must update the analysis conducted for the 2015 report, including the geographic analysis and, where possible, highlight the same school districts highlighted in the earlier report. It must also disaggregate student data by several dimensions including race, low-income status, and special education status.