The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), in consultation with the Attorney General's Office and the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), is directed by statute to compile an annual report providing information about cases that fail to meet statutory guidelines to achieve permanency for dependent children.? This report is submitted to the Legislature and a representative of the Foster Parent Association of Washington State on December 1st of each year.

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The annual report also includes information about whether foster parents received timely notification of dependency hearings as required by statute, and whether caregivers submitted reports to the court.

Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the AOC is to, in consultation with others, identify measures of relational permanency and child well-being and must report to the Legislature by July 1, 2025, in compliance with state law, the following information:

• a plan for reporting on child well-being and relational permanency;
• a plan for tracking and reporting on whether an order or portion of an order was agreed or contested, and if contested, by which party or parties;
• how to make such information publicly available;
• what can be reported using existing data;
• what additional information should be collected;
• what data-sharing agreements are necessary to ensure an accurate picture of the needs of families in the dependency system; and
• how many children in dependency have incarcerated parents.

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When making these determinations,?the AOC must consult with representatives who have knowledge of data collection systems from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Health Care Authority (HCA), DCYF, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), the Department of Corrections (DOC), tribal data experts, and any other entity holding relevant data or expertise.?

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To collect data necessary to evaluate the relational permanency and well-being of dependent children, the AOC may execute data-sharing agreements with OSPI, HCA, DCYF, DOC, and DSHS.