OLYMPIA -- The state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and the Braam Oversight Panel have made significant progress in negotiating a practical compliance plan that will improve foster care as well as help ongoing efforts to reform Washington's child welfare system.

The compliance plan is in response to the panel's March Monitoring Report. The biannual monitoring report tracks the state's efforts to improve the lives of children in foster care. The reports are required as part of the 2004 Braam Settlement Agreement.

"We greatly appreciate the collaborative working relationship that has developed between department staff and the panel," said Cheryl Stephani, assistant secretary for the DSHS Children's Administration. "Although we are disappointed that the panel did not accept certain elements of three of our compliance proposals, we recognize the complexity of the panel's work.

"The compliance plan speaks to our commitment to improve foster care as part of our continued efforts to make major reforms in Washington's child welfare system," she said.

Department officials have worked with panel members over the summer to agree on a plan that addresses noncompliance issues outlined in the monitoring report.

Of the 32 "action steps" that the panel said were out of compliance in the March report, only three remain as issues. The panel outlined what steps the department needs to take to be considered in compliance.

The three issues are:

1. Develop and implement a policy to provide emergency respite to licensed foster care and relative caregivers.

2. Develop a plan to reduce caseloads to COA (Council on Accreditation) standards, which is about 1:18 for social workers who have foster kids on their caseload. Average caseloads are currently about 1:23.

3. Increase contact between social workers and family, child and caregivers at least once every 30 days.

While the compliance report contains specific actions the department must take to be in compliance, the panel did recognize that substantial progress has been made with budget limitations in steps two and three.

Regarding step one, the panel maintained that budget restraints should not be a reason for limiting emergency respite care.

The department has received initial budget funding to hire more staff to accomplish the 30-day visits beginning with the most vulnerable population, which is children who live with their parents, but are in the care of the DSHS.

Nearly 47 percent of those children received 30-day visits from their social workers in July, according to the latest data available. The department expects the July number to increase as more documentation becomes available.

Before the department can decide upon its next steps regarding the three rejected proposals, it must seek legal advice because the settlement does not explicitly address that situation.

"It is important to remember that the department is responsible for a large group of children receiving services, the panel's charge and focus is on a smaller subset of those children," she said.