Washington CPS Case Lookup: DCYF Records and CAN History Checks

A CPS case lookup in Washington is not a public database search. State law keeps Child Protective Services records confidential, so what you can retrieve depends on who you are. If you need to know whether someone has a founded finding of child abuse or neglect, you request a Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) History Check through the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) for $20. If you are the child, a parent or guardian, or their attorney and you want the actual case file, you submit a written public records request to DCYF.¹

The Two Kinds of Lookups

Mixing these up is the most common reason requests get denied or come back empty.

A CAN History Check is a background screen. It returns one piece of information: whether the named person has a founded finding of child abuse or neglect on record with DCYF. It does not include unfounded or inconclusive findings, investigation narratives, witness statements, or case notes. Employers, child-placing agencies, and adoption agencies use it, and individuals can request their own. The fee is $20 per person, and you submit the request through DCYF’s online Background Check Portal or by mailing a paper form with a check or money order payable to DCYF.²

A full case record request is different. These records can include investigation reports, assessments, service plans, and other documents gathered during a CPS case. Access is tightly limited by RCW 13.50.100, and you must fall into one of the categories the statute allows.¹

Who Can Get a Full Case Record

RCW 13.50.100 grants access on request to the child who is the subject of the records, the child’s parents or guardians, and the attorneys for the child or parents. Parties to a dependency or termination-of-parental-rights proceeding, their counsel, and any appointed guardian ad litem also qualify. DCYF may share records with law enforcement, courts, and other state agencies when needed to administer justice or deliver services to the child or family.³

Even for qualifying family members, DCYF can withhold records if release would likely cause severe psychological or physical harm to the child or parents. The agency can also withhold records from voluntary counseling or medical services the juvenile sought on their own and had a legal right to receive without parental consent.¹

If you believe records about you exist but you do not fit any of the authorized categories, you can file a motion in court asking for access. The court will grant it unless the interests of justice or the child’s best interests require continued confidentiality. If access is wrongfully denied and you later prevail on appeal, the statute entitles you to attorneys’ fees, costs, and a penalty of $5 to $100 for each day access was denied.¹

How to Request Case Records from DCYF

Send a written request to the DCYF Public Records Officer. The agency accepts requests by mail, email, fax, phone, or in person:⁴

Mail: DCYF Public Records Officer, PO Box 40992, Olympia, WA 98504-0992
Email: dcyf.publicdisclosure@dcyf.wa.gov
Phone: (360) 407-5520 or toll-free 1-844-506-8375
In person: 1500 Jefferson St SE, Olympia, WA 98501

You can also drop a request off at any local DCYF office. Use the DCYF Request for Records form or write your own letter. Be specific. A request for “everything in my file” takes longer to fulfill than one that names a date range, a type of record, or a particular investigation. Include enough identifying detail to locate the file: full names of the children and adults involved, dates of birth, and approximate dates of the CPS contact.

What to Include with Your Request

DCYF has to verify your identity and your right to access the records. What you provide depends on your role.

Parents or guardians: a government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport.
Attorneys: proof of bar membership and documentation showing you represent the child or parent, such as a signed retainer or court appointment order.
Parties in dependency or termination proceedings: a copy of the court filing establishing your party status.
Anyone with a court order granting access: a certified copy of that order.

If you are mailing your request and cannot send a copy of your ID, a notarized statement verifying your identity is an acceptable substitute.

Response Times and Redactions

Under Washington’s Public Records Act, agencies must respond within five business days of receiving a request. That response can take three forms: providing the records, denying the request with an explanation, or acknowledging the request and giving you an estimated timeline.⁵ The five-day clock is for the initial response, not for delivery. Complex case files can take weeks to produce.

Expect redactions. Even when you are entitled to your own case records, DCYF will remove the name and identifying information of anyone who reported the alleged abuse or neglect. The statute specifically authorizes this.¹ It aligns with the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, which gives states broad authority to protect reporter identities. A court can override the redaction only after reviewing the records in private and finding reason to believe the reporter knowingly made a false report.⁶

How Long Records Exist

Older cases may no longer be on file. Washington law sets destruction schedules based on how an investigation ended:⁷

Screened-out reports, meaning allegations that never became a full investigation, are destroyed three years after receipt.
Unfounded or inconclusive reports are destroyed six years after the investigation closes, unless there is a prior or later founded report involving the same child, a sibling, or a parent or guardian. If a related founded report exists, the unfounded records are kept.
Founded reports are retained indefinitely under DCYF’s retention policies.

Washington stopped issuing “inconclusive” findings on October 1, 2008, but records that carry that older designation follow the six-year destruction rule.⁸ If you are looking for a decade-old unfounded case, there is a real chance it no longer exists.

What a CAN History Check Will and Won’t Show

Because CAN History Checks are the lookup most employers and agencies run, it helps to understand their limits. The check returns founded findings only. Unfounded allegations do not appear, and under RCW 13.50.100 no unfounded allegation may be disclosed to a child-placing agency, private adoption agency, or any other licensed provider.¹ If you were investigated and the finding was unfounded, that result should not surface on a background check.

Federal law reinforces this. CAPTA requires states to promptly expunge unsubstantiated reports from any records available to the public or used for employment background checks. States can keep unsubstantiated reports in internal casework files for future risk assessments, but they cannot treat an unfounded allegation the same as a founded one when responding to a background inquiry.

A founded finding, by contrast, goes into Washington’s central registry and will appear in CAN History Checks run by employers, adoption agencies, and child care licensing bodies for as long as the record exists.⁹ If one shows up and you believe it is wrong, that is a separate process from a records lookup; DCYF notifies people of founded findings in writing, and the appeal deadline is 30 days from the date you receive the notice letter.¹⁰

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington State Code 13.50.100 – Records Not Relating to Commission of Juvenile Offenses
2
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) History Checks
3
Child Welfare Information Gateway. Disclosure of Confidential Child Abuse and Neglect Records – Washington
4
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Request Public Records
5
Washington State Legislature. WAC 44-06-085 – Response to Public Records Act Requests
6
Administration for Children and Families. Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
7
Washington State Legislature. Washington State Code 26.44.031 – Records Maintenance and Disclosure
8
Washington State Legislature. WAC 110-30-0210
9
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Washington State Child Abuse and Neglect Founded Findings
10
Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Child Protective Services (CPS) Investigations