Celebrate the Help Me Grow WA network and learn about progress made on several of the strategic initiatives in the Help Me Grow WA Strategic Plan.

The Help Me Grow WA Network

The Help Me Grow Washington Network is made up of organizations and local champions for healthy child development and, along with support from the Help Me Grow Washington state affiliate, WithinReach, are responsible for the implementation of Help Me Grow locally.

Help Me Grow Skagit

We are honored to celebrate and recognize Jennifer Sass‑Walton for her remarkable contributions to the Help Me Grow Washington network. Jennifer has been a pillar of early childhood systems coordination and a dedicated advocate for system‑building across Washington. Skagit County became a local affiliate in 2019, and her leadership has shaped HMG Skagit’s implementation and influenced work far beyond her local community. The Help Me Grow Skagit system is an incredible example of locally led work that weaves resources from regional, state, and national partners. 

Jennifer has been a steady champion—bringing deep expertise, thoughtful partnership, and a continual drive to elevate our collective efforts. She has a gift for blending strong systems thinking with warmth, humor, and genuine collaboration. 



As Jennifer steps into retirement, please join us in celebrating her legacy and the incredible impact she has made across the Help Me Grow WA network. We are deeply grateful for the knowledge, passion, and partnership she has shared with all of us. 

The Help Me Grow Skagit Fund at the Skagit Community Foundation was created to ensure the long-term vitality of this coordinated system of support. The fund provides a charitable pathway for community members, donors, and partners to invest in the ongoing work of the Children’s Council and Help Me Grow Skagit: supporting collaboration, resource navigation, and early-childhood services across the county. 

Contributions to the fund help sustain local coordination, strengthen partnerships across agencies, and expand the accessibility of the support network available to young children and their families. 

Help Me Grow Grays Harbor

We’re thrilled to officially welcome HMG Grays Harbor to the Help Me Grow WA network! The Grays Harbor team has been incredibly thoughtful and engaged as they’ve explored the HMG model, and we’re delighted to celebrate this next step as they begin implementing HMG locally. Their leadership, energy, and commitment to families shine through in all they do. We can’t wait to grow this partnership together!

Help Me Grow King County

We’re excited to share the new Help Me Grow King County website!  

Take a look to learn more about how HMG King County is structured and the supports available to families.  

Help Me Grow Statewide Coordinated Access Point (CAP)

In response to the flooding and power outages, Help Me Grow WA equipped our Resource Navigators with info to help impacted SNAP recipients know their options to apply for food replacement:  Similar to our approach with the Federal Shutdown, we also embedded a link on our HMG WA webpage that pointed folks to a list of helpful resources to turn to if they were impacted by the flooding. Finally, we primed folks about Disaster Cash Assistance Program while those limited funds were available to folks in our state. 

Establish New Partnerships

WithinReach is starting a new partnership with the Washington State Medical Association(WSMA). Thanks to grant funding from the Physicians’ Foundation Drivers of Health, WithinReach will be partnering with WSMA on initiatives that improve physician and physician assistants’ ability to connect their patients with food security resources. This partnership will include professional development opportunities for physicians, a leadership development conference, and the recruitment, training, and onboarding of new clinics so that they can refer to Help Me Grow for food supports and more. This project launches in January and is expected to run through the rest of the calendar year. 

Develop Specialized Referral Pathways

We’re happy to share that Help Me Grow WA has launched a new section on our website just for Early Care and Education (ECE) Providers.  

This new page brings together helpful information about the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, our ASQ partnership program, and ways to connect families to early support services for infants and toddlers. You’ll also find parent resources and practical tools designed to support caregivers and ECE providers in tracking children’s development and sharing meaningful information with families.  



We’re really energized about this new addition and the opportunities it creates to work more closely with providers across the state. 

If you’re an ECE provider and are interested in joining the ASQ Online project, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to fill out our interest form and a member of our team will reach out. 

Coordinate Funding & Advocacy Efforts 

The 2026 legislative session kicked off on January 12^th. This session is the second year of the two-year biennium referred to as the “short session” when legislators traditionally pass supplemental budget that makes adjustments to the full two-year budget passed last session. They also can consider bills that didn’t pass in the first year of the biennium and introduce new proposals for consideration. We are already approaching the first cutoff of session, so things are moving really fast. Session is scheduled to end on March 12^th.

Some of the top issues the legislature is grappling with this year include the significant operating budget shortfall and impacts of federal changes on health care, food security, housing programs, and more.

In light of the challenging budget landscape, our top priority this session for Help Me Grow is to maintain the progress we’ve made. Our primary ask is to maintain existing state funding that supports our Help Me Grow system. But we also know that Help Me Grow is most effective when there is a robust web of programs and services for us to connect families to. With that in mind, we are equally focused on protecting programs and services that support healthy, safe, and strong households including those that support health care, behavioral health, food security, child development, early learning, public health, and economic security.

There are additional efforts in the early childhood space we are advocating in support of, many of which are captured in the Prenatal-to-Three Shared Legislative Agenda. 

Implement Special Projects Funding

The Help Me Grow WA Network received $100,000 in new funding to strengthen and invest in local communities exploring or implementing a Help Me Grow system at the local level. This investment is funded by the federal Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five (PDG B-5), of which the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) has been a recipient since 2018. Five communities received funding through this opportunity, which include HMG Island, HMG Skagit, HMG Grays Harbor, Whatcom, and San Juan counties. Funds will advance their local Help Me Grow work and align with both the Help Me Grow WA strategic plan and PDG B-5 priorities. 

Establish Governance Model

2025 was a fruitful year for Help Me Grow WA! We launched our new advisory Stewardship Council, welcomed new liaisons from family support organizations across Washington, learned about Targeted Universalism and tracked Help Me Grow WA’s progress on several strategic initiatives. Survey feedback shows that Stewardship Council members are gaining clarity about their role in supporting Help Me Grow WA’s statewide work.  

In 2026, we’ll continue building shared understanding of the network, monitoring progress, and welcoming liaisons with expertise in tribal partnerships, developmental screening, and home visiting. We’re also making steady progress on strengthening pathways for Family Voice, ensuring families’ experiences guide how Help Me Grow WA evolves.  

Resources to Share

• Help us share this opportunity with families! Receive text messages to help your parenting journey. We cover it all: tantrums, nutrition, brain-building activities, local events, and more! Signing up for Lantern is easy – text KIDSWA to 274 448.

• Have you seen the agenda? You're invited to the 2026 Washington State Immunization Summit hosted by WithinReach in partnership with Washington State Department of Health and Immunization Action Coalition of Washington on Thursday, March 19, 2026 at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center (or online!). Register now!

Send along ideas and resources for the Help Me Grow Washington website and future newsletters by emailing Help Me Grow WA.

STAY CONNECTED WITH US

You are on this list as someone we think would be interested in partner updates about Help Me Grow Washington. Feel free to unsubscribe any time at the link below.