Welcome

Welcome to the Community Compensation page!  We are excited to share important information about how to engage with communities across Washington State. Community members play a significant role in shaping public policy, and now Washington has a way to provide compensation to our valued volunteers.  
At the heart of this platform is Senate Bill 5793 (SB 5793), the innovative legislation that directs state agencies to compensate individuals who participate in state-hosted workgroups and have been left out of policy discussions. This includes those impacted by the foster care system, housing insecurity, and the justice system. We deeply value the insights of individuals who have direct experience with the various challenges, as they offer critical perspectives on how state policies impact real lives.  

To navigate the new community compensation website, use the menu on the left, which features drop-downs for major guideline topics. Feel free to explore the new layout, and if you have any questions, you can reach out to us via email -  LivedExperience@equity.wa.gov 
 

If you're a program manager or workgroup facilitator and are wanting to submit a new allocation request or quarterly report, please go to the Community Compensation Forms Center.

If you're a community member that is volunteering on a workgroup, please use the link below to fill out the demographics form and the feedback form. We want to hear from you!

Important Update for Community Compensation Allocation Funding Requests 

 We are thrilled to share that we have received more requests for funding than we have dollars available for Community Compensation!

This is a testament to our state’s commitment to valuing the expertise of our community members when they participate in state workgroups. It is also because of the diligence of our state agencies in developing the processes and procedures, in accordance with ESSB 5793, for paying community members who provide us with their expertise.

Because we received requests for more dollars than we have funding for, we have developed a process for approving funding based on the intent of the legislation and the original request to the legislature for the funding.

Below describes our prioritization:

• Small* agencies (size), legislatively required work, and class one workgroups: Funded at 100%
• Mid-sized* agencies (size): Funded at 50%
• Large* agencies (size): Funded at 50%

In the future, we do plan to request additional funds from the legislature to meet the growing demand.

If you have any questions regarding our process, please reach out to us via email at LivedExperience@equity.wa.gov.

Navigate this plan via the menu to the left, or download the PDF here.