BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to teen pregnancy prevention; adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; creating a new section; making appropriations; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. FINDINGS AND STATE POLICY. (1) The legislature finds that:

(a) Each year in Washington approximately fifteen thousand teenage girls become pregnant;

(b) The public cost of adolescent pregnancy is substantial. Eighty percent of teen prenatal care and deliveries are publicly funded. Over fifty percent of the women on public assistance became mothers as teenagers; and

(c) The personal costs of adolescent pregnancy can be socially and economically overwhelming. These too young mothers are often unable to finish high school. Their economic potential is diminished, their probability of dependence on public assistance increases, and their children are more likely to grow up in poverty. The cycle of teen mothers raising children in poverty jeopardizes their future educational opportunity and economic viability of future generations.

(2) The legislature therefore declares that in the interest of health, welfare, and economics, it is the policy of the state to reduce the incidence of unplanned teen pregnancy. To reduce the rate of teen pregnancy in Washington, the legislature hereby:

(a) Establishes four-year projects to prevent teen pregnancy;

(b) Initiates a teen pregnancy prevention media campaign;

(d) Expands medicaid eligibility for postpartum family planning services.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. DEFINITIONS. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Community" means an individual political subdivision of the state, a group of such political subdivisions, or a geographic area within a political subdivision.

(2) "Department" means the department of health.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION PROJECTS. There is established in the department a program to coordinate and fund community-based teen pregnancy prevention projects. Selection of projects shall be made competitively based upon compliance with the requirements of sections 4 and 5 of this act. To the extent practicable, the projects shall be geographically distributed throughout the state. Criteria shall be established by the department in consultation with other state agencies and groups involved in teen pregnancy prevention.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION PROJECTS‑-REQUIREMENTS. (1) Each project shall be designed to reduce the incidence of unplanned teen pregnancy in the defined community, and may include preteens.

(2) At least fifty percent of the funding for teen pregnancy prevention projects shall be community matching funds provided by private or public entities. In-kind contributions such as, but not limited to, staff, materials, supplies, or physical facilities may be considered as all or part of the funding provided by the communities.

(3) Each project shall be evaluated solely on the rate by which the teen pregnancy and birth rates in the community are reduced, measured from the rates prior to the implementation of the project.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION PROJECTS‑- APPLICATIONS. Applications for teen pregnancy prevention project funding shall:

(1) Define the community requesting funding;

(2) Designate a lead agency or organization for the project;

(3) Contain evidence of the active participation of entities in the community that will participate in the project;

(4) Demonstrate the participation of teens in the development of the project;

(5) Describe the specific activities that will be undertaken by the project;

(6) Identify the community matching funds required under section 4 of this act;

(7) Include statistics on teen birth rates in the community over at least the past five years;

(8) Include components that will demonstrate sensitivity to religious, cultural, and socioeconomic differences; and

(9) Include components giving emphasis to the importance of sexual abstinence as a method of pregnancy prevention, as provided in RCW 28A.230.070 and 70.24.210.

The department shall not discriminate against applicants for teen pregnancy prevention project funding based on the type of pregnancy prevention strategies and services included in the applicant's proposal.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. REPORT. The department shall submit an annual report on the state's teen birth rate over the previous five years, both state-wide and in the specific communities in which teen pregnancy prevention projects are located, to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature in the years 1995 through 1999.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION MEDIA CAMPAIGN. The department shall develop a teen pregnancy prevention media campaign in collaboration with major media organizations and other organizations and corporations interested in playing a positive and constructive role in their communities. The media campaign shall be designed to reduce the incidence of teen pregnancies. The media campaign shall be directed to teens, their parents, and individuals and organizations working with teens. The department may subcontract all or part of the activities associated with the media campaign to qualified private, nonprofit organizations.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 7 of this act shall expire June 30, 1999.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The sum of . . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund to the department of health, for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, to carry out the purposes of sections 1 through 6 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The sum of . . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund to the department of health, for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, to carry out the purposes of section 7 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. The sum of . . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund to the department of health for the purpose of increasing family planning services.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. The sum of . . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund to the medical assistance administration in the department of social and health services for the purpose of increasing family planning outreach and education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. The sum of . . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund to the medical assistance administration in the department of social and health services for the purpose of extending eligibility for family planning benefits through the last day of the twelfth month from the day pregnancy ends for women eligible for medical care under chapter 74.09 RCW on the date the pregnancy ends.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. Sections 1 through 7 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 70 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. Captions as used in this act constitute no part of the law.