BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to therapeutic child care services; amending RCW 74.14B.040; amending 1993 sp.s. c 24 s 202 (uncodified); creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that therapeutic child care services have been shown to be effective in preventing delinquent and aggressive behavior, drug and alcohol use, and involvement in violent crime by children who have been abused or neglected. The legislature further finds that state general fund savings will be realized through the receipt of federal medical assistance matching payments for therapeutic child care services. It is the intent of the legislature that these general fund state savings be used to continue to support abused or neglected children who have received intensive therapeutic child care services and are living with their parents, other family members, or in foster care.

Sec. 2. RCW 74.14B.040 and 1987 c 503 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, provide therapeutic ((~~day~~)) child care and day treatment to children who have been abused or neglected and meet program eligibility criteria.

(2) As used in this section, "therapeutic child care" means services provided to abused or neglected children and their families referred by child protective services in the context of a child care setting to protect children from further maltreatment and remediate the effects of past maltreatment. Such services may include, but are not limited to: Transportation to and from the therapeutic child care program; development and implementation of an individualized developmental plan for each child served in the program; counseling and parent instruction for the family; play therapy for the child; physical examinations and nursing services; and home visits. Counseling and parent instruction in the home setting may be provided as transitional services to children and families who are no longer receiving therapeutic services at the site of the therapeutic child care program.

Sec. 3. 1993 sp.s. c 24 s 202 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:

FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES‑-CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES PROGRAM

General Fund‑-State Appropriation................... $ 292,004,000

General Fund‑-Federal Appropriation.................. $.................................. 193,407,000

Drug Enforcement and Education Account Appropriation $ 3,722,000

TOTAL APPROPRIATION................. $ 489,133,000

The appropriations in this section are subject to the following conditions and limitations:

(1) $854,000 of the drug enforcement and education account appropriation and $300,000 of the general fund‑-state appropriation are provided solely to contract for the operation of one pediatric interim care facility. The facility shall provide residential care for up to twelve children through two years of age. Seventy-five percent of the children served by the facility must be in need of special care as a result of substance abuse by their mothers. The facility also shall provide on-site training to biological, adoptive, or foster parents. The facility shall provide at least three months of consultation and support to parents accepting placement of children from the facility. The facility may recruit new and current foster and adoptive parents for infants served by the facility. The department shall not require case management as a condition of the contract.

(2) $700,000 of the general fund‑-state appropriation and $262,000 of the drug enforcement and education account appropriation are provided solely for up to three nonfacility based programs for the training, consultation, support, and recruitment of biological, foster, and adoptive parents of children through age three in need of special care as a result of substance abuse by their mothers, except that each program may serve up to three medically fragile nonsubstance-abuse-affected children. In selecting nonfacility based programs, preference shall be given to programs whose federal or private funding sources have expired or have successfully performed under the existing pediatric interim care program.

(3) In the event that the department consolidates children's services offices, the department shall ensure that services continue to be accessible to isolated communities.

(4) $14,984,000 of the general fund‑-state appropriation and $14,632,000 of the general fund‑-federal appropriation are provided to establish a state child care block grant by July 1, 1994. The department shall develop a plan for administering the block grant which shall include: (a) A state-wide distribution formula; (b) a block grant application process that encourages the cooperative efforts of local governments, resource and referral agencies, and other not-for-profit organizations involved with child care; (c) recommendations about cost-effective ways to administer child care subsidies in rural areas of the state; and (d) recommendations for the percentage of the grant to be used for local administration. The plan shall be presented to the appropriate legislative committees by January 1, 1994.

(5) The department shall coordinate funding totaling $400,000 from all available sources to initiate a residential teen welfare protection program in an urban county with a population over 550,000. The program shall be designed to improve employment and parenting skills of teenage mothers to reduce long-term welfare dependence. The department shall select a provider with experience in providing residential services to adolescent mothers and their infants.

(6) The family policy council under chapter 70.190 RCW shall establish procedures for locating appropriate counseling staff of participating agencies in public schools.

((~~(8)~~)) (7) $8,792,000 of the general fund‑-state appropriation is provided solely to implement the following programs: $385,000 of this amount is provided for the medical training project on the evaluation and care of child sexual abuse, $4,784,000 of this amount is provided for contracts for domestic violence shelters and comprehensive domestic violence service planning, $2,841,000 of this amount is provided for early identification and treatment of child sexual abuse, and $782,000 of this amount is provided for sexual assault centers.

(8) $600,000 of the general fund‑-state appropriation is provided solely for therapeutic child care transitional services to children and families who are no longer receiving therapeutic services at the site of the therapeutic child care program.