Background: Family Policy Council. The Family Policy Council (FPC) was established to modify public policy and programs to empower communities to support and respond to the needs of individual families and children, and to improve the responsiveness of services for children and families at risk by facilitating greater coordination and flexibility in the use of funds by state and local service agencies.

Duties of the FPC. The FPC is required to:

establish boundaries for community networks;
develop technical assistance and training programs to assist communities in developing networks;
approve the structure, purpose, goals, plans, and performance measures of each network;
identify prevention and early intervention programs and funds which could be transferred to a community network and report findings to the Governor and Legislature;
reward exceptionally successful community networks;
seek opportunities to maximize federal and other funding that is consistent with the plans approved by the FPC; and
monitor the implementation of programs contracted by participating state agencies.

Community Networks. The FPC partners with approximately 42 community public health and safety networks. Networks are required to:

review state and local public health data related to risk factors, protective factors, and at-risk children and youth;
prioritize risk factors and protective factors to reduce the likelihood of children and youth becoming at-risk;
develop long-term comprehensive plans to reduce the rate of at-risk children and youth;
comply with the Department of Health and local boards of health to provide data and determine outcomes; and
coordinate its efforts with anti-drug use efforts and organizations.

Council for Children and Families. The Council for Children and Families (CCF) was established to increase educational programs and services to prevent child abuse and neglect in partnership between communities, citizens, and the state.

The CCF is authorized to contract with public or private nonprofit organizations, agencies, schools, or with qualified individuals for the establishment of a range of community-based programs and services designed to reduce child abuse and neglect. The CCF is also charged with:

facilitating the exchange of information between groups concerned with families and children;
consulting with the applicable agencies, commissions, and boards to help determine the probable effectiveness, fiscal soundness, and need for proposed educational and service programs for the prevention of child abuse and neglect;
establishing fee schedules to provide for the recipients of services to reimburse the state General Fund for the cost of services received; and
accepting and dispersing funds from the Children's Trust Fund.

Summary of Bill: Family Policy Council and Council for Children and Families. The FPC and the CCF are eliminated effective June 30, 2012. Community networks are preserved.

Private-Public Partnership. A nongovernmental private-public partnership (Partnership), which may be an existing or a new entity, is authorized to focus on the prevention and reduction of adverse childhood experiences, including those that occur in early childhood. The Partnership must use evidence-based and research-based approaches. It must give consideration to community public health and safety networks that have a history of providing training and services related to adverse childhood experiences. It must also develop a method to distribute funds based on data which indicates areas of need and the use of evidence-based and research-based strategies to address those needs.

The Partnership must advise the Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) regarding the approval of blended funding projects recommended by the community networks.

Authority of the DSHS. The Secretary of the DSHS is authorized to enter into contracts on behalf of the DSHS, provide funding to the private-public partnerships, and accept gifts, grants, or other funds to prevent or reduce adverse childhood experiences.

Duties Transferred to the Department of Early Learning. Beginning July 1, 2011, the CCF and Department of Early Learning (DEL) must develop a plan for transitioning to the DEL the duties of the CCF that are primarily related to children's early learning. The CCF and the DEL must, as appropriate, participate in the development of the private-public partnership to streamline efforts around the prevention of child abuse and neglect and avoid duplication of efforts.

The duty to fund evidence-based and research-based home visitation programs is transferred from the CCF to the DEL. General funds intended to support home visiting funding must be appropriated to the Home Visiting Services Account with the purpose of maximizing opportunities to obtain matching funds from private entities. The DEL must work with the DSHS, the Department of Health, the Partnership, and key partners and stakeholders to develop a plan to coordinate or consolidate home visitation services.

Beginning July 1, 2012, the DEL will be the lead agency for the Children's Trust Fund, and the Director of the DEL is authorized to disburse those funds. Beginning July 1, 2012, the DEL will also be the lead agency for the Community-Based Child Abuse and Prevention Fund.

Readiness to Learn. The Superintendent of Public Instruction must award grants to community-based consortiums that submit comprehensive plans that include strategies to improve readiness to learn.