FINAL BILL REPORT

SB 6407

C 284 L 18

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Concerning private case management of child welfare services.

Sponsors: Senator Darneille; by request of Department of Social and Health Services.

Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections

House Committee on Early Learning & Human Services

House Committee on Appropriations

Background: Performance-Based Contract Demonstration Sites. In 2009, the Legislature enacted 2SHB 2106, which:

• mandated the Children's Administration (CA) in the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to convert its current contracts for child welfare to performance-based contracts by January 1, 2011, and to decrease the total number of contracts used to purchase services;

• required the establishment of two demonstration sites to compare the performance of new supervising agencies to the performance of CA; and

• created the Child Welfare Transformation Design Committee (CWTDC).

One task given to the CWTDC was to select two demonstration sites, one each on the eastern and western sides of the state, in which to provide child welfare services from supervising agencies with whom DSHS has entered into performance-based contracts. DSHS would be restricted as to what services it could directly provide within these demonstration site areas. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) was instructed to evaluate the operation of the child welfare system within the demonstration sites to determine whether the measurable results achieved in the demonstration sites are different from the results achieved in areas of the state where child welfare services are offered by state workers.

The demonstration sites were originally designated to begin on July 1, 2012, with the WSIPP evaluation of their performance due on April 1, 2015. The commencement date for the demonstration sites has changed in law four times since 2009 to the current date of December 30, 2019. The current due date for the WSIPP demonstration site evaluation is April 1, 2023.

The activities of the CWTDC were suspended in law from July 28, 2013, to December 1, 2015, with the statute authorizing the CWTDC expiring on July 1, 2016.

Performance-Based Contract Network Administrators. In 2012, the Legislature enacted E2SHB 2264, which created an entity, known as a network administrator, to contract with DSHS to provide defined services to children and families in the child welfare system through its provider network. Contracts with network administrators must be performance-based, with performance measures related to successful engagement of children and families, resulting in identified behaviors and interactions. Network administrators must assist caseworkers in meeting their responsibility for implementation of case plans and individual service and safety plans, and provide family support and related services within contracted services included in a child or family's case plan. There is one current network administrator, Family Impact Network, located in Spokane, Washington that serves eight counties in Eastern Washington.

Child welfare programs and services administered by DSHS will be assumed by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) on July 1, 2018.

Summary: Provisions relating to child welfare case management by private supervising agencies, the creation of the Child Welfare Transformation Design Committee, and the WSIPP evaluation study on the demonstration sites are eliminated.

To further the goal of the Legislature to expand the coverage area of network administrators to encompass the entire state, DCYF must conduct one or more procurement processes, including issuing a request for proposals for expanded network administrator coverage on the east side of the Cascade Mountains by September 30, 2018. Expanded implementation in this region must begin by January 30, 2019, if a qualified organization responds. DCYF must submit a recommendation to the Oversight Board for Children, Youth, and Families (Oversight Board) and the appropriate legislative committees by September 1, 2020, regarding the time frame for expansion of network administrator coverage to additional regions of the state.

Requirements that DCYF actively consult with department and child welfare system representatives, and other state agencies with relevant expertise and with philanthropic entities, in conducting the procurement of network administrators, and that the director of the Office of Financial Management must approve the network administrator request for proposals, are removed.

Each network administrator must manage the entire family support and related service array within the geographic boundaries of a given network. Each network administrator may redistribute funding within the network based on provider performance and the need to address service gaps, if approved by DCYF. Each existing network administrator is not required to reapply to provide network administrator services in its existing coverage area.

DCYF must:

• share all relevant data with the network administrators and make all performance data available to the public;

• consider the value of the existing data platform for child welfare services in determining the cost estimates for expanded network administrator implementation; and

• annually submit to the Oversight Board and the appropriate committees of the Legislature a report detailing the status of the network administrator procurement and implementation process.

Votes on Final Passage: