SENATE BILL REPORT

HB 1900

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

As of March 20, 2019

Title: An act relating to implementing the family first prevention services act, P.L. 115-123, regarding expansion of services to children and families.

Brief Description: Maximizing federal funding for prevention and family services and programs.

Sponsors: Representatives Callan, Dent, Senn, Appleton, Doglio, Davis, Pollet, Frame and Jinkins; by request of Department of Children, Youth and Families.

Brief History: Passed House: 3/11/19, 96-1.

Committee Activity: Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation: 3/19/19.

Brief Summary of Bill

  • Defines "prevention and family services and programs" to mean specific mental health prevention and treatment services, substance abuse prevention and treatment services, and in-home parent skill-based programs that qualify for federal funding under the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA).

  • Authorizes the Department of Children, Youth, and Families to use a family assessment response for up to one year to assess for and provide prevention and family services and programs for families with children who are candidates for foster care and children in foster care who are pregnant or parenting, consistent with requirements under the FFPSA.

  • Defines a child who is a candidate for foster care.

  • Defines "qualified residential treatment program" to mean a program that meets certain criteria and is licensed as a group care facility that also qualifies for funding under the FFPSA while requiring courts make certain findings within 60 days for children residing in these programs.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES, REENTRY & REHABILITATION

Staff: Alison Mendiola (786-7488)

Background: Title IV-E Funding. Under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, states, territories, and tribes are entitled to claim partial federal reimbursement for the cost of providing foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance. This funding provides support for monthly payments on behalf of eligible children, as well as funds for related case management activities, training, data collection, and other costs of program administration.

Families First Prevention Services Act. The FFPSA was passed and signed into law as part of the bipartisan budget act on February 9, 2018.

The purpose of FFPSA is to:

Prevention Services and Programs. Beginning October 1, 2019, a 50 percent match of Title IV-E funds will be allowed for foster care prevention services and programs directed to all children, and their families, who are at imminent risk of entering foster care, including those children who are in kinship care settings and those children whose adoption or guardianship arrangement is at risk of disruption or dissolution. Prevention services delivered to current foster youth who are pregnant or parenting will also be eligible for these federal funds. Eligible prevention services and programs include mental health and substance abuse treatment services provided by a qualified clinician, and in-home parent skill-based programs that include parenting skills training, parent education, and individual and family counseling.

To be eligible for federal funds, prevention services and programs:

Fifty percent of expenditures are earmarked for well-supported programs.

Kinship Navigator Program. Beginning October 1, 2018, FFPSA allows the use of Title IV-E funds for evidence-based kinship navigator programs for children who are in, or are at risk of entering, foster care. This program assists kin caregivers in finding and using services necessary to support their efforts to raise a relative's child. According to the Department of Social and Health Services, more than 47,000 individuals in Washington State are caring for one or more relative children out of a total of 51,000. Kinship navigators are currently available in 30 counties.

Foster Care Placements. After a two-week grace period, the use of Title IV-E maintenance payments are prohibited for placements that are not:

Qualified Residential Treatment Program. FFPSA limits the use of Title IV-E funds to no more than 12 months of foster care maintenance payments for children who are placed in a residential treatment program, or for children who are placed with a parent residing in a licensed, residential family-based treatment facility for substance abuse, provided the facility:

Within 30 days of a child being placed in a qualified residential treatment program (QRTP) setting, an assessment must be completed to determine if the child's needs can be met with family members or in a family foster home. After placement in a QRTP, if it is determined a child would be more appropriately placed elsewhere, federal funds can be used for an additional 30 days to transition the child to another placement.

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and the Council on Accreditation are the accreditation agencies currently recognized by the federal government under FFPSA. FFPSA allows the federal government to approve any other independent, not-for-profit accreditation organization.

Other Provisions. Maintenance of effort state expenditures for foster care prevention is required to be no less than the amount of state expenditures, including local funds, in federal fiscal year 2014.

The current 15-month time limit on funds for family reunification services for children in foster care is eliminated, and 15-months of family reunification services will be accessible to a child who has returned home.

No later than October 1, 2027, states are required to use an electronic interstate case-processing system to help expedite interstate placement of children in foster care.

Effective October 1, 2018, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will identify reputable model licensing standards for family foster homes. No later than April 1, 2019 states must verify whether their licensing requirements meet these standards and whether standards are waived for relative family foster homes, and if not, the reason why.

States will need to include in their state plan assurances that the state will not enact or advance policies or practices that will result in significant increases to the number of youth in the juvenile justice system resulting from the new restrictions on federal reimbursement.

The financial, housing, counseling, employment, education, and other supports and services provided to former foster youth is extended from age twenty-one to age twenty-three.

Eligibility is extended from age twenty-three to age twenty-six for Education and Training Vouchers, as well as eligibility for these vouchers to youth who experienced foster care at fourteen years of age or older.

The allowance of federal reimbursement for adoption of all children with special needs, rather than just those who are income eligible is temporarily suspended, from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2024.

Summary of Bill: Changes are made to the dependency and child welfare statutes to conform with federal requirements within FFPSA. A child who is in foster care, or who is a candidate for foster care, may receive prevention and family services and programs.

Definitions. A "child who is a candidate for foster care" means a child the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) identifies as being at imminent risk of entering foster care and for whom there is a reasonable cause to believe any of the following circumstances exist:

"Prevention and family services and programs" means specific mental health prevention and treatment services, substance abuse prevention and treatment services, and in-home parent skill-based programs that qualify for federal funding under FFPSA.

A relative includes persons related to a child in the following ways:

  1. Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and including first cousins, second cousins, nephews or nieces, and persons of preceding generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great.

  2. Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister.

  3. A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance with state law.

  4. Spouses of any persons named in (1), (2), or (3), even after the marriage is terminated.

  5. Relatives, as named in (1), (2), (3), or (4) of any half sibling of the child.

  6. Extended family members, as defined by the law or custom of the Indian child's tribe or, in the absence of such law or custom, a person who has reached the age of eighteen and who is the Indian child's grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law, niece or nephew, first or second cousin, or stepparent who provides care in the family abode on a 24-hour basis to an Indian child.

The definition of "group care facility" is modified to include, but not be limited to:

A "qualified residential treatment program" means a program licensed as a group facility that also qualifies for federal funding under the FFPSA and meets the following requirements:

The court shall review the QRTP placement assessment within 60 days and either approve or disapprove it. For children who remain in a QRTP, DCYF must submit evidence demonstrating that the QRTP remains the appropriate setting.

Social Study. The written evaluation of the disposition of the case, known as a social study, must contain the following:

Other Provisions. For those receiving prevention services and program assistance under the family assessment response, services are not limited to 45 days and may be extended up to one year, within DCYF's appropriations.

Family preservation services may be provided for up to 15 months following the child's return home to facilitate the safe and timely reunification of the family and to ensure the strength and stability of the reunification.

DCYF may not be held civilly liable for the decision regarding whether to provide prevention and family services and programs, or for the provision of those services and programs.

The age limit on the authority of DCYF to provide independent living services is extended from age twenty-one to age twenty-three for youth who are, or have been, in DCYF's care and custody, or who are or were non-minor dependents.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Creates Committee/Commission/Task Force that includes Legislative members: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: It is very unusual to have a bill that allows you to bring in federal dollars to help youth, which is what this bill does. The focus of this bill is the prevention of foster care and intervention and ongoing services for those in the foster care system, from a whole family approach. This bill will shift how we think about families, preserving families, and supporting them before a child is removed from the home.

Persons Testifying: PRO: Representative Lisa Callan, Prime Sponsor; Laurie Lippold, Partners for Our Children.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: No one.