H-0308

AN ACT Relating to establishment of a community mobilization program for teens; adding a new chapter to Title 74 RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that the population of teens in Washington state will be declining through the mid-1990's, and that, in light of this declining population, our state has a growing need for highly skilled and motivated workers that are members of healthy families. Therefore, Washington state cannot afford to lose any teens to substance abuse, teen pregnancy, juvenile crime, or dropping out of school. The legislature further finds that teens who drop out of school are two to three times more likely to live in poverty as adults. Teen mothers are less likely to finish high school, more likely to be separated or divorced, and more likely to live in poverty. Their children are more likely to exhibit lower academic achievement and to show a tendency to repeat their mother's pattern of early childbearing. Teens who abuse drugs and alcohol are more likely to be school drop outs and engage in criminal behavior.

(2) The legislature further finds that the most effective strategy to comprehensively meet the diverse needs of teens is through collaborative efforts of government agencies, youth service organizations, businesses, schools, parents, and teens to plan and provide services to teens.

(3) The legislature further finds that local communities are best able to determine the most appropriate design and location of programs to comprehensively and cooperatively support teens in their community.

(4) The purpose of this chapter is to equip teens with the resources, skills, knowledge, and motivation necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle and successfully enter the job market or pursue higher education, through the establishment of community mobilization projects for teens in six pilot sites geographically distributed throughout the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Definitions. (1) "Department" means the department of social and health services.

(2) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of social and health services.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) There is established in the department a community mobilization program for teens, which shall fund and coordinate six community-based projects to develop targeted and coordinated strategies to meet the needs of teens.

(2) Applications for project funding under this chapter shall:

(a) Define the community requesting funding;

(b) Contain evidence of the active participation of public and private entities in the community, including the various communities of color, that are now providing, or might appropriately provide, services to teens, including, at a minimum, schools, law enforcement, local government, youth services agencies and organizations, job training organizations, mental health, and health care providers;

(c) Demonstrate establishment of a project advisory board composed of teens, parents, and representatives of a broad cross-section of other community members who have an interest in meeting the needs of teens, and assure that the advisory board has been consulted in development of the application;

(d) Designate a lead agency or organization for the project, and provide evidence of written interagency agreements with existing youth service organizations to carry out project activities. The agency or organization designated as lead agency shall have demonstrated sensitivity and responsiveness to the plurality of community values and the cultural and ethnic heritage of community members;

(e) Identify a project site that is accessible to teens during evenings and weekends, from which services and activities can be provided or referrals made;

(f) Describe the services and activities that will be undertaken by the project, including identification of specific services and activities for which funding is requested. Core services provided at each project site shall include, at a minimum: Health screening and referrals; employment search and job training; mental health counseling; substance abuse treatment; and family counseling. Projects may address other local service needs such as drop-out prevention, substance abuse prevention, inpatient substance abuse treatment, additional support services for teen parents, and recreational activities, by offering those services at the project site or through referrals to community organizations;

(g) Describe the coordinated system for meeting the needs of teens that the community will develop, including a description of how the proposed system will build upon existing services and existing community efforts to coordinate the delivery of services to teens;

(h) Identify community matching funds, as provided in section 4 of this act, that have been committed to the project; and

(i) Provide assurances that the project will cooperate, through the provision of requested data and information, with the evaluation provided for in section 6 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The secretary shall issue grants for community mobilization projects for teens. Grants shall be made competitively based upon information provided in applications for funding. To the greatest extent practicable, grants shall be geographically distributed throughout the state.

(2) The department shall provide a staff person to administer and coordinate the program established under this chapter, and shall provide technical assistance to communities applying for or receiving funds under this chapter.

(3) Technical assistance provided by the department shall include the identification of means to creatively blend categorical funds, to the extent not prohibited by federal law, in a manner that allows teens' needs to determine the services they will receive.

(4) Twenty-five percent of the funding for projects under this chapter shall be community matching funds provided by private or public entities in the communities requesting funding. Contributions of materials, supplies, or physical facilities may be considered as all or part of the funding provided by the communities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Community mobilization projects for teens shall have an initial duration of two years. To the extent funding is available, projects may be renewed for an additional two-year period by the department.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The department shall contract with an independent entity to evaluate the effectiveness of the program established in this chapter. The evaluation shall develop standards for measuring the success of community mobilization projects, considering factors such as school completion, employment, and teen pregnancy rates. The department shall submit an evaluation report to appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 1994, and biennially thereafter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The sum of .......... dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund to the department of social and health services, for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, to carry out the purposes of this act. Grants to individual pilot projects shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars per year.

(1) Of this amount, .......... dollars is provided solely for a contract with an independent entity to study and make recommendations regarding mechanisms to blend categorical funding to better meet the needs of teens. The study shall include an analysis of current categorical programs, including the source of funding and statutory authority for each such program, and recommended changes in state law that would allow and encourage blending of funds to allow greater flexibility in tailoring services to individual need.

(2) Of this amount, twenty thousand dollars is provided solely for planning the evaluation provided for in section 6 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to the agencies concerned. The rules under this act shall meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Sections 1 through 6 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 74 RCW.