H-0632

AN ACT Relating to youth and family services; amending RCW 70.96A.095, 71.34.030, and 13.32A.250; adding a new chapter to Title 13 RCW; and making appropriations.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Evaluation of programs is essential in determining their effectiveness and cost benefit and in obtaining data for improving services. The department of social and health services shall conduct an evaluation of the family reconciliation services program. The study shall include the following information:

(1) A description of services offered in phase I and phase II;

(2) The number and characteristics of youth and families served in family reconciliation services phase I and phase II and the outcome of services provided to youth and families;

(3) A description of outreach services including program information provided to referring agencies and the general public;

(4) The number and type of referrals to family reconciliation services from law enforcement, juvenile courts, schools, and community agencies and their perception of its effectiveness;

(5) Follow-up contact with a random sample of youth and families receiving family reconciliation services assistance and their perception of the effectiveness of these services;

(6) The number of youth referred again after services were terminated and outcome of services provided;

(7) The number of youth and families who requested specific services but who did not receive services because they were not available, including a list of the services requested but not available; and

(8) Recommendations for improving services to at-risk youth and families.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The demand for family reconciliation services continues to increase. The number of families served by the family reconciliation services program has nearly doubled in the past ten years while the number of staff providing these services has decreased. The department of social and health services shall expand family reconciliation services to serve an additional one thousand families.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The behavioral sciences institute homebuilders intensive in-home counseling program has been highly successful in serving at-risk youth and families. This program shall expand to serve an additional one hundred twenty-six youth and families while preserving program integrity and quality.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. There is a lack of knowledge of existing laws and services on the part of those agencies and organizations serving at-risk youth and on the part of the general public. The office of the administrator for the courts is requested to develop a curriculum on at-risk youth for superior court judges and court personnel to be presented at a regularly scheduled educational session. The department of social and health services is directed to produce a videotape for use by law enforcement, family reconciliation services staff, prosecuting and defense attorneys, other agencies and organizations dealing with at-risk youth, and the general public. The department shall consult with other agencies and organizations providing services to at-risk youth in the production of the videotape.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. There is a lack of vision, planning, coordination, and accountability in the development and provision of services to at-risk youth and families. The department of social and health services shall establish an interdivisional at-risk youth committee to plan and coordinate all agency services to this population. The committee shall report quarterly to the senate children and family services committee and the house of representatives human services committee beginning September 1, 1991. The senate children and family services committee and the house of representatives human services committee shall jointly appoint a twelve-member, state-wide, at-risk youth oversight committee to serve in an advisory capacity. At least two parents, not employed by an organization or agency serving children, shall be appointed to serve on the committee. Two members of the oversight committee shall be appointed to serve as liaisons to the department's interdivisional at-risk youth committee. The at-risk youth oversight committee shall have, but is not limited to, the following duties:

(1) Review existing laws and services for at-risk youth and families to determine their effectiveness;

(2) Recommend changes and improvements in existing laws or services for at-risk youth and families, emphasizing joint planning efforts, coordination of service delivery, and program evaluation and accountability;

(3) Recommend new laws and services to help at-risk youth and families, emphasizing joint planning efforts, coordination of service delivery, and program evaluation and accountability;

(4) Recommend ways to increase professional and public knowledge of at-risk youth laws and services;

(5) Encourage local communities to establish at-risk youth committees and develop local programs to help at-risk youth; and

(6) Report annually to the senate children and family services committee and the house of representatives human services committee, beginning December 1, 1992.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The legislature finds that involuntary treatment of minors with substance abuse problems or mental disorders is sometimes necessary for their protection and well-being.

Sec. 7. RCW 70.96A.095 and 1989 c 270 s 24 are each amended to read as follows:

Any person fourteen years of age or older may give consent for himself or herself to the furnishing of counseling, care, treatment, or rehabilitation by a treatment program or by any person. Consent of the parent, parents, or legal guardian of a person less than eighteen years of age is not necessary to authorize the care, except that the person shall not become a resident of the treatment program without such permission except as provided in RCW 70.96A.120. The parent, parents, or legal guardian of a person less than eighteen years of age are not liable for payment of care for such persons pursuant to this chapter, unless they have joined in the consent to the counseling, care, treatment, or rehabilitation. A parent may request the involuntary treatment of a minor under eighteen years of age, but the request does not confer any entitlement to treatment. Within existing funds, substance abuse evaluations of the minor shall be made available to the parent.

Sec. 8. RCW 71.34.030 and 1985 c 354 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Any minor thirteen years or older may request and receive outpatient treatment without the consent of the minor's parent. Parental authorization is required for outpatient treatment of a minor under the age of thirteen.

(2) When in the judgment of the professional person in charge of an evaluation and treatment facility there is reason to believe that a minor is in need of inpatient treatment because of a mental disorder, and the facility provides the type of evaluation and treatment needed by the minor, and it is not feasible to treat the minor in any less restrictive setting or the minor's home, the minor may be admitted to an evaluation and treatment facility in accordance with the following requirements:

(a) A minor under thirteen years of age may only be admitted on the application of the minor's parent.

(b) A minor thirteen years or older may be voluntarily admitted by application of the parent. Such application must be accompanied by the written consent, knowingly and voluntarily given, of the minor.

(c) A parent may request the involuntary treatment of a minor, but the request does not confer any entitlement to treatment. Within existing funds, mental health assessments of the minor shall be made available to the parent.

(d) A minor thirteen years or older may, with the concurrence of the professional person in charge of an evaluation and treatment facility, admit himself or herself without parental consent to the evaluation and treatment facility, provided that notice is given by the facility to the minor's parent in accordance with the following requirements:

(i) Notice of the minor's admission shall be in the form most likely to reach the parent within twenty-four hours of the minor's voluntary admission and shall advise the parent that the minor has been admitted to inpatient treatment; the location and telephone number of the facility providing such treatment; and the name of a professional person on the staff of the facility providing treatment who is designated to discuss the minor's need for inpatient treatment with the parent.

(ii) The minor shall be released to the parent at the parent's request for release unless the facility files a petition with the superior court of the county in which treatment is being provided setting forth the basis for the facility's belief that the minor is in need of inpatient treatment and that release would constitute a threat to the minor's health or safety.

(iii) The petition shall be signed by the professional person in charge of the facility or that person's designee.

(iv) The parent may apply to the court for separate counsel to represent the parent if the parent cannot afford counsel.

(v) There shall be a hearing on the petition, which shall be held within three judicial days from the filing of the petition.

(vi) The hearing shall be conducted by a judge, court commissioner, or licensed attorney designated by the superior court as a hearing officer for such hearing. The hearing may be held at the treatment facility.

(vii) At such hearing, the facility must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing that the minor is in need of inpatient treatment and that release would constitute a threat to the minor's health or safety. The hearing shall not be conducted using the rules of evidence, and the admission or exclusion of evidence sought to be presented shall be within the exercise of sound discretion by the judicial officer conducting the hearing.

((~~(d)~~)) (e) Written renewal of voluntary consent must be obtained from the applicant and the minor thirteen years or older no less than once every twelve months.

((~~(e)~~)) (f) The minor's need for continued inpatient treatments shall be reviewed and documented no less than every one hundred eighty days.

(3) A notice of intent to leave shall result in the following:

(a) Any minor under the age of thirteen must be discharged immediately upon written request of the parent.

(b) Any minor thirteen years or older voluntarily admitted may give notice of intent to leave at any time. The notice need not follow any specific form so long as it is written and the intent of the minor can be discerned.

(c) The staff member receiving the notice shall date it immediately, record its existence in the minor's clinical record, and send copies of it to the minor's attorney, if any, the county-designated mental health professional, and the parent.

(d) The professional person in charge of the evaluation and treatment facility shall discharge the minor, thirteen years or older, from the facility within twenty-four hours after receipt of the minor's notice of intent to leave, unless the county-designated mental health professional files a petition for initial detention within the time prescribed by this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Involuntary commitment in residential treatment facilities for chemically dependent youth is nonexistent. The department of social and health services, within existing funds, shall designate twenty-five residential beds located state-wide by need for involuntary commitment of substance-abusing youth. The department shall develop treatment protocols for the voluntary and involuntary treatment of substance-abusing youth. The department shall report annually to the senate children and family services committee and the house of representatives human services committee on the number of youth, including at-risk youth, served in substance abuse programs, both voluntary and involuntary; the treatment protocols used; and the effectiveness of voluntary and involuntary treatment. Computerized tracking of youth shall be used to provide longitudinal information.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The department of social and health services does not track youth in crisis residential centers. The department of social and health services shall incorporate the following data into the existing computerized children's services tracking system for each youth placed in a crisis residential center: (1) The reason for placement; (2) the length of time the youth stays in the crisis residential center; (3) if the youth runs from the crisis residential center; (4) the placement of the youth upon discharge; (5) the availability of services needed to reconcile the youth with his or her family; and (6) the progress the department is making towards using crisis residential center beds for the purpose set forth in law. The department shall report this information semiannually to the senate children and family services committee and the house of representatives human services committee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. There is established a continuum of services pilot project for youth in one region as designated by the department of social and health services. The project, administered by the department of social and health services and developed in cooperation with local elected officials, service providers, parents, and other interested citizens, shall meet the following requirements: (1) Family reconciliation services, both phase I and phase II, and behavioral sciences institute homebuilders services must be available and utilized appropriately; (2) family crisis residential center placements may be increased by no more than eight beds based on need and shall be used solely for the placement of youth referred to in chapter 13.32A RCW; (3) group home and residential care placements may be increased by no more than six beds based on need, provided group home and residential care contractors, as a whole, agree to establish a no-decline policy. Furthermore, group home and residential care treatment shall be family-focused with a continuum of services offered based on need and documentation of services offered prior to an out-of-home placement. At least two beds on a region-wide basis shall be designed and used for secure lock-up for youth who will not stay in placement on a voluntary basis. Secure lock-up, in lieu of detention, shall only be used pursuant to RCW 13.32A.050(4), 13.32A.065, and 74.13.034; (4) aftercare for youth coming out of crisis residential centers may be provided for a maximum of fifty youth as referred to in chapter 13.32A RCW and for a maximum of twenty youth coming out of group home or residential care placement; (5) the department of social and health services shall develop a tracking system for each youth in the region who receives family reconciliation services, or who is placed in a crisis residential center or in a group home or residential care to determine if services offered were appropriate and effective; and in cases where an out-of-home placement was made, if reasonable efforts were made to keep the child in the home and if the placement was necessary and appropriate, if all requirements listed in this section were followed, and the placement upon discharge; and (6) the department shall conduct an evaluation of the entire pilot project and submit a report to the senate children and family services committee and the house of representatives human services committee on December 1, 1992.

Sec. 12. RCW 13.32A.250 and 1990 c 276 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) In all alternative residential placement proceedings and at-risk youth proceedings, the court shall verbally notify the parents and the child of the possibility of a finding of contempt for failure to comply with the terms of a court order entered pursuant to this chapter. The court shall treat the parents and the child equally for the purposes of applying contempt of court processes and penalties under this section.

(2) Failure by a party to comply with an order entered under this chapter is a contempt of court as provided in chapter 7.21 RCW, subject to the limitations of subsection ((~~(2)~~)) (3) of this section.

(3) The court may impose a fine of up to one hundred dollars and imprisonment for up to seven days, or both for contempt of court under this section.

(4) A child imprisoned for contempt under this section shall be imprisoned only in a secure juvenile detention facility operated by or pursuant to a contract with a county or a secure lock-up facility operated by the department under a pilot project.

(5) A motion for contempt may be made by a parent, a child, juvenile court personnel, or by any public agency, organization, or person having custody of the child under a court order adopted pursuant to this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. Sections 1 through 6 and 9 through 11 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 13 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. The sum of one hundred fifty thousand 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, solely for costs associated with an evaluation of the family reconciliation services program, as required by section 1 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. The sum of one million four hundred thousand 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, solely for expansion of phase I and phase II family reconciliation services, as required by section of 2 this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. The sum of four hundred twenty‑seven thousand 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, solely for expansion of the behavioral sciences institute homebuilders program to serve an additional one hundred twenty-six youth and families, as required by section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. The sum of ten thousand 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, solely for producing a videotape and copies dealing with at-risk youth laws and services, as required by section 4 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. The sum of one million 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, solely for carrying out the purposes of section 11 of this act.