_______________________________________________

                       ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1714

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By House Committee on Human Services (originally sponsored by Representatives Riley, Beck, Leonard, Winsley, Anderson, R. King, Hargrove, H. Myers, Jacobsen, Franklin, Roland, Zellinsky, Phillips, Jones, Rasmussen, Paris, Orr, Inslee, Basich, Sheldon, Morris and Wineberry).

Read first time March 4, 1991.  Providing support for families in timber communities.

     AN ACT Relating to family support centers; adding a new section to chapter 43.121 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.      The legislature finds that the family support centers currently operating in Washington state are effectively providing support to families.  The legislature further finds that these centers are positively responding to needs identified by the families and communities served by the center and are therefore empowering those families and communities.  It is the intent of the legislature to give timber-dependent communities the means to support and empower their families, particularly those families experiencing stress related to job loss, through the establishment of family support centers in those communities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 43.121 RCW to read as follows:

     The council shall contract for the operation of community-based family support centers.  The council shall identify areas of need for such centers in timber-dependent communities and give priority to establishing centers in these locations.  The council shall also give priority to applications from communities with high timber unemployment rates.

     (1) Applicants for grants to operate a family support center shall be part of a community interagency team made up of private nonprofit or public agencies currently providing one or more of the services described in subsection (4) of this section.  A lead agency shall be designated by the team as the grantee.  Agencies participating in the team shall execute written interagency agreements regarding referrals and coordination of services.

     (2) Family support centers shall be operated at a location in the community that is accessible to families.

     (3) In awarding grants, preference shall be given to applications that provide for locating the family support center at or near a job retraining center.

     (4) Family support centers shall provide, at a minimum, parent support services.  In addition, centers shall provide other services identified by the community to support families.  Such services may include, but are not limited to, parenting education, child development assessments, health and nutrition education, counseling, and information and referral services. Such services may be provided directly by the center or through referral to other agencies participating in the interagency team.  Child care services shall be available at the center for children while their parents are using the center.

     (5) Twenty-five percent of the funding for a family support center shall be community matching funds provided by public or private entities in the community that will be served by the center.  Contributions of materials, supplies, or physical facilities may be considered as all or part of the funding provided by the community.