H-2285

AN ACT Relating to services to children in poverty; adding new sections to chapter 43.36A RCW; creating new sections; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that providing comprehensive early intervention services to children in poverty will reduce and likely prevent later dysfunctional behavior. Because it costs as much to house a prisoner for one year as it does to put a child through twelve years of school, it is both a fiscal and moral imperative that early intervention strategies be developed. The legislature also finds that the local agencies currently providing services to those in poverty are best situated to reach children in poverty.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) Any agency designated as a local community action agency or local community service agency under chapter 43.63A RCW may apply to the department of community development for authorization to operate a children's early intervention program. An agency applying for this program must:

(a) Currently operate two or more programs each serving fifty or more low-income families annually;

(b) Demonstrate prior experience in working with low-income families with at-risk children;

(d) Conduct an annual needs assessment that identifies the needs of low-income people in the local area; and

(e) Operate a board of directors or advisory board that includes low-income people, community participants, and local political representation.

(2) Proposals submitted to the department of community development must submit an action plan that includes agreements reached with other agencies in the community.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The children's early intervention program shall include:

(a) Comprehensive needs assessments of low-income families. Organizations that show the ability to develop a consistent, geographically widespread assessment and evaluation design shall receive priority for funding;

(b) Identification of families eligible for comprehensive assistance as specified in subsection (2) of this section;

(c) Assignment of a family resource specialist to help eligible families with parenting skills and other care for their children, and help the family move toward greater self-sufficiency; and

(d) Provision of crisis resources, including one-time emergency grants, not to exceed five hundred dollars to any one family, when all other federal, state, and local resources have been exhausted or are not available due to categorical funding requirements.

(2) "Eligible families" includes families:

(a) With at least one child under the age of eleven;

(b) Whose income is at or below one hundred twenty-five percent of the federal poverty level, as adjusted for family size and determined by the federal department of health and human services; and

(3) Services offered through the children's early intervention program shall not be duplicative of those offered by the department of social and health services or any other state or local agency.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The activities of the family resource specialist shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) Providing information and referral to resources within the agency, to the resources of agencies within the community, and to state and federal resources;

(2) Developing with the family a plan of action to help the family move toward self-sufficiency;

(3) Providing assistance in developing parenting skills;

(4) Engaging in follow-up activities to determine whether the information and assistance provided was useful; and

(5) Documenting the number and type of families served, the types of assistance offered, and the outcomes.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Agencies administering a children's early intervention program may enter into agreements with other local agencies for the provision of services to eligible families. The agreements may include the transfer or exchange of resources.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The department of community development and participating local community action or community service agencies shall report on the implementation of the children's early intervention program to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature by January 15, 1993. The report shall include identification of local agencies operating under agreements with the agency administering the program, as well as a compilation of the statistics generated by family resource specialists.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department of community development shall enter into a contract with a local community action agency to conduct a state-wide assessment of the needs of low-income families in Washington.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The sum of four hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, from the general fund to the department of community development for the purpose of section 7 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 2 through 5 of this act are each added to chapter 43.63A RCW.