S-1623

AN ACT Relating to children in poverty; 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. It is the intent of the legislature to provide effective, timely aid and intervention to poor children and families throughout the state of Washington, thus improving their quality of life and reducing future costs to society in general, by means of direct assistance to community action agencies. The legislature finds that:

(1) It is well-established that children living in poverty are inherently at risk, and that the future costs to society arising from the many problems directly related to child and family poverty are enormous.

(2) Recent economic and social trends related to the erosion of traditional family structures, massive but uneven patterns of growth, economic crisis in the Washington timber region, and pervasive rural and urban problems of unemployment, homelessness, discrimination, and poverty are rapidly increasing the number of poor children living in the state of Washington.

(3) Timely, positive intervention in the lives of poor children is extremely valuable and cost-effective, and can often prevent the development of dysfunctional behaviors that are harmful and costly to society in general, as is demonstrated by the fact that it currently costs taxpayers as much to maintain a prisoner for one year as to educate a child for twelve years.

(4) The problem of youth and family poverty is in the first instance a community problem, and existing efforts by community action agencies to enhance the quality of life for poor children and families have demonstrated the value of a comprehensive, locally oriented approach; and

(5) Community action agencies currently lack sufficient resources to adequately address the immense challenges posed by child and family poverty, and it is thus necessary and prudent for the state of Washington to begin redressing the omissions of the past by acting in the best interests of present and future generations of Washington's children.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Department" means the department of community development.

(2) "Community action agencies" means the state-wide network of community action agencies, organized on a local level, currently providing direct assistance and referral services to low-income families, as referred to in RCW 43.63A.105.

(3) "Eligible at-risk families" means those families whose incomes are at or below one hundred twenty-five percent of the federal poverty level, as defined by the federal energy assistance program, containing one or more children ten years of age or younger.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The department is directed to provide substantial, material assistance to community action agencies, by means of community services block grants, distributed in accordance to established formula and administered under the name of "community child poverty project," to aid Washington's poor children and families through the active implementation of the following policy goals:

(1) The comprehensive identification by community action agencies of eligible at-risk families;

(2) Aiding community action agencies in providing emergency services and referrals to eligible at-risk families, as well as helping these families to attain long-term stability and self-sufficiency, with special emphasis upon enhanced funding for food banks, energy assistance, and job-related assistance, training, and child care;

(3) The development and administration of needs assessments by community action agencies to one hundred thousand eligible at-risk families, and the assignment of individual family resource specialists to at least five thousand of these families not currently being served by case managers;

(4) The involvement of other local agencies in providing assistance to eligible at-risk families by means of subcontracts between community action agencies and other local agencies, with the proviso that the subcontracts must be funded by previously awarded block grants and reported to the legislature under the provisions of section 5 of this act;

(5) The development and distribution of a comprehensive, community-oriented child and family resource guide to aid in the identification and referral of needed services for poor children and families at the county and community level; and

(6) The recognition of the paramountcy of local control and local citizen participation in the development of the child poverty project, and an equal recognition of the need to limit program and bureaucratic costs to the taxpayers while maximizing the actual assistance provided to poor children and families.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The child poverty project coordinating council, composed of representatives from community action agencies from across Washington, is hereby created to develop and implement the child poverty project under the policy goals outlined in section 3 of this act, and under the general review and oversight of the department.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The child poverty project coordinating council shall commission a full assessment of the child poverty project, to be submitted to the legislature no later than January 31, 1993.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The sum of eight million 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 purposes of this act. Of these funds, two hundred fifty thousand dollars shall be set aside for the assessment required by section 4 of this act, and a further one hundred fifty thousand dollars shall be set aside for costs incurred by the department for its share in the support and administration of the child poverty project.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. This chapter may be known and cited as the child poverty assessment and assistance act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 5 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 74 RCW.