BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to the home visitor program; amending RCW 43.121.015 and 43.121.070; adding new sections to chapter 43.121 RCW; creating new sections; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. HEALTHY FAMILIES‑-WASHINGTON HOME VISITOR PROGRAM‑-FINDINGS. The legislature finds that:

(1) Child abuse and neglect has been shown to be a significant risk factor for violent behavior. Abused or neglected children have an increased likelihood of arrest and involvement in violent crime as youths or adults, and of victimization;

(2) One of the most effective strategies for preventing child abuse and neglect is to provide parents with education and support either in parents' homes or in other locations comfortable for parents, beginning with the birth of their first baby; and

(3) Primary prevention efforts that provide parents with education and support, and thereby reduce the rate of child abuse and neglect, are an essential component of any youth violence prevention effort.

Sec. 2. RCW 43.121.015 and 1988 c 278 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

As used in this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Child" means an unmarried person who is under eighteen years of age.

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

(3) "Council" means the Washington council for the prevention of child abuse and neglect.

((~~(3)~~)) (4) "Parent" means the birth or adoptive parent, or legal guardian of a child.

(5) "Primary prevention" of child abuse and neglect means any effort designed to inhibit or preclude the initial occurrence of child abuse and neglect, both by the promotion of positive parenting and family interaction, and the remediation of factors linked to causes of child maltreatment.

((~~(4)~~)) (6) "Secondary prevention" means services and programs that identify and assist families under such stress that abuse or neglect is likely or families display symptoms associated with child abuse or neglect.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. HEALTHY FAMILIES‑-WASHINGTON HOME VISITOR PROGRAM. (1) There is established in the council a program to coordinate and fund up to ten community-based healthy families‑-Washington home visitor program sites. Selection of program sites shall be made competitively based upon compliance with RCW 43.121.070, 43.121.080 and sections 4 and 5 of this act.

(2) Program criteria shall be established by the council in consultation with the community public health and safety council established pursuant to chapter 70.190 RCW, and with private and public groups involved in child abuse and neglect prevention and shall reflect the following principles:

(a) Family policy principles enunciated by the community public health and safety council;

(b) Flexibility in program design and implementation to accommodate unique community characteristics and needs;

(d) Availability of services, within resources, to all parents of newborns who need support, delivered at the level of intensity and duration that best meets the needs of each family; and

(e) Increased coordination of existing services to prospective parents and parents of newborn children.

(3) Where appropriate, the council may utilize funds in the children's trust fund for program sites established pursuant to sections 3 through 5 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. HEALTHY FAMILIES‑-WASHINGTON HOME VISITOR PROGRAM SITES‑-REQUIREMENTS. (1) Each community-based healthy families--Washington home visitor program site shall be designed to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect in the defined community.

(2) Program participation by parents shall be voluntary. In offering or providing services, every effort shall be made to coordinate with and utilize other programs that fund or provide any of the services referenced in subsection (3) of this section. The primary focus for expenditure of healthy families‑-Washington home visitor program funds should be development of a coordinated system of family support services for parents of newborn children in the community, provision of home visits and provision of services referenced in subsection (3) of this section that are not currently funded from other sources.

(3) Each program site shall make the following services available to families in the defined community:

(a) Visits for all expectant or new parents, either at the parent's home or another location with which the parent is comfortable;

(b) Screening prior to or soon after the birth of a child to assess the family's strengths and goals, and define areas of concern in consultation with the family;

(d) Parenting and family support information and referral;

(e) Parent support groups;

(f) Service coordination for individual families, and assistance with accessing services, provided in a manner that ensures that individual families have only one individual or agency to which they look for service coordination. Where appropriate for a family, service coordination may be conducted through interdisciplinary or interagency teams.

(4) The council shall evaluate each program site. Each program site shall cooperate in the council's evaluation, and be evaluated based solely on the rate by which child abuse and neglect reports in the defined community are reduced, measured from the rates prior to the implementation of the program. Program sites that demonstrate by empirical evidence that they have been successful in reducing the child abuse and neglect rate in the defined community shall be eligible for consideration if reauthorized funding becomes available. Child abuse and neglect rates may be measured by criteria other than child protective services data.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. HEALTHY FAMILIES‑-WASHINGTON HOME VISITOR PROGRAM SITES‑-APPLICATIONS. Applications for healthy families‑-Washington home visitor program funding shall:

(1) Define the community requesting funding;

(2) Designate a lead agency or organization for the program site;

(3) Contain evidence of the active participation of entities in the community that will participate in the program;

(4) Demonstrate the participation of parents who are not affiliated with participating entities in the development of the program;

(5) Describe the specific activities that will be undertaken by the program site;

(6) Identify the community matching funds required under RCW 43.121.080;

(7) Include statistics on child abuse and neglect rates in the community over at least the past five years. Statistics shall not be limited to child protective services data. Upon request, the department of social and health services shall assist in the compilation of these statistics for applicants; and

(8) Include components that will demonstrate sensitivity to religious, cultural, and socioeconomic differences in the defined community.

Sec. 6. RCW 43.121.070 and 1982 c 4 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

In awarding contracts under RCW 43.121.060 and sections 3 through 5 of this act, consideration shall be given to factors such as need, diversity of geographic locations, coordination with or enhancement of existing services, and the extensive use of volunteers in the program. Further consideration shall be given to the extent to which contract proposals are based on prior research that indicates a probability of goal achievement.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. APPROPRIATION. The sum of one million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund to the Washington council for the prevention of child abuse and neglect for the healthy families‑-Washington home visitor program. No single program site shall receive funding in excess of one hundred thousand dollars for the biennium ending June 30, 1995.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. CAPTIONS. Captions as used in this act constitute no part of the law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 3 through 5 of this act are each added to chapter 43.121 RCW.