BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to at-risk youth; adding new sections to chapter 13.32A RCW; adding new sections to chapter 70.96A RCW; adding new sections to chapter 71.34 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 13.32A RCW to read as follows:

The parents of a child placed in a crisis residential center shall contribute fifty dollars per day, for not more than five consecutive days, for the expense of the child's placement. However, the secretary may establish a payment schedule that requires a lesser payment based on a parent's ability to pay. The payment shall be made to the department. No child may be denied placement in, or removed from, a crisis residential center based solely on the income of the parent.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 13.32A RCW to read as follows:

(1) This section contains special provisions to deal with the extraordinary dangers to children who are habitual runaways and to assist families to cope with the acute problems presented by such children.

(2) In disposition proceedings involving a child in need of services or an at-risk youth, the court may adopt the additional orders authorized under this section if it finds that the child involved in those proceedings is an habitual runaway. The court may include in its dispositional orders a requirement that the child be placed, for up to one hundred eighty consecutive days, in a facility that the court finds operates with a level of security adequate to prevent the child from leaving the facility without authorization and that will provide for the child's participation in a program designed to remedy his or her behavior difficulties. The court may not include this requirement unless, at the disposition hearing, it finds that the placement is clearly necessary in order to protect the child and that less-restrictive orders not requiring such placement would be inadequate to protect the child, given the child's age, maturity, propensity to run away from home, past exposure to serious risk when the child ran away from home, and possible future exposure to serious risk should the child run away from home again. The orders shall also contain provisions providing for periodic court review of the placement, with the first review hearing conducted not more than thirty days after the date of the placement. Prior to each review hearing, the court shall advise the parents of their right to counsel and shall have appointed counsel to represent the child. At each review hearing the court shall review the orders to determine the progress of the child and whether the orders are still necessary for the protection of the child and whether a less-restrictive order of placement would be adequate. The court shall make such modifications in its orders as it finds necessary to protect the child. Unless the court provides to the contrary, review hearings of orders adopted under this section shall be held exclusively under this section and shall not be subject to the review provisions applicable under this chapter to disposition orders pertaining to a child in need of services or to at-risk youth.

(3) In disposition proceedings involving a child in need of services or an at-risk youth, the court may impose the following additional sanction on an habitual runaway for violation of any court order: The court may order the department of licensing to suspend the child's driver's license for ninety days.

(4) For purposes of this section, a child is an "habitual runaway" if the child, on three or more separate occasions within the twelve-month period before the commencement of the disposition proceedings, has been absent from the parent's home, or other residence lawfully prescribed for the child, for more than seventy-two consecutive hours without consent of the parent; or if the child during such twelve-month period has been absent from such home or residence without consent of the parent for more than thirty consecutive days.

(5) State funds may only be used to pay for placements under this section if, and to the extent that, such funds are appropriated to expressly pay for them.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 13.32A RCW to read as follows:

A violation of RCW 13.32A.082 is a misdemeanor.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 70.96A RCW to read as follows:

Any provider of treatment in an approved treatment program who provides treatment to a minor under RCW 70.96A.095(1) must provide notice of the request for treatment to the minor's parents. The notice must be made within forty-eight hours of the request for treatment, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, and must contain the same information as required under RCW 71.34.030(2)(b).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 70.96A RCW to read as follows:

Nothing in this chapter authorizes school district personnel to refer minors to any treatment program or treatment provider without providing notice of the referral to the parent, parents, or guardians.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 71.34 RCW to read as follows:

Any provider of treatment at an evaluation and treatment facility who provides treatment to a minor under RCW 71.34.030(1) must provide notice of the request for treatment to the minor's parents. The notice must be made within forty-eight hours of the request for treatment, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, and must contain the same information as required under RCW 71.34.030(2)(b).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 71.34 RCW to read as follows:

Nothing in this chapter authorizes school district personnel to refer minors to any evaluation and treatment program or mental health professional without providing notice of the referral to the minor's parent.