H-2399

AN ACT Relating to foster care; amending RCW 74.13.031 and 74.13.280; adding new sections to chapter 74.13 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 74.13.031 and 1995 c 191 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

The department shall have the duty to provide child welfare services as defined in RCW 74.13.020, and shall:

(1) Develop, administer, supervise, and monitor a coordinated and comprehensive plan that establishes, aids, and strengthens services for the protection and care of homeless, runaway, dependent, or neglected children.

(2) ((~~Develop a recruiting plan for recruiting~~)) Recruit an adequate number of prospective adoptive and foster homes, both regular and specialized, i.e. homes for children of ethnic minority, including Indian homes for Indian children, sibling groups, handicapped and emotionally disturbed, teens, pregnant and parenting teens, and annually ((~~submit the plan for review~~)) report the department's success in meeting the need for adoptive and foster home placements to the appropriate committees of the house of representatives and senate ((~~committees on social and health services~~)). The ((~~plan~~)) report shall include a section entitled "Foster Home Turn-Over, Causes and Recommendations."

(3) Investigate complaints of neglect, abuse, or abandonment of children, and on the basis of the findings of such investigation, offer child welfare services in relation to the problem to such parents, legal custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis, and/or bring the situation to the attention of an appropriate court, or another community agency: PROVIDED, That an investigation is not required of nonaccidental injuries which are clearly not the result of a lack of care or supervision by the child's parents, legal custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis. If the investigation reveals that a crime may have been committed, the department shall notify the appropriate law enforcement agency.

(4) Offer, on a voluntary basis, family reconciliation services to families who are in conflict.

(5) Monitor out-of-home placements, on a timely and routine basis, to assure the safety, well-being, and quality of care being provided is within the scope of the intent of the legislature as defined in RCW 74.13.010 and 74.15.010, and annually submit a report ((~~delineating the results~~)) measuring the extent to which the department achieved the specified goals to the appropriate committees of the house of representatives and senate ((~~committees on social and health services~~)).

(6) Have authority to accept custody of children from parents and to accept custody of children from juvenile courts, where authorized to do so under law, to provide child welfare services including placement for adoption, and to provide for the physical care of such children and make payment of maintenance costs if needed. Except where required by Public Law 95-608 (25 U.S.C. Sec. 1915), no private adoption agency which receives children for adoption from the department shall discriminate on the basis of race, creed, or color when considering applications in their placement for adoption.

(7) Have authority to provide temporary shelter to children who have run away from home and who are admitted to crisis residential centers.

(8) Have authority to purchase care for children; and shall follow in general the policy of using properly approved private agency services for the actual care and supervision of such children insofar as they are available, paying for care of such children as are accepted by the department as eligible for support at reasonable rates established by the department.

(9) Establish a children's services advisory committee which shall assist the secretary in the development of a partnership plan for utilizing resources of the public and private sectors, and advise on all matters pertaining to child welfare, licensing of child care agencies, adoption, and services related thereto. At least one member shall represent the adoption community.

(10) Have authority to provide continued foster care or group care for individuals from eighteen through twenty years of age to enable them to complete their high school or vocational school program.

(11) Have authority within funds appropriated for foster care services to purchase care for Indian children who are in the custody of a federally recognized Indian tribe or tribally licensed child-placing agency pursuant to parental consent, tribal court order, or state juvenile court order; and the purchase of such care shall be subject to the same eligibility standards and rates of support applicable to other children for whom the department purchases care.

Notwithstanding any other provision of RCW 13.32A.170 through 13.32A.200 and 74.13.032 through 74.13.036, or of this section all services to be provided by the department of social and health services under subsections (4), (6), and (7) of this section, subject to the limitations of these subsections, may be provided by any program offering such services funded pursuant to Titles II and III of the federal juvenile justice and delinquency prevention act of 1974.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

The department shall provide a foster parent liaison position in each department region. The department shall contract with a private nonprofit organization to provide the foster parent liaison function. The foster parent liaison shall enhance the working relationship between department case workers and foster parents. The foster parent liaison shall provide expedited assistance for the unique needs and requirements posed by special needs foster children in out-of-home care. The foster parent liaison shall reduce the turnover of foster parents by twenty percent from the historical turnover rate in each region.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

The department shall increase the number of adoptive and foster families available to accept children through an intensive recruitment and retention program. The department shall provide an additional two hundred adoptive and foster home placements by June 30, 1998.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department shall provide child-placing agencies licensed under chapter 74.15 RCW a rate designed to cover eighty percent of the agencies' actual costs in recruiting, training, and licensing foster homes, visiting foster children, families, and birth families, case management, and referral services. The department shall adopt rules specifying how actual costs will be determined.

(2) Agencies receiving reimbursement under this section shall improve their performance for children placed in their custody and care by the same factor as the rate increase provided by this section. The department shall adopt rules specifying the objective standards by which the child care agency will be evaluated. Agencies failing to meet the specified objective standards will be reimbursed for their services based on the historical percent of their actual costs in effect on January 1, 1997.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

(1) After the effective date of chapter . . ., Laws of . . . (this act), the department shall provide to every foster parent who receives a foster child a passport that contains a complete report containing all known and available information concerning the mental, physical, legal, health, and educational status of the child. The passport shall be provided to the foster parent at the initial physical placement of the child. The department shall update the passport during the regularly scheduled court reviews required under chapter 13.34 RCW.

(2) If, on July 1, 1998, the department has failed to completely implement this section, a reduction in force of six full-time equivalent administrative positions shall be applied to the children's administration. The positions affected by this reduction in force shall not include any positions involving the direct provision of services to children and families, licensing, or monitoring of children in care. The funds generated from this reduction in force shall be used to contract for the development and operation of the passport program required by this section.

(3) The secretary of the department of social and health services shall certify to the ways and means committee of the senate and the appropriations committee of the house of representatives whether the children's administration has complied with the provisions of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

The department shall provide child care for all foster parents who are required to attend meetings, training, and any other out-of-home activities related to their official duties as a foster parent. If the department is unable or unwilling to provide such child care the department shall conduct the activities covered by this section in the foster parent's home or other location acceptable to the foster parent.

Sec. 7. RCW 74.13.280 and 1995 c 311 s 21 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Except as provided in RCW 70.24.105, whenever a child is placed in out-of-home care by the department or a child-placing agency, the department or agency ((~~may~~)) shall share information about the child and the child's family with the care provider and ((~~may~~)) shall consult with the care provider regarding the child's case plan. If the child is dependent pursuant to a proceeding under chapter 13.34 RCW, the department or agency shall keep the care provider informed regarding the dates and location of dependency review and permanency planning hearings pertaining to the child.

(2) Any person who receives information about a child or a child's family pursuant to this section shall keep the information confidential and shall not further disclose or disseminate the information except as authorized by law.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the department or child-placing agencies to disclose client information or to maintain client confidentiality as provided by law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If specific funding for the purposes of section 2, or section 3, or section 4 of this act, referencing this act by section and bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 1997, in the omnibus appropriations act, the specific section not referenced is null and void.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect July 1, 1997.