H-3564.6 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2605
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 55th Legislature 1998 Regular Session
By Representatives O'Brien, Ballasiotes, Radcliff, Benson, Constantine, Cooper, Lantz, Robertson, Hatfield, Hankins, Scott, Dunn, Backlund, Costa, McDonald, Mitchell, Thompson, Quall and Delvin
Read first time 01/16/98. Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections.
AN ACT Relating to safety of group homes; and adding new sections to chapter 74.13 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) Before placing a group home in a community, the department must hold a public hearing on the subject of the placement of the group home in order to allow the community to comment on the issue. The type of notice required of the department is the same notice that is required by the local municipality or county of developers who build in the municipality or county. The process must provide for broad dissemination of proposals and alternatives, public meetings after community notification, opportunity for written public comments, and consideration of and response to public comments.
(2) Before the department places a group home in an area, the local legislative authority must establish community councils of concerned citizens to monitor and provide input on the decisions surrounding the placement of a group home. These community councils shall work with the local police agencies and the operators of the group homes to help lessen any negative impacts the placement of the facilities might have on the neighborhoods in which they are located. One of the principle functions of the councils will be to improve communications between the group home operators and neighborhood organizations. The community councils will have the final authority, based on an examination of juvenile criminal history, as to whether or not particular persons are admitted to the group homes in their respective neighborhoods.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The department must by rule adopt strict security requirements for staff who work at group homes. In no event may a person who has a felony conviction within the past five years be allowed to work at or staff a group home.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) All group homes must meet at least the following minimum security requirements:
(a) Have an alarm system designed to monitor residents and notify the staff and local police if there has been an escape or if a resident has taken an unauthorized leave of the premises;
(b) Have video cameras that monitor the exterior of the premises twenty-four hours a day; and
(c) Have doors and windows that are in good condition and have operative locks.
(2) Local police agencies may make unannounced visits to group homes to check security and check the treatment and status of the occupants.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The division of juvenile rehabilitation must create a program that allows for the immediate retrieval of a juvenile offender's information and records between the department, the group home staff, the local police department, other police departments in Washington state or any other states that have had contact with the juvenile offender, the current and former school districts attended by the resident, any juvenile courts that have had contact with the resident, and any correctional facilities that have had custody of the resident.
The primary purpose of the information sharing program is to allow all interested parties to have full access to the resident's arrest and conviction information in order to determine if the resident meets the criteria for admission to a group home, or if the resident's record indicates that he or she should be placed in a more secure facility in order to safeguard the community.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections 1 through 4 of this act are each added to chapter 74.13 RCW.
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