HB 2605 - DIGEST

(SEE ALSO PROPOSED 1ST SUB)

     Requires that, 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.

     Requires all group homes to meet at least the following minimum security requirements:  (1) 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;

     (2) have video cameras that monitor the exterior of the premises twenty-four hours a day; and

     (3) have doors and windows that are in good condition and have operative locks.

     Directs the division of juvenile rehabilitation to 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.