[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to at-risk youth; amending RCW 74.13.031; and adding new sections to chapter 74.13 RCW.

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

PART I - CRISIS RESIDENTIAL CENTERS AND TREATMENT SERVICES

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

Any county or group of counties may make application to the department of social and health services in the manner and form prescribed by the department to administer and provide the services established under RCW 13.32A.197. Any such application must include a plan or plans for providing such services to at-risk youth.

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

No county may receive any state funds provided by this chapter until its application and plan are received by the department.

(1) The distribution of funds to a county or a group of counties shall be based on criteria including but not limited to the county's per capita income, regional or county at-risk populations, rates of poverty, and the presence of existing programs serving at-risk children.

(2) The secretary of social and health services shall reimburse a county upon presentation and approval of a valid claim pursuant to this chapter based on actual performance in meeting the terms and conditions of the approved plan and contract. Funds received by participating counties under this chapter shall not be used to replace local funds for existing programs.

(3) Funds available for county-operated treatment facilities and services under RCW 13.32A.197 shall not exceed the appropriation for these services specified in the biennial operating budget.

Sec. 3. RCW 74.13.031 and 1998 c 314 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:

The department shall have the duty to provide child welfare services 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) Within available resources, 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 report to the governor and the legislature concerning the department's success in: (a) Meeting the need for adoptive and foster home placements; (b) reducing the foster parent turnover rate; (c) completing home studies for legally free children; and (d) implementing and operating the passport program required by RCW 74.13.285. The report shall include a section entitled "Foster Home Turn-Over, Causes and Recommendations."

(3) Investigate complaints of any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, or sexual abuse or exploitation, or that presents an imminent risk of serious harm, 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 against a child 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 measuring the extent to which the department achieved the specified goals to the governor and the legislature.

(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.

(12) Provide funding for counties to operate treatment facilities and provide treatment services to children who have been ordered placed in a staff secure facility under RCW 13.32A.197.

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, or counties under subsection (12) 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. 4. A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

(1) A county or group of counties operating a treatment facility under sections 1 and 2 of this act shall establish, by contracts with private or public vendors, treatment centers with staff secure facilities. These facilities shall be structured group care facilities licensed under rules adopted by the department.

(2) The staff at the facilities established under RCW 13.32A.197 shall be trained so that they may effectively counsel, supervise, provide treatment for behavioral difficulties or needs, and provide structure to the juveniles admitted to treatment facilities. The treatment, supervision, and counseling must recognize the need for support and the varying circumstances that cause children to leave their families.

(3) Juveniles shall be admitted to the facilities based on a court order for placement at a staff secure facility to receive treatment under RCW 13.32A.197. Juveniles shall not be denied admission based on their county of residence.

(4) The state shall indemnify and hold harmless facilities providing services to children under this section, from actions arising from placement in their facilities.