S‑1330.4 _____________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5480
_____________________________________________
State of Washington 57th Legislature 2001 Regular Session
By Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections (originally sponsored by Senators Fairley, McAuliffe, Eide, Rasmussen, Long, Thibaudeau, Kline, Franklin, Kohl‑Welles, Regala and McCaslin)
READ FIRST TIME 02/22/01.
_1 AN ACT Relating to children placed in the care of relatives;
_2 adding a new section to chapter 74.08A RCW; creating new sections;
_3 and providing an expiration date.
_4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
_5 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature in
_6 enacting this act to:
_7 (1) Recognize family relationships in which a relative is the
_8 head of a household that includes a child otherwise at risk of
_9 foster care placement;
10 (2) Enhance family preservation and stability by recognizing
11 that most children in such placements with relatives do not need
12 intensive supervision of the placement by the courts or by the
13 department of social and health services;
14 (3) Recognize that permanency in the best interests of the
15 child can be achieved through a variety of permanency options,
16 including long‑term relative custody, guardianship, or adoption,
17 by providing additional placement options and incentives that will
18 achieve permanency and stability for many children who are
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_1 otherwise at risk of foster care placement because of abuse,
_2 abandonment, or neglect, but who may successfully be able to be
_3 placed in the care of relatives.
_4 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 74.08A
_5 RCW to read as follows:
_6 (1) The department shall adopt rules to provide relatives who
_7 are caring for needy children a special monthly relative caregiver
_8 benefit, which shall be in the amount of at least one hundred
_9 dollars per child per month. This benefit shall be available only
10 for a child who is not the first child in the assistance unit. The
11 relative caregiver benefit is not intended to supplant any other
12 grant or benefit for which relatives or the children in their care
13 are currently eligible.
14 (2) Within available funding, the department shall provide
15 relative caregivers with a range of support services designed to
16 assist relatives in parenting the children placed in their care.
17 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The legislature finds that a major
18 roadblock in understanding kinship caregivers, including
19 grandparents raising grandchildren as primary caregivers, is a
20 lack of data. The legislature further finds that nationally over
21 two million children are being raised solely by their grandparents
22 or other relatives according to the 1998 United States current
23 population survey and that split-generation households are equally
24 common in central cities and in rural areas. The same survey
25 estimates that thirty-eight thousand nine hundred twenty-two
26 children in Washington lived in grandparent headed households. The
27 legislature acknowledges that kinship caregivers may be reluctant
28 to provide care, but are likely to do so because of emotional,
29 drug, mental, or alcohol problems by parents, and because the
30 caregivers do not want the children to go to a foster home and
31 that the state should encourage, not discourage, responsible
32 actions by relatives who come forward to care for the children of
33 kin.
34 The legislature intends to determine the scope of the needs and
35 concerns of kinship caregivers in Washington. The legislature
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_1 further intends to determine the availability of existing
_2 services, the need for improved services, the need for better
_3 coordination, and accessibility of those services.
_4 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The Washington state institute for public
_5 policy will convene a work group to determine: The number of
_6 families with relatives raising kin, the needs of the relative
_7 kinship caregivers and the children being raised by them, whether
_8 additional services and funding are needed, and issues regarding
_9 access to services and funding sources. The work group must include
10 representatives from: The aging and adult services administration,
11 children's administration, economic services administration,
12 health and rehabilitative services administration, family policy
13 counsel, Washington counsel for the prevention of child abuse and
14 neglect, department of health, Washington State University
15 cooperative extension, and office of the family and children's
16 ombudsman.
17 The work group must solicit input from kinship caregivers;
18 county health departments; state agencies dealing with
19 developmental disabilities or mental health; public health
20 departments; child and family resource centers; private
21 organizations representing the interests of kinship caregivers;
22 kinship support groups; family support centers; the association of
23 Washington tribes; the children's home society; providers of legal
24 services to families; and any other persons or groups identified
25 by the work group that would provide helpful input.
26 The work group report must include: Identification of existing
27 funding sources, services, and networks; recommendations on how
28 existing services, funding sources, and networks can be better
29 coordinated; whether additional funding or services are needed,
30 how to best obtain them, and their cost; recommendations on what
31 training and oversight may be required; and other conclusions or
32 recommendations regarding what the state can do to aid kinship
33 caregivers.
34 The report and recommendations of the work group shall be
35 presented to the legislature not later than December 1, 2001.
36
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_1 NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections 3 and 4 of this act expire
_2 January 30, 2002.
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