S-1871.1  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5811

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington   57th Legislature        2002 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections (originally sponsored by Senators Kohl‑Welles, Hargrove, Costa, Long, McAuliffe and Carlson)

READ FIRST TIME 02/26/2001.

Requiring the juvenile rehabilitation administration to prepare reports concerning equal access to its human services.

    AN ACT Relating to annual reports of, and recommendations for improvements in, equal access to delivery of human services by the department of social and health services, juvenile rehabilitation administration; and adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  (1) The legislature intends, through its adoption of policies and appropriations, that no minors, on the basis of ethnicity or gender, be denied access to services which are intended to improve their lives.

    (2) The legislature intends to determine whether budgetary and administrative policies implemented in the department of social and health services, juvenile rehabilitation administration have operated in a manner designed to assure equal access by minors to certain services without regard to arbitrary distinctions.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

    (1) "Equal access to services" means services are provided to recipients regardless of ethnicity or gender.

    (2) "Human services" means those programs and services operated or funded by the department of social and health services, juvenile rehabilitation administration.

    (3) "Person" means an individual under the age of eighteen.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  (1) Upon implementation of an automated case management information system, the department of social and health services, juvenile rehabilitation administration shall prepare and present to the legislature and governor an annual report of equal access to its human services, delivered directly or by contract.  For each human service provided, the report shall identify the following:  (a) The type of human service provided; (b) whether the service was provided by the juvenile rehabilitation administration or delivered by contract with a vendor; (c) the number of persons who received human services who were female and the number who were male; and (d) the number of persons who received services, by ethnicity.  The report shall be presented to the legislature and the governor.

    (2) The report shall be sufficiently detailed to permit the recipients to examine the programs and contractors within each human service to determine the numbers of persons receiving services by gender and ethnicity.  The juvenile rehabilitation administration shall, when the data within the report indicate that equal access is not available, provide the legislature and governor an explanation of the reasons for the lack of equal access, and a plan for attaining equal access and the cost of doing so.  The submission of a plan under this section shall not create an entitlement to service for any person.

    (3) For purposes of this report, the delivery of basic education shall be considered a human service only when the basic education is provided at a juvenile rehabilitation administration facility.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.  Sections 1 through 3 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.

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