BILL REQ. #:  Z-0248.1 

Read first time 01/12/2005.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to cost-effective prevention and early intervention programs; and adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Cost-effective" means that cost savings to taxpayers realized over a reasonable period of time are greater than costs to taxpayers.
     (2) "Council" means the prevention quality council created in section 2 of this act.
     (3) "Evidence-based program" means a program that (a) incorporates significant and relevant practices based on scientifically based research and (b) is cost-effective.
     (4) "Institute" means the Washington state institute for public policy, created by the legislature in 1983.
     (5) "Prevention and early intervention programs" means programs that are intended, through activities involving persons under eighteen years of age, to prevent or reduce the future likelihood of any of the following outcomes:
     (a) Commission of crime;
     (b) Abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs;
     (c) Failure to graduate from high school;
     (d) Pregnancy or parenting before age eighteen;
     (e) Suicide or attempted suicide;
     (f) Child abuse or neglect, as either victim or perpetrator;
     (g) Domestic violence as defined in chapter 10.99 RCW; or
     (h) Other adverse outcomes identified by the council.
     (6) "Scientifically based research" means research that obtains reliable and valid knowledge by:
     (a) Employing systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment;
     (b) Involving rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn; and
     (c) Relying on measurements or observational methods that provide reliable and valid data across evaluators and observers, across multiple measurements and observations, and across studies by the same or different investigators.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1)(a) The prevention quality council is created. The council shall consist of nine members as follows: The director of the office of financial management; the superintendent of public instruction; the secretary of the department of social and health services; the secretary of the department of health; the secretary of corrections; and four members of the legislature, one of whom is appointed by the chair of each of the two largest political caucuses of the senate and house of representatives, from among the members of the committees having jurisdiction over the omnibus operating budget.
     (b) The council shall select its chair from among the members, and may select such other officers as its members deem necessary.
     (2) Members of the council shall serve without additional compensation, but legislative members shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120 while attending sessions of the council or on official business authorized by the council. Nonlegislative members of the council shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
     (3) The office of financial management shall provide staff services to the council.
     (4) The council shall contract with the institute to conduct research required under this chapter and report its findings to the council and the public.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The council shall meet at least annually to:
     (1) Identify state agencies operating or funding prevention programs;
     (2) Review research findings and recommendations of the institute;
     (3) Identify gaps in available research and make recommendations to the legislature regarding areas that should be prioritized for future research investments;
     (4) Certify, by affirmative vote of at least six members, evidence-based prevention programs for state funding; and
     (5) Recommend legislation modifying duties and services of state agencies as necessary to achieve the purposes of this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   The institute, by contract with the council, shall:
     (1) Review evaluation and other research to identify evidence-based programs, whether operating in this state or elsewhere;
     (2) Estimate and compare the cost-effectiveness of prevention programs;
     (3) Periodically update its findings based on new or updated research;
     (4) Periodically review operations of certified evidence-based programs for fidelity to designs and models on which certification was based; and
     (5) Perform other research and analyses related to the purposes of this chapter as the council or the legislature may direct, subject to available funding.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   State agencies identified by the council as operating or funding prevention programs shall:
     (1) Submit biennial reports to the council containing:
     (a) A description of each prevention program on which the agency expends state funds, including but not limited to whether the program is an evidence-based program; and
     (b) The percentage of state funds the agency receives for prevention programs that is being expended on evidence-based programs; and
     (2) Spend not less than the percentages of state funds specified in this section on certified evidence-based programs in the fiscal years specified:
     (a) Fifty percent in fiscal year 2007;
     (b) Sixty percent in fiscal year 2008; and
     (c) Seventy percent in fiscal year 2009 and thereafter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   This chapter shall be known as the prevention and early intervention quality and accountability act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.