"NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that extensive research conducted by the Washington state institute for public policy demonstrates the potential for appreciable savings in the state's child welfare budget by deploying a core set of evidence-based and promising programs designed to strengthen families and prevent children from entering the foster care system and reducing the length of stay for children who do enter the system. The legislature further finds that achieving improved outcomes for child safety and long-term family strength and well-being requires renewed thinking and a greater emphasis on expanding the capacity to deliver evidence-based and promising prevention and intervention services, earlier positive engagement with parents and children, more flexibility to focus on timely permanency outcomes, and more effective utilization of community resources and private partners. The legislature also finds that the goal of achieving lasting change in the state's child welfare system requires building and sustaining the serving capacity of prevention and early intervention programs through the reinvestment of savings from reduced foster care caseloads. The legislature further finds that implementation of these reforms should be approached through collaborative analysis and planning that includes the relevant state agencies, Indian tribes and recognized Indian organizations, community partners, and other stakeholders. The legislature intends to direct the development of a plan for the first phase of implementation to begin January 1, 2011.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The children's administration within the department shall implement two demonstration reform initiatives utilizing performance-based contracts for an array of evidence-based and promising prevention and intervention services for families who are at risk for an out-of-home placement or have a child in out-of-home care, and for children who are awaiting adoption. Pursuant to RCW 41.06.142(3), performance-based contracting under this section is expressly mandated by the legislature and is not subject to the processes set forth in RCW 41.06.142 (1), (4), and (5). Two sites shall be selected, one for each of the following approaches to the implementation of performance-based contracting:
     (a) Performance-based contracts shall govern the delivery of all child welfare services, including case management services; voluntary and in-home services; out-of-home care services; and permanency services relating to reunification, relative search, guardianship, adoption, and preparation for independent living; and
     (b) The department shall continue to provide the services customarily and historically provided by the department and shall continue to supervise all services, but may contract for the provision of services it deems necessary to achieve the desired performance goals. To the extent that the department contracts for services, including voluntary and in-home services; out-of-home care services; and permanency services relating to reunification, relative search, guardianship, adoption, and preparation for independent living, those contracts shall contain performance-based outcomes.
     (2) The children's administration shall retain statewide responsibility for:
     (a) Child protection functions and services, including intake and investigation of allegations of child abuse and neglect, emergency shelter care functions under RCW 13.34.050, and referrals to appropriate providers, services, or programs; and
     (b) The issuance of licenses relating to child protection and child welfare services, including but not limited to licenses for foster family homes, group homes, and other facilities serving children.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The performance contracting oversight committee is established for the primary purpose of providing expertise, structure, guidance, and oversight for the implementation of sections 1 through 5 of this act. Membership of the committee shall include:
     (a) Two representatives from private nonprofit agencies providing child welfare services to children and families referred by the department, including one representative of licensed child placing agencies;
     (b) The assistant secretary of the children's administration in the department, who shall serve as cochair of the committee;
     (c) One regional administrator and one area administrator in the children's administration selected by the assistant secretary;
     (d) The administrator for the division of licensed resources in the children's administration;
     (e) Two nationally recognized experts in performance-based contracting;
     (f) The attorney general or his or her designee;
     (g) A representative of the collective bargaining unit that represents the largest number of employees in the children's administration;
     (h) A representative from the office of the family and children's ombudsman;
     (i) Two representatives from the Indian policy advisory committee convened by the department's office of Indian policy and support services;
     (j) Two currently elected or former superior court judges with significant experience in dependency matters, selected by the superior court judges' association;
     (k) One representative from partners for our children affiliated with the University of Washington school of social work, who shall serve as cochair of the committee;
     (l) Two members of the legislature, one from each chamber, selected jointly by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate; and
     (m) A representative of foster care providers.
     (2) The cochairs of the committee shall convene the first meeting of the committee by June 15, 2009.
     (3) The committee shall develop the criteria for the implementation of performance-based contracts at the demonstration sites in a manner to minimize any potential loss of federal funds. The criteria must be sufficient for the children's administration to develop requests for proposal and must describe:
     (a) The services to be delivered under the contracts in order to assure providers have the flexibility to provide adequate, appropriate, and relevant evidence-based and promising services to individual children and families;
     (b) The outcome measures to be used to evaluate performance under the contracts and the tools to be utilized to collect and report data on performance;
     (c) The procedure for referring families to contracted providers, including clear protocols for continued communication or coordination between contracted providers and the children's administration, and Indian tribes in order to assure child safety and well-being and to promote the family's engagement;
     (d) The rate structures of the contracts, including incentives and reinvestments, if any, as well as how performance will be linked to opportunities to bid on future contracts;
     (e) A plan for communicating with the multiple child-serving systems within the demonstration site regarding implementation of the contracts, including clear descriptions of new roles and functions of contracted case managers, where appropriate. The communication plan shall include a process for early and ongoing communications throughout the demonstration site, including a process for establishing and maintaining communication with Indian tribes and organizations within the demonstration site;
     (f) Methods to be used for monitoring contract performance, assuring quality of services, and ensuring compliance with state and federal laws including, but not limited to, requirements tied to federal funding for foster care, and the Indian child welfare act as well as the related guidelines and protocols established between the state and tribes;
     (g) Estimates of start-up costs, including a discussion of how those costs will be distributed under the contracts; and
     (h) Recommendations for the distribution of legal and financial risk and liability between the state and contracted partners.
     (4) The criteria developed for the demonstration site described in section 2(1)(b) of this act also shall include recommendations for the optimum balance of shared responsibility for delivering child protection services and child welfare services between the state and community-based providers, including a description of the core functions to be performed by each.
     (5) The demonstration sites shall be selected by the committee and shall include consideration of:
     (a) The infrastructure and capacity of the site for delivering an array of evidence-based and promising prevention and intervention services, paying particular attention to the research developed by the Washington state institute for public policy regarding preventing the need for and reducing the duration of foster care placements;
     (b) The willingness and ability of the site's community providers, children's administration staff, and other stakeholders to effectively collaborate in the development and implementation of performance-based contracts for the delivery of child welfare services; and
     (c) The existence of multidisciplinary or multisystem work on performance improvement or reform efforts within the site that may harmonize with or support the implementation of performance-based contracts.
     (6) After the sites have been selected, the committee shall convene appropriate site transition teams to develop their respective transition plans to implement the contracts. Site teams shall include those persons identified by the assistant secretary and the executive director as being essential to developing a comprehensive transition plan.
     (7) The committee shall select the demonstration sites and notify the governor and the legislature of the site selections, and by December 1, 2010, the committee shall brief the governor and the legislature on the phased implementation plans for each site. The phased implementation of contracts shall begin January 1, 2011.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The assistant secretary of the children's administration and the director of partners for our children, or their designees, shall provide the governor, the appropriate committees of the legislature, and the performance contracting oversight committee with:
     (a) Periodic updates on the development of the transition plans via electronically filed reports or in-person briefings, as convenient or practicable; and
     (b) Quarterly updates via electronically filed reports beginning March 31, 2011, of the transition progress and operations at the demonstration sites.
     (2) Partners for our children shall evaluate the implementation and operation of the demonstration sites and shall provide annual reports to the performance contracting oversight committee, the legislature, and the governor beginning January 1, 2013. The evaluation shall analyze to what extent the reforms implemented in the demonstration sites have resulted in improved outcomes for children and families, increased efficiencies in the delivery of child welfare services, and enhanced partnerships with community partners and stakeholders.
     (3) By December 31, 2013, the assistant secretary of the children's administration and the executive director of partners for our children shall provide the governor and the legislature with recommendations for expansion and continued operation of the demonstration sites, including recommendations for adjustments to operations based on experiences in the demonstration sites.
     (4) Based on the recommendations, the governor may direct the children's administration to develop implementation plans and expand the use of performance-based contracts according to the same standards required for development of the demonstration sites as described in this section, or may direct the demonstration to terminate. Any expansion plans shall reflect the recommendations and lessons learned from the evaluation of the demonstration sites.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   The department of social and health services, the office of financial management, and the caseload forecast council shall develop a proposal for submission to the legislature and the governor for the reinvestment of savings in the demonstration sites into evidence-based prevention and intervention programs designed to prevent the need for or reduce the duration of foster care placements in the demonstration sites. The proposal shall be consistent with the proposed implementation plans developed under sections 2 and 3 of this act and must be submitted to the legislature and the governor by November 30, 2010, and shall include sufficient detail regarding accounting, budgeting, and allocation or other procedures for legislative consideration and approval.

Sec. 6   RCW 74.13.020 and 1999 c 267 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) As used in Title 74 RCW, "child welfare services ((shall be defined as public))" mean publicly provided or contracted social services including adoption services which strengthen, supplement, or substitute for, parental care and supervision for the purpose of:
     (((1))) (a) Preventing or remedying, or assisting in the solution of problems which may result in families in conflict, or the neglect, abuse, exploitation, or criminal behavior of children;
     (((2))) (b) Protecting and caring for dependent or neglected children;
     (((3))) (c) Assisting children who are in conflict with their parents, and assisting parents who are in conflict with their children with services designed to resolve such conflicts;
     (((4))) (d) Protecting and promoting the welfare of children, including the strengthening of their own homes where possible, or, where needed;
     (((5))) (e) Providing adequate care of children away from their homes in foster family homes or day care or other child care agencies or facilities.
     ((As used in)) (2) For purposes of this chapter((,)) and chapter 74.15 RCW:
     (a) "Child" means a person less than eighteen years of age;
     (b) "Department" means the department of social and health services or a supervising agency with whom the department has contracted for the provision of child welfare services under sections 1 through 5 of this act.
     (3) The department's duty to provide services to homeless families with children is set forth in RCW 43.20A.790 and in appropriations provided by the legislature for implementation of the plan.

Sec. 7   RCW 74.15.020 and 2007 c 412 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     For the purpose of this chapter and RCW 74.13.031, and unless otherwise clearly indicated by the context thereof, the following terms shall mean:
     (1) "Agency" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or facility which receives children, expectant mothers, or persons with developmental disabilities for control, care, or maintenance outside their own homes, or which places, arranges the placement of, or assists in the placement of children, expectant mothers, or persons with developmental disabilities for foster care or placement of children for adoption, and shall include the following irrespective of whether there is compensation to the agency or to the children, expectant mothers or persons with developmental disabilities for services rendered:
     (a) "Child-placing agency" means an agency which places a child or children for temporary care, continued care, or for adoption;
     (b) "Community facility" means a group care facility operated for the care of juveniles committed to the department under RCW 13.40.185. A county detention facility that houses juveniles committed to the department under RCW 13.40.185 pursuant to a contract with the department is not a community facility;
     (c) "Crisis residential center" means an agency which is a temporary protective residential facility operated to perform the duties specified in chapter 13.32A RCW, in the manner provided in RCW 74.13.032 through 74.13.036;
     (d) "Emergency respite center" is an agency that may be commonly known as a crisis nursery, that provides emergency and crisis care for up to seventy-two hours to children who have been admitted by their parents or guardians to prevent abuse or neglect. Emergency respite centers may operate for up to twenty-four hours a day, and for up to seven days a week. Emergency respite centers may provide care for children ages birth through seventeen, and for persons eighteen through twenty with developmental disabilities who are admitted with a sibling or siblings through age seventeen. Emergency respite centers may not substitute for crisis residential centers or HOPE centers, or any other services defined under this section, and may not substitute for services which are required under chapter 13.32A or 13.34 RCW;
     (e) "Foster-family home" means an agency which regularly provides care on a twenty-four hour basis to one or more children, expectant mothers, or persons with developmental disabilities in the family abode of the person or persons under whose direct care and supervision the child, expectant mother, or person with a developmental disability is placed;
     (f) "Group-care facility" means an agency, other than a foster-family home, which is maintained and operated for the care of a group of children on a twenty-four hour basis;
     (g) "HOPE center" means an agency licensed by the secretary to provide temporary residential placement and other services to street youth. A street youth may remain in a HOPE center for thirty days while services are arranged and permanent placement is coordinated. No street youth may stay longer than thirty days unless approved by the department and any additional days approved by the department must be based on the unavailability of a long-term placement option. A street youth whose parent wants him or her returned to home may remain in a HOPE center until his or her parent arranges return of the youth, not longer. All other street youth must have court approval under chapter 13.34 or 13.32A RCW to remain in a HOPE center up to thirty days;
     (h) "Maternity service" means an agency which provides or arranges for care or services to expectant mothers, before or during confinement, or which provides care as needed to mothers and their infants after confinement;
     (i) "Responsible living skills program" means an agency licensed by the secretary that provides residential and transitional living services to persons ages sixteen to eighteen who are dependent under chapter 13.34 RCW and who have been unable to live in his or her legally authorized residence and, as a result, the minor lived outdoors or in another unsafe location not intended for occupancy by the minor. Dependent minors ages fourteen and fifteen may be eligible if no other placement alternative is available and the department approves the placement;
     (j) "Service provider" means the entity that operates a community facility.
     (2) "Agency" shall not include the following:
     (a) Persons related to the child, expectant mother, or person with developmental disability in the following ways:
     (i) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and including first cousins, second cousins, nephews or nieces, and persons of preceding generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great;
     (ii) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;
     (iii) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance with state law;
     (iv) Spouses of any persons named in (i), (ii), or (iii) of this subsection (2)(a), even after the marriage is terminated;
     (v) Relatives, as named in (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) of this subsection (2)(a), of any half sibling of the child; or
     (vi) Extended family members, as defined by the law or custom of the Indian child's tribe or, in the absence of such law or custom, a person who has reached the age of eighteen and who is the Indian child's grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law, niece or nephew, first or second cousin, or stepparent who provides care in the family abode on a twenty-four-hour basis to an Indian child as defined in 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1903(4);
     (b) Persons who are legal guardians of the child, expectant mother, or persons with developmental disabilities;
     (c) Persons who care for a neighbor's or friend's child or children, with or without compensation, where the parent and person providing care on a twenty-four-hour basis have agreed to the placement in writing and the state is not providing any payment for the care;
     (d) A person, partnership, corporation, or other entity that provides placement or similar services to exchange students or international student exchange visitors or persons who have the care of an exchange student in their home;
     (e) A person, partnership, corporation, or other entity that provides placement or similar services to international children who have entered the country by obtaining visas that meet the criteria for medical care as established by the United States immigration and naturalization service, or persons who have the care of such an international child in their home;
     (f) Schools, including boarding schools, which are engaged primarily in education, operate on a definite school year schedule, follow a stated academic curriculum, accept only school-age children and do not accept custody of children;
     (g) Hospitals licensed pursuant to chapter 70.41 RCW when performing functions defined in chapter 70.41 RCW, nursing homes licensed under chapter 18.51 RCW and boarding homes licensed under chapter 18.20 RCW;
     (h) Licensed physicians or lawyers;
     (i) Facilities approved and certified under chapter 71A.22 RCW;
     (j) Any agency having been in operation in this state ten years prior to June 8, 1967, and not seeking or accepting moneys or assistance from any state or federal agency, and is supported in part by an endowment or trust fund;
     (k) Persons who have a child in their home for purposes of adoption, if the child was placed in such home by a licensed child-placing agency, an authorized public or tribal agency or court or if a replacement report has been filed under chapter 26.33 RCW and the placement has been approved by the court;
     (l) An agency operated by any unit of local, state, or federal government or an agency licensed by an Indian tribe pursuant to RCW 74.15.190;
     (m) A maximum or medium security program for juvenile offenders operated by or under contract with the department;
     (n) An agency located on a federal military reservation, except where the military authorities request that such agency be subject to the licensing requirements of this chapter.
     (3) "Department" means the state department of social and health services or a supervising agency with whom the department has contracted for the provision of child welfare services under sections 1 through 5 of this act. For the purposes of child protective services and licensing, "department" means only the department of social and health services.
     (4) "Family child care licensee" means a person who: (a) Provides regularly scheduled care for a child or children in the home of the provider for periods of less than twenty-four hours or, if necessary due to the nature of the parent's work, for periods equal to or greater than twenty-four hours; (b) does not receive child care subsidies; and (c) is licensed by the state under RCW 74.15.030.
     (5) "Juvenile" means a person under the age of twenty-one who has been sentenced to a term of confinement under the supervision of the department under RCW 13.40.185.
     (6) "Probationary license" means a license issued as a disciplinary measure to an agency that has previously been issued a full license but is out of compliance with licensing standards.
     (7) "Requirement" means any rule, regulation, or standard of care to be maintained by an agency.
     (8) "Secretary" means the secretary of social and health services.
     (9) "Street youth" means a person under the age of eighteen who lives outdoors or in another unsafe location not intended for occupancy by the minor and who is not residing with his or her parent or at his or her legally authorized residence.
     (10) "Supervising agency" means a private nonprofit agency licensed by the state or an Indian tribe with whom the department has contracted under sections 1 through 5 of this act for the provision of child welfare services. In no case may a supervising agency be contracted to license persons or facilities under this title or to provide child protective services.
     (11) "Transitional living services" means at a minimum, to the extent funds are available, the following:
     (a) Educational services, including basic literacy and computational skills training, either in local alternative or public high schools or in a high school equivalency program that leads to obtaining a high school equivalency degree;
     (b) Assistance and counseling related to obtaining vocational training or higher education, job readiness, job search assistance, and placement programs;
     (c) Counseling and instruction in life skills such as money management, home management, consumer skills, parenting, health care, access to community resources, and transportation and housing options;
     (d) Individual and group counseling; and
     (e) Establishing networks with federal agencies and state and local organizations such as the United States department of labor, employment and training administration programs including the job training partnership act which administers private industry councils and the job corps; vocational rehabilitation; and volunteer programs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Section 3 of this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately."