Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Health & Human Services Appropriations Committee

HB 2295

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Bill

Limits the Department of Social and Health Service’s (Department) number of service delivery regions to three.
Limits the number of assistant secretaries at the Department to a maximum of three.
Establishes the range of regional support networks from at least three to a maximum of six.

Background:

The Department of Social and Health Services (Department) was created in statute in 1970. The state agencies that were combined to create the new Department included the Department of Public Assistance, Department of Institutions, Department of Health, Veteran's Rehabilitation Council, and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Coordinating Council on Occupational Education. As part of the initial implementation plan for combining the five state agencies into a single department, a regional organization plan was developed. The Department's regional boundaries were established in 1970 and have never been modified. They include two regions east of the crest of the Cascade mountain range and four regions west of the crest of the Cascade mountain range. There are currently twelve divisions with the Department. that have regional offices to manage program operations and services. Nine of the Divisions maintain six regional office and three divisions maintain either three or four regional office. The Secretary of the Department has broad authority in determining how many assistant Secretary position may be established, except the Legislature required in 1994 that one assistant Secretary must be responsible for Juvenile Rehabilitation programs. Regional Support Networks are geographic service areas for the delivery of community based mental health services. There are currently thirteen Regional Support Networks.

Summary of Bill:

The number Department of Social and Health Service’s (Department) service delivery regions is reduced from six to three. There will be one region east of the Cascade mountains and two regions west of the Cascade mountains. The number of assistant secretaries at the Department is limited to a maximum of three. The number of Regional Support Networks is limited to a number between three and six. All Department administrations and divisions must modify their regional management and administrative structure to be consistent with the three new department regions.