FINAL BILL REPORT

SHB 2346

C 569 L 09

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Concerning crisis residential centers.

Sponsors: House Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Representative Kagi).

House Committee on Ways & Means

Senate Committee on Ways & Means

Background:

Crisis Residential Centers (CRCs) have been operated in Washington since the 1980s to serve as temporary residences for youth in crisis due to family conflict, abuse or neglect, homelessness, chemical dependence, or unmet mental health needs. In 1995 the Legislature enacted the Becca Bill, named for Rebecca Hedman, a thirteen year-old girl who repeatedly ran away from home and other residential facilities, and eventually was murdered in Spokane. The Becca Bill established secure CRCs with the goal of allowing youth exhibiting behaviors endangering themselves to be held for up to five days in secure facilities for assessment and planning purposes.

The CRCs consist of both semi-secure facilities and secure facilities. Secure CRCs include some facilities located within or adjacent to a juvenile detention facility, but do not allow for in-person contact between youth in the CRC and juveniles being held in the detention facility. The remaining secure CRCs are community-based facilities. The Department of Social and Health Services contracts statewide for 44 secure beds, 13 of which are located within or adjacent to a juvenile detention facility, and 34 semi-secure beds located in the community. The maximum time a youth may reside in a CRC is five days, including youth who may be transferred between a semi-secure facility and a secure facility.

The CRCs may serve youth who are homeless, those who seek shelter including runaway youth, and those transported by law enforcement or the DSHS. Assessment services provided to youth frequently include the convening of a multi-disciplinary team to assist in problem solving and planning for the youth's transition back home or to an alternate placement.

Summary:

The maximum number of days a youth may reside in a semi-secure CRC or a community-based secure CRC is changed from five to 15 days. The DSHS may place a youth in a secure CRC only in cases where there is no reasonable cause to believe that the youth has run away from home or foster care due to abuse or neglect. The maximum length of stay for youth residing in a detention center-based secure CRC remains at five days.

Votes on Final Passage: