BILL REQ. #:  H-5085.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/10/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to creating the home visiting services account; and adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) The home visiting services account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. Revenues to the account shall consist of appropriations by the legislature and all other sources deposited in the account.
     (b) Expenditures from the account shall be used for state matching funds for the purposes of the program established in this section including administrative expenses. Only the director, or the director's designee, may authorize expenditures from the account. Authorizations for expenditures may be given only after private funds are committed and available.
     (c) Expenditures from the account are exempt from the appropriations and allotment provisions of chapter 43.88 RCW. However, amounts used for program administration by the department are subject to the allotment and budgetary controls of chapter 43.88 RCW, and an appropriation is required for these expenditures.
     (2) The department must expend moneys from the account to provide state matching funds for partnership activities to implement home visiting services and administer the infrastructure necessary to develop, support, and evaluate evidence-based, research-based, and promising home visiting programs.
     (3) Activities eligible for funding through the account include, but are not limited to:
     (a) Home visiting services that achieve one or more of the following: (i) Enhancing child development and well-being by alleviating the effects on child development of poverty and other known risk factors; (ii) reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect; or (iii) promoting school readiness for young children and their families; and
     (b) Development and maintenance of the infrastructure for home visiting programs, including training, quality improvement, and evaluation.
     (4) Beginning July 1, 2010, the department shall contract with the nongovernmental private-public partnership designated in RCW 43.215.070 to administer programs funded through the home visiting services account. The department shall monitor performance and provide periodic reports on the use outcomes of the home visiting services account.
     (5) The nongovernmental private-public partnership shall, in the administration of the programs:
     (a) Fund programs through a competitive bid process; and
     (b) Convene an advisory committee of early learning and home visiting experts, including one representative from the department, to advise the partnership regarding research and the distribution of funds from the account to eligible programs.
     (6) To promote continuity for families receiving home visiting services through programs funded on the effective date of this section, those programs funded under chapter 43.121 RCW shall be funded through June 30, 2012, based on availability of funds and the achievement of stated performance goals. This section does not require any program to receive continuous funding beyond June 30, 2012. Organizations that may receive program funding include local health departments; nonprofit, neighborhood-based, community, regional, or statewide organizations; and federally recognized Indian tribes located in the state.