State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2012 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 01/31/12.
AN ACT Relating to extended foster care services; amending RCW 74.13.680 and 13.34.267; reenacting and amending RCW 74.13.031; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 Since 2006, under a program known as "foster
care to 21," the Washington state legislature has provided services to
young adults transitioning out of foster care in order for them to
enroll in and complete their postsecondary educations. In 2008, the
United States congress passed the fostering connections to success and
increasing adoptions act of 2008, which allows states to receive a
federal match for state dollars expended in supporting youth
transitioning out of foster care. In 2011, the Washington state
legislature opted to create the "extended foster care program," in
order to receive the federal match for youth completing high school.
It is the intent of this act to enable the state to receive the federal
match to offset costs expended on supporting youth seeking
postsecondary education. This act would result in these youth being
served under the extended foster care program, for which there is a
federal match, instead of the foster care to 21 program, which relies
solely on state dollars. It is the intent of the legislature to allow
all youth currently enrolled in the foster care to 21 program for the
purposes of postsecondary education to remain enrolled until they turn
twenty-one, are no longer otherwise eligible, or choose to leave the
program. Within three years of the effective date of this act, the
"foster care to 21" program will cease to operate, and youth seeking a
postsecondary education will be solely served by the extended foster
care program.
Sec. 2 RCW 74.13.031 and 2011 c 330 s 5 and 2011 c 160 s 2 are
each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) The department and supervising agencies shall develop,
administer, supervise, and monitor a coordinated and comprehensive plan
that establishes, aids, and strengthens services for the protection and
care of runaway, dependent, or neglected children.
(2) Within available resources, the department and supervising
agencies shall recruit an adequate number of prospective adoptive and
foster homes, both regular and specialized, i.e. homes for children of
ethnic minority, including Indian homes for Indian children, sibling
groups, handicapped and emotionally disturbed, teens, pregnant and
parenting teens, and the department shall annually report to the
governor and the legislature concerning the department's and
supervising agency's success in: (a) Meeting the need for adoptive and
foster home placements; (b) reducing the foster parent turnover rate;
(c) completing home studies for legally free children; and (d)
implementing and operating the passport program required by RCW
74.13.285. The report shall include a section entitled "Foster Home
Turn-Over, Causes and Recommendations."
(3) The department shall investigate complaints of any recent act
or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in
death, serious physical or emotional harm, or sexual abuse or
exploitation, or that presents an imminent risk of serious harm, and on
the basis of the findings of such investigation, offer child welfare
services in relation to the problem to such parents, legal custodians,
or persons serving in loco parentis, and/or bring the situation to the
attention of an appropriate court, or another community agency. An
investigation is not required of nonaccidental injuries which are
clearly not the result of a lack of care or supervision by the child's
parents, legal custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis. If the
investigation reveals that a crime against a child may have been
committed, the department shall notify the appropriate law enforcement
agency.
(4) The department or supervising agencies shall offer, on a
voluntary basis, family reconciliation services to families who are in
conflict.
(5) The department or supervising agencies shall monitor placements
of children in out-of-home care and in-home dependencies to assure the
safety, well-being, and quality of care being provided is within the
scope of the intent of the legislature as defined in RCW 74.13.010 and
74.15.010. Under this section children in out-of-home care and in-home
dependencies and their caregivers shall receive a private and
individual face-to-face visit each month. The department and the
supervising agencies shall randomly select no less than ten percent of
the caregivers currently providing care to receive one unannounced
face-to-face visit in the caregiver's home per year. No caregiver will
receive an unannounced visit through the random selection process for
two consecutive years. If the caseworker makes a good faith effort to
conduct the unannounced visit to a caregiver and is unable to do so,
that month's visit to that caregiver need not be unannounced. The
department and supervising agencies are encouraged to group monthly
visits to caregivers by geographic area so that in the event an
unannounced visit cannot be completed, the caseworker may complete
other required monthly visits. The department shall use a method of
random selection that does not cause a fiscal impact to the department.
The department or supervising agencies shall conduct the monthly
visits with children and caregivers to whom it is providing child
welfare services.
(6) The department and supervising agencies shall have authority to
accept custody of children from parents and to accept custody of
children from juvenile courts, where authorized to do so under law, to
provide child welfare services including placement for adoption, to
provide for the routine and necessary medical, dental, and mental
health care, or necessary emergency care of the children, and to
provide for the physical care of such children and make payment of
maintenance costs if needed. Except where required by Public Law 95-608 (25 U.S.C. Sec. 1915), no private adoption agency which receives
children for adoption from the department shall discriminate on the
basis of race, creed, or color when considering applications in their
placement for adoption.
(7) The department and supervising agency shall have authority to
provide temporary shelter to children who have run away from home and
who are admitted to crisis residential centers.
(8) The department and supervising agency shall have authority to
purchase care for children.
(9) The department shall establish a children's services advisory
committee with sufficient members representing supervising agencies
which shall assist the secretary in the development of a partnership
plan for utilizing resources of the public and private sectors, and
advise on all matters pertaining to child welfare, licensing of child
care agencies, adoption, and services related thereto. At least one
member shall represent the adoption community.
(10) The department and supervising agencies shall have authority
to provide continued extended foster care services to youth ages
eighteen to twenty-one years to participate in or complete a secondary
education program or a secondary education equivalency program, or a
postsecondary academic or postsecondary vocational education program.
The department shall develop and implement rules regarding youth
eligibility requirements.
(11) The department((, has)) shall have authority to provide
adoption support benefits, or relative guardianship subsidies on behalf
of youth ages eighteen to twenty-one years who achieved permanency
through adoption or a relative guardianship at age sixteen or older and
who meet the criteria described in subsection (10) of this section.
(12) The department shall refer cases to the division of child
support whenever state or federal funds are expended for the care and
maintenance of a child, including a child with a developmental
disability who is placed as a result of an action under chapter 13.34
RCW, unless the department finds that there is good cause not to pursue
collection of child support against the parent or parents of the child.
Cases involving individuals age eighteen through twenty shall not be
referred to the division of child support unless required by federal
law.
(13) The department and supervising agencies shall have authority
within funds appropriated for foster care services to purchase care for
Indian children who are in the custody of a federally recognized Indian
tribe or tribally licensed child-placing agency pursuant to parental
consent, tribal court order, or state juvenile court order; and the
purchase of such care shall be subject to the same eligibility
standards and rates of support applicable to other children for whom
the department purchases care.
Notwithstanding any other provision of RCW 13.32A.170 through
13.32A.200 and 74.13.032 through 74.13.036, or of this section all
services to be provided by the department under subsections (4), (6),
and (7) of this section, subject to the limitations of these
subsections, may be provided by any program offering such services
funded pursuant to Titles II and III of the federal juvenile justice
and delinquency prevention act of 1974.
(14) Within amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the
supervising agency or department shall provide preventive services to
families with children that prevent or shorten the duration of an out-of-home placement.
(15) The department and supervising agencies shall have authority
to provide independent living services to youths, including individuals
who have attained eighteen years of age, and have not attained twenty-one years of age who are or have been in foster care.
(16) The department and supervising agencies shall consult at least
quarterly with foster parents, including members of the foster parent
association of Washington state, for the purpose of receiving
information and comment regarding how the department and supervising
agencies are performing the duties and meeting the obligations
specified in this section and RCW 74.13.250 and 74.13.320 regarding the
recruitment of foster homes, reducing foster parent turnover rates,
providing effective training for foster parents, and administering a
coordinated and comprehensive plan that strengthens services for the
protection of children. Consultation shall occur at the regional and
statewide levels.
(((18))) (17)(a) The department shall, within current funding
levels, place on its public web site a document listing the duties and
responsibilities the department has to a child subject to a dependency
petition including, but not limited to, the following:
(i) Reasonable efforts, including the provision of services, toward
reunification of the child with his or her family;
(ii) Sibling visits subject to the restrictions in RCW
13.34.136(2)(b)(ii);
(iii) Parent-child visits;
(iv) Statutory preference for placement with a relative or other
suitable person, if appropriate; and
(v) Statutory preference for an out-of-home placement that allows
the child to remain in the same school or school district, if practical
and in the child's best interests.
(b) The document must be prepared in conjunction with a community-based organization and must be updated as needed.
Sec. 3 RCW 74.13.680 and 2011 c 330 s 8 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) Within amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the
department shall ((have authority to provide continued foster care or
group care to youth ages eighteen to twenty-one years who are:)) continue to operate the state-funded foster care to twenty-one program for three years after the effective date of this section,
at which point the program shall cease to operate.
(a) Enrolled in a secondary education program or a secondary
education equivalency program;
(b) Enrolled and participating in a postsecondary or vocational
educational program;
(c) Participating in a program or activity designed to promote or
remove barriers to employment;
(d) Engaged in employment for eighty hours or more per month; or
(e) Incapable of engaging in any of the activities described in (a)
through (d) of this subsection due to a medical condition that is
supported by regularly updated information.
(2) A youth who remains eligible for placement services or benefits
under this section pursuant to department rules may, within amounts
appropriated for this specific purpose, continue to receive placement
services and benefits until the youth reaches his or her twenty-first
birthday
(2) The department shall not have the authority to enroll any new
youth under this program after the effective date of this section, and
shall only serve eligible youth enrolled prior to that date.
(3) The purpose of the foster care to twenty-one program is to
serve youth ages eighteen to twenty-one who are enrolled and
participating in a postsecondary academic or postsecondary vocational
program.
(4) A youth participating in this program may, within amounts
appropriated for this specific purpose, continue to receive placement
services until the youth reaches his or her twenty-first birthday or is
no longer enrolled in and participating in a postsecondary program,
whichever is earlier.
Sec. 4 RCW 13.34.267 and 2011 c 330 s 7 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) In order to facilitate the delivery of extended foster care
services, the court shall postpone for six months the dismissal of a
dependency proceeding for any child who is a dependent child in foster
care at the age of eighteen years and who, at the time of his or her
eighteenth birthday((,)) is:
(a) Enrolled in a secondary education program or a secondary
education equivalency program; or
(b) Enrolled in a postsecondary academic or postsecondary
vocational program, or has applied for and can demonstrate that he or
she intends to timely enroll in a postsecondary academic or
postsecondary vocational program.
(2)(a) The six-month postponement under this subsection is intended
to allow a reasonable window of opportunity for an eligible youth who
reaches the age of eighteen to request extended foster care services
from the department or supervising agency. ((At the end of the six-month period, the court shall dismiss the dependency if the youth has
not requested extended foster care services from the department.)) The
court shall dismiss the dependency if the youth:
(i) Has not requested extended foster care services from the
department by the end of the six-month period; or
(ii) Is no longer eligible for extended foster care services under
RCW 74.13.031(10) at any point during the six-month period.
(b) Until the youth requests to participate in the extended foster
care program, the department is relieved of any supervisory
responsibility for the youth.
(((2))) (3) A youth who participates in extended foster care while
completing a secondary education or equivalency program may continue to
receive extended foster care services for the purpose of participating
in a postsecondary academic or postsecondary vocational education
program if, at the time the secondary education or equivalency program
is completed, the youth has applied to and can demonstrate that he or
she intends to timely enroll in a postsecondary academic or vocational
education program. The dependency shall be dismissed if the youth
fails to timely enroll or continue in the postsecondary program, or
reaches age twenty-one, whichever is earlier.
(4) A youth receiving extended foster care services is a party to
the dependency proceeding. The youth's parent or guardian shall be
dismissed from the dependency proceeding when the youth reaches the age
of eighteen years.
(((3))) (5) The court shall order a youth participating in extended
foster care services to be under the placement and care authority of
the department, subject to the youth's continuing agreement to
participate in extended foster care services.
(((4))) (6) The court shall appoint counsel to represent a youth,
as defined in RCW 13.34.030(2)(b), in dependency proceedings under this
section.
(((5))) (7) The case plan for and delivery of services to a youth
receiving extended foster care services is subject to the review
requirements set forth in RCW 13.34.138 and 13.34.145, and should be
applied in a developmentally appropriate manner, as they relate to
youth age eighteen to twenty-one years. Additionally, the court shall
consider:
(a) Whether the youth is safe in his or her placement;
(b) Whether the youth continues to be eligible for extended foster
care services;
(c) Whether the current placement is developmentally appropriate
for the youth;
(d) The youth's development of independent living skills; and
(e) The youth's overall progress toward transitioning to full
independence and the projected date for achieving such transition.
(((6))) (8) Prior to the hearing, the youth's attorney shall
indicate whether there are any contested issues and may provide
additional information necessary for the court's review.
(((7))) (9) Upon the request of the youth, or when the youth is no
longer eligible to receive extended foster care services according to
rules adopted by the department, the court shall dismiss the
dependency.