BILL REQ. #:  S-1685.2 

READ FIRST TIME 02/21/11.   

     AN ACT Relating to public assistance; amending RCW 74.08A.010, 74.08A.260, 43.215.135, 74.08.580, 43.88C.010, and 74.04.012; adding new sections to chapter 74.08A RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.09 RCW; repealing RCW 74.08A.340; providing an effective date; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The full amount of the temporary assistance for needy families block grant, plus qualifying state expenditures shall be appropriated to the department each year in the omnibus appropriations act subject to the following restrictions:
     (a) The amount appropriated to the department for cash assistance shall not be exceeded and shall be spent only for cash assistance;
     (b) The amount appropriated for WorkFirst activities shall not be exceeded and may be transferred within the WorkFirst activities, including to other state agencies that provide some of those activities;
     (c) No more than fifteen percent of the total amount in subsections (1) and (2) of this section may be spent for administrative purposes. For purposes of this section, "administrative purposes" does not include expenditures for information technology and computerization needed for tracking and monitoring required by P.L. 104-193.
     (2) The full amount of the child care development fund shall be appropriated to the department of early learning each year in the omnibus appropriations act to carry out the provisions of the working connections child care program, child care quality programs, and child care licensing functions. The department of early learning shall transfer to the department sufficient funds to perform working connections child care eligibility determinations, service authorizations, and child care provider payments.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     The department and the department of early learning shall operate the programs under section 1 (1) and (2) of this act within appropriated levels. Each department shall monitor expenditures against appropriation levels provided in the omnibus appropriations act and shall quarterly report its findings to the appropriate committees of the legislature.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     The department shall implement strategies that accomplish the outcome measures identified in RCW 74.08A.410 that are within the funding constraints in section 1 of this act. Specifically the department shall implement strategies that will cause the number of cases in the program authorized in RCW 74.08A.210 through 74.08A.330 and 43.330.145 and chapter 74.12 RCW to decrease by at least five percent each biennium starting with the 2011-2013 biennium.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature believes that the foundation of a successful temporary assistance for needy families program is an individualized assessment of the strengths and needs of each family, and the matching of appropriate resources to serve them. The legislature finds that it is critical to identify participants early in the process who have serious barriers to employment, such as chemical dependency or learning disabilities, and connect them with appropriately tailored services. It is important that the services to which recipients are matched meet the goals of assisting needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes and an individualized plan is developed for the recipients to assist them in attaining the skills and training necessary for them to achieve self-sufficiency. The department, through its redesign of temporary assistance for needy families process, made several recommendations with regard to assessments and predictive tools that are reflected in subsections (2) through (4) of this section.
     (2) The department shall conduct an initial comprehensive family assessment at program entry. The assessment shall be designed to be used by other agencies which may provide services to the recipient and his or her family. One of the major objectives of the assessment shall be to identify families for whom barrier resolution is appropriate. After the assessment is complete, the department shall engage the family in a subsequent evaluation designed to identify the appropriate work preparation activity and service level for the recipient.
     (3) The department shall also explore the use of a predictive modeling tool to be used to identify risk factors affecting a recipient's employability. This tool should be designed to assist the department in identifying families who are at high risk of long stays on temporary assistance for needy families and those who are likely to exit relatively quickly from the program. The information produced by this tool should be combined with the information produced by the assessment in subsection (2) of this section to place recipients in the most appropriate services and activities and move them more quickly to self-sufficiency.
     (4) The department shall continuously monitor the progress of each recipient in completing his or her plan. The department shall also monitor the outcomes produced by the skills training or services a recipient receives to determine whether the skills training and services purchased by the department to serve recipients is achieving the outcomes set by the department.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     During the 2011-2013 biennium, the income eligibility limit for the working connections child care program shall be at one hundred seventy-five percent of the federal poverty level.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     During the 2011-2013 biennium, the grant standard for temporary assistance for needy families shall remain at the standard set by chapter 1, Laws of 2010 2nd sp. sess., which represents a fifteen percent reduction from the 2009 grant level.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     In determining the income eligibility of an applicant or recipient for temporary assistance for needy families or WorkFirst, the department shall not count the federal supplemental security income received by a household member.

Sec. 8   RCW 74.08A.010 and 2004 c 54 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A family that includes an adult who has received temporary assistance for needy families for sixty months after July 27, 1997, shall be ineligible for further temporary assistance for needy families assistance.
     (2) For the purposes of applying the rules of this section, the department shall count any month in which an adult family member received a temporary assistance for needy families cash assistance grant unless the assistance was provided when the family member was a minor child and not the head of the household or married to the head of the household.
     (3) The department shall refer recipients who require specialized assistance to appropriate department programs, crime victims' programs through the department of community, trade, and economic development, or the crime victims' compensation program of the department of labor and industries.
     (4) The department may exempt a recipient and the recipient's family from the application of subsection (1) of this section by reason of hardship or if the recipient meets the family violence options of section 402(A)(7) of Title IVA of the federal social security act as amended by P.L. 104-193. ((The number of recipients and their families exempted from subsection (1) of this section for a fiscal year shall not exceed twenty percent of the average monthly number of recipients and their families to which assistance is provided under the temporary assistance for needy families program.))
     (5) The department shall not exempt a recipient and his or her family from the application of subsection (1) of this section until after the recipient has received fifty-two months of assistance under this chapter.
     (6) Beginning on October 31, 2005, the department shall provide transitional food stamp assistance for a period of five months to a household that ceases to receive temporary assistance for needy families assistance and is not in sanction status. If necessary, the department shall extend the household's food stamp certification until the end of the transition period.

Sec. 9   RCW 74.08A.260 and 2009 c 85 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Each recipient shall be assessed after determination of program eligibility and before referral to job search. Assessments shall be based upon factors that are critical to obtaining employment, including but not limited to education, availability of child care, history of family violence, history of substance abuse, and other factors that affect the ability to obtain employment. Assessments may be performed by the department or by a contracted entity. The assessment shall be based on a uniform, consistent, transferable format that will be accepted by all agencies and organizations serving the recipient. Based on the assessment, an individual responsibility plan shall be prepared that: (a) Sets forth an employment goal and a plan for maximizing the recipient's success at meeting the employment goal; (b) considers WorkFirst educational and training programs from which the recipient could benefit; (c) contains the obligation of the recipient to participate in the program by complying with the plan; (d) moves the recipient into full-time WorkFirst activities as quickly as possible; and (e) describes the services available to the recipient either during or after WorkFirst to enable the recipient to obtain and keep employment and to advance in the workplace and increase the recipient's wage earning potential over time.
     (2) Recipients who are not engaged in work and work activities, and do not qualify for a good cause exemption under RCW 74.08A.270, shall engage in self-directed service as provided in RCW 74.08A.330.
     (3) If a recipient refuses to engage in work and work activities required by the department, the family's grant shall be reduced by the recipient's share, and may, if the department determines it appropriate, be terminated.
     (4) The department may waive the penalties required under subsection (3) of this section, subject to a finding that the recipient refused to engage in work for good cause provided in RCW 74.08A.270.
     (5) Recipients with children under the age of six who are required to participate in a work activity shall be required to participate in that work activity for no more than twenty hours per week.
     (6) In implementing this section, the department shall assign the highest priority to the most employable clients, including adults in two-parent families and parents in single-parent families that include older preschool or school-age children to be engaged in work activities.
     (((6))) (7) In consultation with the recipient, the department or contractor shall place the recipient into a work activity that is available in the local area where the recipient resides.
     (((7))) (8) Assessments conducted under this section shall include a consideration of the potential benefit to the recipient of engaging in financial literacy activities. The department shall consider the options for financial literacy activities available in the community, including information and resources available through the financial ((literacy)) education public-private partnership created under RCW 28A.300.450. The department may authorize up to ten hours of financial literacy activities as a core activity or an optional activity under WorkFirst.

Sec. 10   RCW 43.215.135 and 2010 c 273 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall establish and implement policies in the working connections child care program to promote stability and quality of care for children from low-income households. Policies for the expenditure of funds constituting the working connections child care program must be consistent with the outcome measures defined in RCW 74.08A.410 and the standards established in this section intended to promote continuity of care for children.
     (2) Beginning in fiscal year 2011, for families with children enrolled in an early childhood education and assistance program, a head start program, or an early head start program, authorizations for the working connections child care subsidy shall be effective for twelve months unless a change in circumstances necessitates reauthorization sooner than twelve months.
     (3) During the 2011-2013 biennium, the income eligibility limit for the working connections child care program shall be at one hundred seventy-five percent of the federal poverty level.
     (4) The department, in consultation with the department of social and health services, shall report to the legislature by September 1, 2011, with:
     (a) An analysis of the impact of the twelve-month authorization period on the stability of child care, program costs, and administrative savings; and
     (b) Recommendations for expanding the application of the twelve-month authorization period to additional populations of children in care.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     By December 31, 2011, the department, with the assistance of the department of social and health services, shall develop and implement an electronic benefit transfer system to be used for the delivery of subsidized child care. The system shall be developed to allow the department to track time and attendance for any child for whom a child care provider is receiving a subsidy and to process subsidy payments to providers.

Sec. 12   RCW 74.08.580 and 2002 c 252 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any person receiving public assistance is prohibited from using electronic benefit cards or cash obtained with electronic benefit cards:
     (a) For the purpose of participating in any of the activities authorized under chapter 9.46 RCW;
     (b) For the purpose of parimutuel wagering authorized under chapter 67.16 RCW; ((or))
     (c) To purchase lottery tickets or shares authorized under chapter 67.70 RCW;
     (d) For the purpose of participating in or purchasing any activities located in a tattoo, body piercing, or body art shop licensed under chapter 18.300 RCW;
     (e) To purchase cigarettes as defined in RCW 82.24.010 or tobacco products as defined in RCW 82.26.010;
     (f) To purchase any items regulated under Title 66 RCW;
     (g) For the purpose of participating in or purchasing any activities located in an adult entertainment venue with performances that contain erotic material where minors under the age of eighteen are prohibited under RCW 9.68A.150; or
     (h) For the purpose of participating in or purchasing any activities or items located in an establishment where persons under the age of eighteen are not permitted.
     (2)(a) The department shall notify, in writing, all recipients of electronic benefit cards that any violation of subsection (1) of this section could result in legal proceedings and forfeiture of all cash public assistance.
     (b) Whenever the department receives notice that a person has violated subsection (1) of this section, the department shall notify the person in writing that the violation could result in legal proceedings and forfeiture of all cash public assistance.
     (c) The department shall assign a protective payee to the person receiving public assistance who violates subsection (1) of this section.

Sec. 13   RCW 43.88C.010 and 2000 c 90 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The caseload forecast council is hereby created. The council shall consist of two individuals appointed by the governor and four individuals, one of whom is appointed by the chairperson of each of the two largest political caucuses in the senate and house of representatives. The chair of the council shall be selected from among the four caucus appointees. The council may select such other officers as the members deem necessary.
     (2) The council shall employ a caseload forecast supervisor to supervise the preparation of all caseload forecasts. As used in this chapter, "supervisor" means the caseload forecast supervisor.
     (3) Approval by an affirmative vote of at least five members of the council is required for any decisions regarding employment of the supervisor. Employment of the supervisor shall terminate after each term of three years. At the end of the first year of each three-year term the council shall consider extension of the supervisor's term by one year. The council may fix the compensation of the supervisor. The supervisor shall employ staff sufficient to accomplish the purposes of this section.
     (4) The caseload forecast council shall oversee the preparation of and approve, by an affirmative vote of at least four members, the official state caseload forecasts prepared under RCW 43.88C.020. If the council is unable to approve a forecast before a date required in RCW 43.88C.020, the supervisor shall submit the forecast without approval and the forecast shall have the same effect as if approved by the council.
     (5) A council member who does not cast an affirmative vote for approval of the official caseload forecast may request, and the supervisor shall provide, an alternative forecast based on assumptions specified by the member.
     (6) Members of the caseload forecast council shall serve without additional compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120 while attending sessions of the council or on official business authorized by the council. Nonlegislative members of the council shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
     (7) "Caseload," as used in this chapter, means the number of persons expected to meet entitlement requirements and require the services of public assistance programs, state correctional institutions, state correctional noninstitutional supervision, state institutions for juvenile offenders, the common school system, long-term care, medical assistance, foster care, and adoption support.
     (8) The council shall provide the legislature with a courtesy caseload forecast of the temporary assistance for needy families program.
     (9) Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions provided in RCW 43.88.020 apply to this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 14   A new section is added to chapter 43.09 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The auditor shall appoint a fraud ombudsman to oversee and quarterly audit the work of the division of fraud investigation, or its successor, at the department of social and health services. The ombudsman shall review the fraud investigative work done by the division including cases filed with local prosecuting authorities. The ombudsman shall also have authority to investigate citizen complaints made to the auditor's office related to fraud or abuse in the temporary assistance for needy families program. The department of social and health services shall provide the ombudsman with access to any relevant records it has in its possession related to a fraud or abuse investigation.
     (2) The ombudsman must submit a report summarizing its auditing activities of the division to the appropriate committees of the senate and house of representatives by November 30, 2012, and biennially thereafter. The division of fraud investigation shall assist the ombudsman in producing this report. The report shall contain only disclosable information, including:
     (a) A description of significant fraud or abuse, and of vulnerabilities or deficiencies relating to the prevention and detection of fraud or abuse, discovered as a result of investigations completed during the reporting period;
     (b) A description of corrective action taken by the department regarding fraud and abuse discovered as a result of investigations conducted by the division of fraud investigation;
     (c) Recommendations for improving the activities of the division with respect to the vulnerabilities or deficiencies identified under (a) of this subsection;
     (d) An identification of each significant recommendation described in the previous reports on which corrective action has or has not been completed; and
     (e) A summary of matters referred to prosecuting authorities during the reporting period and the charges filed and convictions entered during the reporting period that have resulted from referrals by the division.

Sec. 15   RCW 74.04.012 and 2008 c 74 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) There is established a unit within the department for the purpose of detection, investigation, and prosecution of any act prohibited or declared to be unlawful in the programs administered by the department. The secretary will employ qualified supervisory, legal, and investigative personnel for the program. Program staff must be qualified by training and experience.
     (2) This unit shall assist the fraud ombudsman in the state auditor's office with his or her responsibilities in auditing and overseeing the fraud investigations in the temporary assistance for needy families program under section 14 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 16   Section 1 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 July 1, 2011.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 17   Section 8 of this act expires June 30, 2013.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 18   RCW 74.08A.340 (Funding restrictions) and 2009 c 564 s 953, 2008 c 329 s 922, 2007 c 522 s 957, 2006 c 265 s 209, & 1997 c 58 s 321 are each repealed.