AN ACT Relating to court-based and school-based intervention and prevention efforts to promote attendance and reduce truancy; amending RCW 28A.225.005, 28A.225.025, 28A.225.035, 28A.225.090, 43.185C.315, and 43.185C.320; adding new sections to chapter 28A.225 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.185C RCW; adding a new section to chapter 2.56 RCW; creating new sections; and providing expiration dates.

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

The legislature further finds that these effects occur regardless of whether excessive absenteeism is considered excused or unexcused or the specific reason or reasons for excessive absenteeism. By taking a three-pronged approach, focusing not just on truancy but on school attendance in general, and providing additional tools to schools, courts, communities, and families, the legislature hopes to reduce excessive absenteeism, strengthen family engagement with schools, involve communities, promote academic achievement, reduce educational opportunity gaps, and increase high school graduation rates.

First, with respect to absenteeism in general, the legislature intends to put in place consistent practices and procedures, beginning in kindergarten, pursuant to which schools share information with families about the importance of consistent attendance and the consequences of excessive absences, involve families early, and provide families with information, services, and tools that they may access to improve and maintain their children's school attendance.

Second, the legislature recognizes the success that has been had by school districts and county juvenile courts around the state that have worked in tandem with one another to establish truancy boards capable of therapeutic prevention and intervention and that regularly stay truancy petitions in order to first allow these boards to identify barriers to school attendance, cooperatively solve problems, and connect students and their families with needed academic supports and community-based services, and that turn to court orders only as a last resort. While keeping petition filing requirements in place, the legislature intends to require an initial stay of truancy petitions in order to allow for appropriate intervention and prevention before using a court order to enforce attendance laws. The legislature also intends to encourage efforts by county juvenile courts and school districts to: Establish and maintain therapeutic truancy boards; and to employ other best practices, including the provision of training for board members and other school and court personnel on trauma-informed approaches to discipline, the research regarding adverse childhood experiences, the use of the Washington assessment of the risks and needs of students (WARNS) or other assessment tools to identify the specific needs of individual children, and the provision of evidence-based treatments that have been found to be effective in supporting at-risk youth and their families as well as those that have been shown to be culturally appropriate promising practices.

Third, the legislature recognizes that there are instances in which individual barriers to school attendance that have led to a student's absences may be best addressed by providing access to a bed in a HOPE center. The legislature further recognizes that even when a student is found in contempt of a court order to attend school, it is best practice that the student not be placed in juvenile detention but, where feasible and available, instead be placed in a crisis residential center. The legislature intends to increase the number of beds in HOPE centers and crisis residential centers in order to facilitate their use for these students.

Sec. 2.  RCW 28A.225.005 and 2009 c 556 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Each school within a school district shall inform the students and the parents of the students enrolled in the school about: The benefits of regular school attendance; the potential effects of excessive absenteeism, whether excused or unexcused, on academic achievement, and graduation and dropout rates; the school's expectations of the parents and guardians to ensure regular school attendance by the child; the resources available to assist the child and the parents and guardians; the role and responsibilities of the school; and the consequences of truancy, including the compulsory education requirements under this chapter. The school shall provide access to the information ((at least annually.)) before or at the time of enrollment of the child at a new school and at the beginning of each school year. If the school regularly and ordinarily communicates most other information to parents online, providing online access to the information required by this section satisfies the requirements of this section unless a parent or guardian specifically requests information to be provided in written form. Provision must be made to enable parents to request and receive the information in a language in which they are fluent. A parent must date and acknowledge review of this information online or in writing before or at the time of enrollment of the child at a new school and at the beginning of each school year.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.225 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, in the event that a child in elementary school is required to attend school under RCW 28A.225.010 or 28A.225.015(1) and has five or more excused absences in a single month during the current school year, or ten or more excused absences in the current school year, the school district shall schedule a conference or conferences with the parent and child at a time reasonably convenient for all persons included for the purpose of identifying the barriers to the child's regular attendance, and the supports and resources that may be made available to the family so that the child is able to regularly attend school. To satisfy the requirements of this section, the conference must include at least one school district employee who is a nurse, counselor, social worker, or community human services provider, except in those instances regarding the attendance of a child who has an individualized education program or a plan developed under section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973, in which case the reconvening of the team that created the program or plan is required.

(2) A conference pursuant to subsection (1) of this section is not required in the event of excused absences for which prior notice has been given to the school and an academic plan is put in place so that the child does not fall behind.

Sec. 4.  RCW 28A.225.025 and 2009 c 266 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) For purposes of this chapter, "community truancy board" means a board composed of members of the local community in which the child attends school. Juvenile courts may establish and operate community truancy boards. If the juvenile court and the school district agree, a school district may establish and operate a community truancy board under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. Juvenile courts may create a community truancy board or may use other entities that exist or are created, such as diversion units. However, a diversion unit or other existing entity must agree before it is used as a truancy board. Duties of a community truancy board shall include, but not be limited to, recommending methods for improving school attendance such as assisting the parent or the child to obtain supplementary services that might eliminate or ameliorate the causes for the absences or suggesting to the school district that the child enroll in another school, an alternative education program, an education center, a skill center, a dropout prevention program, or another public or private educational program.

(2) The legislature finds that utilization of community truancy boards, or other diversion units that fulfill a similar function, is the preferred means of intervention when preliminary methods of notice and parent conferences and taking appropriate steps to eliminate or reduce unexcused absences have not been effective in securing the child's attendance at school. The legislature intends to encourage and support the development and expansion of community truancy boards and other diversion programs which are effective in promoting school attendance and preventing the need for more intrusive intervention by the court. Operation of a school truancy board does not excuse a district from the obligation of filing a petition within the requirements of RCW 28A.225.015(3).

Sec. 5.  RCW 28A.225.035 and 2012 c 157 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A petition for a civil action under RCW 28A.225.030 or 28A.225.015 shall consist of a written notification to the court alleging that:

(a) The child has unexcused absences during the current school year;

(b) Actions taken by the school district have not been successful in substantially reducing the child's absences from school; and

(c) Court intervention and supervision are necessary to assist the school district or parent to reduce the child's absences from school.

(2) The petition shall set forth the name, date of birth, school, address, gender, race, and ethnicity of the child and the names and addresses of the child's parents, and shall set forth whether the child and parent are fluent in English, whether there is an existing individualized education program, and the child's current academic status in school.

(3) The petition shall set forth facts that support the allegations in this section and shall generally request relief available under this chapter and provide information about what the court might order under RCW 28A.225.090.

(4)(a) When a petition is filed under RCW 28A.225.030 or 28A.225.015, it shall initially be stayed and intervention and prevention efforts employed in order to substantially reduce the child's unexcused absences. Intervention and prevention efforts under this subsection may include referral to a community truancy board, preferably a therapeutic truancy board, use of the Washington assessment of the risks and needs of students (WARNS) or other assessment tools to identify the specific needs of individual children, the provision of academic services such as tutoring, credit retrieval and school reengagement supports, and community-based services, and the provision of evidence-based treatments that have been found to be effective in supporting at-risk youth and their families and those that have been shown to be culturally appropriate promising practices.

(b) If intervention and prevention efforts under (a) of this subsection are unsuccessful at substantially reducing the child's unexcused absences, the stay shall be lifted and the juvenile court shall schedule a hearing at which the court shall consider the petition, or if the court determines that ((a)) an initial or subsequent referral to an available community truancy board would substantially reduce the child's unexcused absences, the court may refer the case to a community truancy board under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.

(5) If a referral is made to a community truancy board, the truancy board must meet with the child, a parent, and the school district representative and enter into an agreement with the petitioner and respondent regarding expectations and any actions necessary to address the child's truancy within twenty days of the referral. If the petition is based on RCW 28A.225.015, the child shall not be required to attend and the agreement under this subsection shall be between the truancy board, the school district, and the child's parent. The court may permit the truancy board or truancy prevention counselor to provide continued supervision over the student, or parent if the petition is based on RCW 28A.225.015.

(6) If the truancy board fails to reach an agreement, or the parent or student does not comply with the agreement, the truancy board shall return the case to the juvenile court for a hearing.

(7)(a) Notwithstanding the provisions in subsection (4)(a) of this section, a hearing shall not be required if other actions by the court would substantially reduce the child's unexcused absences. When a juvenile court hearing is held, the court shall:

(i) Separately notify the child, the parent of the child, and the school district of the hearing. If the parent is not fluent in English, the preferred practice is for notice to be provided in a language in which the parent is fluent;

(ii) Notify the parent and the child of their rights to present evidence at the hearing; and

(iii) Notify the parent and the child of the options and rights available under chapter 13.32A RCW.

(b) If the child is not provided with counsel, the advisement of rights must take place in court by means of a colloquy between the court, the child if eight years old or older, and the parent.

(8)(a) The court may require the attendance of the child if eight years old or older, the parents, and the school district at any hearing on a petition filed under RCW 28A.225.030.

(b) The court may not issue a bench warrant for a child for failure to appear at a hearing on an initial truancy petition filed under RCW 28A.225.030. If there has been proper service, the court may instead enter a default order assuming jurisdiction under the terms specified in subsection (12) of this section.

(9) A school district is responsible for determining who shall represent the school district at hearings on a petition filed under RCW 28A.225.030 or 28A.225.015.

(10) The court may permit the first hearing to be held without requiring that either party be represented by legal counsel, and to be held without a guardian ad litem for the child under RCW 4.08.050. At the request of the school district, the court shall permit a school district representative who is not an attorney to represent the school district at any future hearings.

(11) If the child is in a special education program or has a diagnosed mental or emotional disorder, the court shall inquire as to what efforts the school district has made to assist the child in attending school.

(12) If the allegations in the petition are established by a preponderance of the evidence, the court shall grant the petition and enter an order assuming jurisdiction to intervene for the period of time determined by the court, after considering the facts alleged in the petition and the circumstances of the juvenile, to most likely cause the juvenile to return to and remain in school while the juvenile is subject to this chapter. In no case may the order expire before the end of the school year in which it is entered.

(13)(a) If the court assumes jurisdiction, the school district shall periodically report to the court any additional unexcused absences by the child, actions taken by the school district, and an update on the child's academic status in school at a schedule specified by the court.

(b) The first report under this subsection (13) must be received no later than three months from the date that the court assumes jurisdiction.

(14) Community truancy boards and the courts shall coordinate, to the extent possible, proceedings and actions pertaining to children who are subject to truancy petitions and at-risk youth petitions in RCW 13.32A.191 or child in need of services petitions in RCW 13.32A.140.

(15) If after a juvenile court assumes jurisdiction in one county the child relocates to another county, the juvenile court in the receiving county shall, upon the request of a school district or parent, assume jurisdiction of the petition filed in the previous county.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.225 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate to therapeutic truancy boards grant funds that may be used to supplement existing funds in order to pay for training for board members or the provision of services and treatment to children and their families.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction must select grant recipients based on the criteria in this section. This is a competitive grant process. A prerequisite to applying for either or both grants is a memoranda of understanding, between a school district and a court, to institute a new or maintain an existing therapeutic truancy board that meets the requirements of RCW 28A.225.025.

(3) Successful applicants for an award of grant funds to supplement existing funds to pay for the training of therapeutic truancy board members must commit to the provision of training to board members regarding the identification of barriers to school attendance, the use of the Washington assessment of the risks and needs of students (WARNS) or other assessment tools to identify the specific needs of individual children, trauma-informed approaches to discipline, research about adverse childhood experiences, evidence-based treatments and culturally appropriate promising practices, as well as the specific academic and community services and treatments available in the school, court, community, and elsewhere. This training may be provided by educational service districts.

(4) Successful applicants for an award of grant funds to supplement existing funds to pay for services and treatments provided to children and their families must commit to the provision of academic services such as tutoring, credit retrieval and school reengagement supports, community services, and evidence-based treatments that have been found to be effective in supporting at-risk youth and their families, such as functional family therapy, or those that have been shown to be culturally appropriate promising practices.

Sec. 7.  RCW 28A.225.090 and 2009 c 266 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A court may order a child subject to a petition under RCW 28A.225.035 to do one or more of the following:

(a) Attend the child's current school, and set forth minimum attendance requirements, including suspensions;

(b) If there is space available and the program can provide educational services appropriate for the child, order the child to attend another public school, an alternative education program, center, a skill center, dropout prevention program, or another public educational program;

(c) Attend a private nonsectarian school or program including an education center. Before ordering a child to attend an approved or certified private nonsectarian school or program, the court shall: (i) Consider the public and private programs available; (ii) find that placement is in the best interest of the child; and (iii) find that the private school or program is willing to accept the child and will not charge any fees in addition to those established by contract with the student's school district. If the court orders the child to enroll in a private school or program, the child's school district shall contract with the school or program to provide educational services for the child. The school district shall not be required to contract for a weekly rate that exceeds the state general apportionment dollars calculated on a weekly basis generated by the child and received by the district. A school district shall not be required to enter into a contract that is longer than the remainder of the school year. A school district shall not be required to enter into or continue a contract if the child is no longer enrolled in the district;

(d) Be referred to a community truancy board, if available; or

(e) Submit to testing for the use of controlled substances or alcohol based on a determination that such testing is appropriate to the circumstances and behavior of the child and will facilitate the child's compliance with the mandatory attendance law and, if any test ordered under this subsection indicates the use of controlled substances or alcohol, order the minor to abstain from the unlawful consumption of controlled substances or alcohol and adhere to the recommendations of the drug assessment at no expense to the school.

(2) If the child fails to comply with the court order, the court may order the child to be subject to detention, as provided in RCW 7.21.030(2)(e), or may impose alternatives to detention such as community restitution. Failure by a child to comply with an order issued under this subsection shall not be subject to detention for a period greater than that permitted pursuant to a civil contempt proceeding against a child under chapter 13.32A RCW. Detention ordered under this subsection may be for no longer than seven days. Detention ordered under this subsection shall preferably be served at a crisis residential center close to the child's home rather than in a juvenile detention facility. A warrant of arrest for a child under this subsection may not be served on a child inside of school during school hours in a location where other students are present.

(3) Any parent violating any of the provisions of either RCW 28A.225.010, 28A.225.015, or 28A.225.080 shall be fined not more than twenty-five dollars for each day of unexcused absence from school. The court shall remit fifty percent of the fine collected under this section to the child's school district. It shall be a defense for a parent charged with violating RCW 28A.225.010 to show that he or she exercised reasonable diligence in attempting to cause a child in his or her custody to attend school or that the child's school did not perform its duties as required in RCW 28A.225.020. The court may order the parent to provide community restitution instead of imposing a fine. Any fine imposed pursuant to this section may be suspended upon the condition that a parent charged with violating RCW 28A.225.010 shall participate with the school and the child in a supervised plan for the child's attendance at school or upon condition that the parent attend a conference or conferences scheduled by a school for the purpose of analyzing the causes of a child's absence.

(4) If a child continues to be truant after entering into a court-approved order with the truancy board under RCW 28A.225.035, the juvenile court shall find the child in contempt, and the court may order the child to be subject to detention, as provided in RCW 7.21.030(2)(e), or may impose alternatives to detention such as meaningful community restitution. Failure by a child to comply with an order issued under this subsection may not subject a child to detention for a period greater than that permitted under a civil contempt proceeding against a child under chapter 13.32A RCW.

(5) Subsections (1), (2), and (4) of this section shall not apply to a six or seven year old child required to attend public school under RCW 28A.225.015.

Sec. 8.  RCW 43.185C.315 and 2015 c 69 s 22 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall establish HOPE centers that provide no more than seventy-five beds across the state and may establish HOPE centers by contract, within funds appropriated by the legislature specifically for this purpose. HOPE centers shall be operated in a manner to reasonably assure that street youth placed there will not run away. Street youth may leave a HOPE center during the course of the day to attend school or other necessary appointments, but the street youth must be accompanied by an administrator or an administrator's designee. The street youth must provide the administration with specific information regarding his or her destination and expected time of return to the HOPE center. Any street youth who runs away from a HOPE center shall not be readmitted unless specifically authorized by the street youth's placement and liaison specialist, and the placement and liaison specialist shall document with specific factual findings an appropriate basis for readmitting any street youth to a HOPE center. HOPE centers are required to have the following:

(((1))) (a) A license issued by the department of social and health services;

(((2))) (b) A professional with a master's degree in counseling, social work, or related field and at least one year of experience working with street youth or a bachelor of arts degree in social work or a related field and five years of experience working with street youth. This professional staff person may be contractual or a part-time employee, but must be available to work with street youth in a HOPE center at a ratio of one to every fifteen youth staying in a HOPE center. This professional shall be known as a placement and liaison specialist. Preference shall be given to those professionals cross-credentialed in mental health and chemical dependency. The placement and liaison specialist shall:

(((a))) (i) Conduct an assessment of the street youth that includes a determination of the street youth's legal status regarding residential placement;

(((b))) (ii) Facilitate the street youth's return to his or her legally authorized residence at the earliest possible date or initiate processes to arrange legally authorized appropriate placement. Any street youth who may meet the definition of dependent child under RCW 13.34.030 must be referred to the department of social and health services. The department of social and health services shall determine whether a dependency petition should be filed under chapter 13.34 RCW. A shelter care hearing must be held within seventy-two hours to authorize out-of-home placement for any youth the department of social and health services determines is appropriate for out-of-home placement under chapter 13.34 RCW. All of the provisions of chapter 13.32A RCW must be followed for children in need of services or at-risk youth;

(((c))) (iii) Interface with other relevant resources and system representatives to secure long-term residential placement and other needed services for the street youth;

(((d))) (iv) Be assigned immediately to each youth and meet with the youth within eight hours of the youth receiving HOPE center services;

(((e))) (v) Facilitate a physical examination of any street youth who has not seen a physician within one year prior to residence at a HOPE center and facilitate evaluation by a county-designated mental health professional, a chemical dependency specialist, or both if appropriate; and

(((f))) (vi) Arrange an educational assessment to measure the street youth's competency level in reading, writing, and basic mathematics, and that will measure learning disabilities or special needs;

(((3))) (c) Staff trained in development needs of street youth as determined by the department, including an administrator who is a professional with a master's degree in counseling, social work, or a related field and at least one year of experience working with street youth, or a bachelor of arts degree in social work or a related field and five years of experience working with street youth, who must work with the placement and liaison specialist to provide appropriate services on site;

(((4))) (d) A data collection system that measures outcomes for the population served, and enables research and evaluation that can be used for future program development and service delivery. Data collection systems must have confidentiality rules and protocols developed by the department;

(((5))) (e) Notification requirements that meet the notification requirements of chapter 13.32A RCW. The youth's arrival date and time must be logged at intake by HOPE center staff. The staff must immediately notify law enforcement and dependency caseworkers if a street youth runs away from a HOPE center. A child may be transferred to a secure facility as defined in RCW 13.32A.030 whenever the staff reasonably believes that a street youth is likely to leave the HOPE center and not return after full consideration of the factors set forth in RCW 43.185C.290(2)(a) (i) and (ii). The street youth's temporary placement in the HOPE center must be authorized by the court or the secretary of the department of social and health services if the youth is a dependent of the state under chapter 13.34 RCW or the department of social and health services is responsible for the youth under chapter 13.32A RCW, or by the youth's parent or legal custodian, until such time as the parent can retrieve the youth who is returning to home;

(((6))) (f) HOPE centers must identify to the department of social and health services any street youth it serves who is not returning promptly to home. The department of social and health services then must contact the missing children's clearinghouse identified in chapter 13.60 RCW and either report the youth's location or report that the youth is the subject of a dependency action and the parent should receive notice from the department of social and health services; and

(((7))) (g) Services that provide counseling and education to the street youth((; and)).

(((8))) (2) The department shall award contracts for the operation of HOPE center beds with the goal of facilitating the coordination of services provided for youth by such programs and those services provided by secure and semi-secure crisis residential centers.

Sec. 9.  RCW 43.185C.320 and 2015 c 69 s 23 are each amended to read as follows:

To be eligible for placement in a HOPE center, a minor must be either a street youth, as that term is defined in this chapter, or a youth who, without placement in a HOPE center, will continue to participate in increasingly risky behavior, including truancy. Youth may also self-refer to a HOPE center. Payment for a HOPE center bed is not contingent upon prior approval by the department; however, approval from the department of social and health services is needed if the youth is dependent under chapter 13.34 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10.  A new section is added to chapter 43.185C RCW to read as follows:

Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the capacity available in crisis residential centers established pursuant to this chapter shall be increased incrementally in order to accommodate truant students found in contempt of a court order to attend school. The additional capacity shall be distributed around the state based upon need and, to the extent feasible, shall be geographically situated so that crisis residential centers are available for use by all courts.

(a) The cultural competence training that therapeutic truancy board members, as well as others involved in the truancy process, should receive;

(b) Best practices for supporting and facilitating parent and community involvement and outreach; and

(c) The cultural relevance of the assessments employed to identify barriers to attendance and the treatments and tools provided to children and their families.

(2) By June 30, 2017, a preliminary review shall be completed and preliminary recommendations provided. The review shall be completed, and a report and final recommendations provided, by December 1, 2017.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "cultural competence" includes knowledge of children's cultural histories and contexts, as well as family norms and values in different cultures; knowledge and skills in accessing community resources and community and parent outreach; and skills in adapting instruction and treatment to children's experiences and identifying cultural contexts for individual children.

(4) This section expires July 1, 2018.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 12.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.225 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The Washington state institute for public policy shall conduct a study of local practices that address truancy. The study must include:

(a) A systematic review of the research literature on the effectiveness of the various practices in reducing absenteeism, fostering school engagement, improving academic performance and achievement, increasing graduation rates, and decreasing dropout rates; and

(b) An outcome evaluation of the impact on the outcomes listed in (a) of this subsection from local practices including, but not limited to, therapeutic truancy boards under RCW 28A.225.025 and section 6 of this act.

(2) In conducting its analysis, the Washington state institute for public policy may consult with employees and access data systems of the office of the superintendent of public instruction, any educational service district or school district, and the administrative office of the courts, each of which shall provide the Washington state institute for public policy with access to necessary data and administrative systems.

(3) The Washington state institute for public policy shall report the findings of the study under subsection (1)(a) of this section to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2017, and the findings of the evaluation under subsection (1)(b) of this section by December 1, 2022.

(4) This section expires August 1, 2023.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 13.  A new section is added to chapter 2.56 RCW to read as follows:

To accurately track the extent to which courts order youth into a secure detention facility in Washington state for the violation of a court order related to a truancy, at-risk youth, or a child in need of services petition, all juvenile courts shall transmit youth-level secure detention data to the administrative office of the courts. Data may either be entered into the statewide management information system for juvenile courts or securely transmitted to the administrative office of the courts at least monthly. Juvenile courts shall provide, at a minimum, the name and date of birth for the youth, the court case number assigned to the petition, the reasons for admission to the juvenile detention facility, the date of admission, the date of exit, and the time the youth spent in secure confinement. Courts are also encouraged to report individual-level data reflecting whether a detention alternative, such as electronic monitoring, was used, and the time spent in detention alternatives. The administrative office of the courts and the juvenile court administrators must work to develop uniform data standards for detention. The administrative office of the courts shall deliver an annual statewide report to the legislature that details the number of Washington youth who are placed into detention facilities during the preceding calendar year. The first report shall be delivered by March 1, 2017, and shall detail the most serious reason for detention and youth gender, race, and ethnicity. The report must have a specific emphasis on youth who are detained for reasons relating to a truancy, at-risk youth, or a child in need of services petition.

--- END ---