AN ACT Relating to promoting child welfare family reunification; amending RCW 13.34.025; adding a new section to chapter 13.34 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 74.13 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 13.34 RCW to read as follows:

The legislature intends to emphasize and support the efforts to reunify families involved in the child welfare process. The legislature recognizes the importance of parent-child and sibling visitation in allowing families to reunify, and intends to ensure that families receive services and activities designed to facilitate access to and visitation of children by parents and siblings. Parent-child visitation must be provided to families except if that visitation is limited by a court pursuant to RCW 13.34.136.

Sec. 2.  RCW 13.34.025 and 2009 c 520 s 20 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department and supervising agencies shall develop methods for coordination of services to parents and children in child dependency cases. To the maximum extent possible under current funding levels, the department and supervising agencies must:

(a) Coordinate and integrate services to children and families, using service plans and activities that address the children's and families' multiple needs, including ensuring that siblings have regular visits with each other, as appropriate. Assessment criteria should screen for multiple needs;

(b) Develop treatment plans for the individual needs of the client in a manner that minimizes the number of contacts the client is required to make; and

(c) Access training for department and supervising agency staff to increase skills across disciplines to assess needs for mental health, substance abuse, developmental disabilities, and other areas.

(2) The department shall coordinate within the administrations of the department, and with contracted service providers including supervising agencies, to ensure that parents in dependency proceedings under this chapter receive priority access to remedial services recommended by the department or supervising agency in its social study or ordered by the court for the purpose of correcting any parental deficiencies identified in the dependency proceeding that are capable of being corrected in the foreseeable future. Services may also be provided to caregivers other than the parents as identified in RCW 13.34.138.

(a) For purposes of this chapter, remedial services are those services defined in the federal adoption and safe families act as time-limited family reunification services. Remedial services include individual, group, and family counseling; substance abuse treatment services; mental health services; assistance to address domestic violence; services designed to provide temporary child care and therapeutic services for families; services and activities designed to facilitate access to and visitation of children by parents and siblings except in cases where that visitation is not in the best interest of the child or a court limits visitation pursuant to RCW 13.34.136; and transportation to or from any of the above services and activities.

(b) The department shall provide funds for remedial services if the parent is unable to pay to the extent funding is appropriated in the operating budget or otherwise available to the department for such specific services. As a condition for receiving funded remedial services, the court may inquire into the parent's ability to pay for all or part of such services or may require that the parent make appropriate applications for funding to alternative funding sources for such services.

(c) If court-ordered remedial services are unavailable for any reason, including lack of funding, lack of services, or language barriers, the department or supervising agency shall promptly notify the court that the parent is unable to engage in the treatment due to the inability to access such services.

(d) This section does not create an entitlement to services and does not create judicial authority to order the provision of services except for the specific purpose of making reasonable efforts to remedy parental deficiencies identified in a dependency proceeding under this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

The department of social and health services shall convene a parent-child visitation work group with the following duties:

(1) Engaging relevant stakeholders to include biological parents involved in or with experience in the child welfare process;

(2) Developing and implementing changes in policy or practice to increase the amount and quality of parent-child visitation;

(3) Submitting an annual report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by November 1st that includes:

(a) The percentage of supervised, unsupervised, and monitored visitation for families that are dependent pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW;

(b) The average length of time after visitation is court ordered following a shelter care hearing pursuant to RCW 13.34.065 that parent-child visitation is made available to a family;

(c) Incorporating a parent engagement and education component in parent-child visitation;

(d) Changes made in policy or practice to improve the effectiveness of parent-child visitation; and

(e) Recommendations of further policy or statutory changes to improve the effectiveness of parent-child visitation.

--- END ---