H-4977              _______________________________________________

                                          SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 1589

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By House Committee on Human Services (originally sponsored by Representatives K. Wilson, Ferguson, Walk, Winsley, Crane, Haugen, Cantwell, Scott, Wineberry and Armstrong)

Read first time 2/5/88 and referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

AN ACT Relating to dependency of high-risk youths; creating new sections; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     For the purpose of this act:

(1) "Department" means the department of social and health services; and

          (2) "High-risk youth" means minor children who are chronic runaways, street youth who are homeless or without family ties, or youth with a significant history of chemical dependence as defined by the department.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     The department  shall develop, in cooperation with the county governing authorities, law enforcement officials, and regional planning units of the governor's juvenile justice advisory committee, plans for a continuum of intervention services to meet the needs of high-risk youth.  The plans shall also include:  Projections of the number of high-risk youth likely to need staff-secure care as well as projected success rates for those who receive this care; cost estimates of the capital and operational expenditures necessary for staff-secure facilities; and an assessment of the financial consequences of failing to serve high-risk youth.  The department shall include items in the department's proposed budget for 1991 making appropriations necessary to implement the plans on a county or regional basis.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     The department shall conduct a  pilot project for treating high-risk youth.  The project shall:  (1) Provide a comparative cost benefit analysis of treating high-risk youth through current methodologies including family reconciliation services, intensive family intervention services, and crisis residential centers; (2) analyze the option of creating a dependency category for high-risk youth; (3) provide a comparative analysis of both costs and success rates in dealing with high-risk youth; and (4) report on the cost benefit experiences of other states providing treatment and intervention services to this population.

          The department shall report the results of the project to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 1989.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     The sum of one million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1989, from the general fund to the department of social and health services for the purposes of this act.