AN ACT Relating to child abuse and neglect; adding a new chapter to Title 74 RCW; creating new sections; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the protection and positive development of children is paramount to the successful functioning and future of this state. It is the intent of the legislature that this goal be supported by continued efforts to prevent child maltreatment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Caseworkers employed in children services shall meet minimum standards established by the department of social and health services. Comprehensive training for caseworkers shall be completed before such caseworkers are assigned to case-carrying responsibilities without direct supervision. Intermittent, part-time, and standby workers shall be subject to the same minimum standards and training.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The office of the administrator for the courts, the office of administrative hearings, and the criminal justice training commission shall provide personnel trained by these agencies with instruction in recognizing child abuse and neglect.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The department shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, provide foster parent training as an ongoing part of the foster care program. The department shall contract for a variety of support services to foster parents to reduce isolation and stress, and to increase skills and confidence.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The department shall establish and maintain one or more multidisciplinary teams in each state region of the division of children and family services. The team shall consist of at least four persons, selected by the department, from professions which provide services to abused and neglected children and/or the parents of such children. The teams shall be available for consultation on all cases where a risk exists of serious harm to the child and where there is dispute over whether out-of-home placement is appropriate.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The department shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, provide therapeutic day care to children who have been abused or neglected and meet program eligibility criteria.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department of social and health services shall inform victims of child abuse and neglect and their families of the availability of state-supported counseling through the crime victims' compensation program, community mental health centers, domestic violence and sexual assault programs, and other related programs. The department shall assist victims with referrals to these services.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The department of social and health services shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, use a risk assessment tool when investigating child abuse and neglect referrals. The tool shall be used, on a pilot basis, in four local office service areas. The department shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, offer enhanced community-based services to persons who are determined not to require further state intervention.

The department shall report to the senate human services and corrections and the house human services committees and the ways and means committees of the senate and house of representatives on the use of the tool by December 1, 1988. The report shall include recommendations on the continued use and possible expanded use of the tool.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The department of social and health services shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, hire twenty-one full-time equivalent clerical staff to support child protective services caseworkers in fulfilling their responsibilities. The department shall provide child protective services caseworkers with dictation machines and word processing and personal computer equipment that will increase productivity by reducing the time spent processing paperwork.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The department of social and health services shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, contract for forty-five full-time equivalent public health nurses to provide prevention and early intervention services and assist in the investigation of low-risk child abuse and neglect referrals.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. The department of social and health services shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, establish a Title IV B and E eligibility determination program. The program shall ensure that every child in foster care eligible for federal financial participation is correctly identified.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. The department of social and health services shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, provide six additional full-time equivalent assistant attorneys general to provide legal services for child protective services cases.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. Sections 1 through 7 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 74 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1987.