H-3775              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 2582

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Representatives Bowman, McLean, Basich, Hargrove, Moyer, Walker, R. Meyers, Fuhrman, Ballard, Silver, Schoon, Wood, Tate, Winsley and Todd

Read first time 1/15/90 and referred to Committee on Human Services.

AN ACT Relating to runaway youth; and amending RCW 74.13.034.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 80, chapter 155, Laws of 1979 as last amended by section 17, chapter 298, Laws of 1981 andRCW 74.13.034 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) A child taken into custody and taken to a crisis residential center established pursuant to RCW 74.13.032(2) may, if the center is unable to provide appropriate treatment, supervision, and structure to the child, be taken at department expense to another crisis residential center or the nearest regional crisis residential center.  Placement in both centers shall not exceed seventy-two hours from the point of intake as provided in RCW 13.32A.130.

          (2) A child taken into custody and taken to a crisis residential center established by this chapter may be placed physically by the department or the department's designee and, at departmental expense and approval, in a secure juvenile detention facility operated by the county in which the center is located for a maximum of forty-eight hours, ((including)) excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, if the person in charge of the crisis residential center finds that the child is seriously assaultive or seriously destructive towards others and the center is unable to provide appropriate supervision and structure.  Any child who takes unauthorized leave from the center, if the person in charge of the center cannot provide supervision and structure adequate to ensure that the child will not again take unauthorized leave, may be taken to a secure juvenile detention facility subject to the provisions of this section:  PROVIDED, That juveniles placed in such a facility pursuant to this section may not, to the extent possible, come in contact with alleged or convicted juvenile or adult offenders.

          (3) Any child placed in secure detention pursuant to this section shall, during the period of confinement, be provided with appropriate treatment by the department or the department's designee, which shall include the services defined in RCW 74.13.033(2).  If the child placed in secure detention is not returned home or if an alternative living arrangement agreeable to the parent and the child is not made within twenty-four hours after the child's admission, the child shall be taken at the department's expense to a crisis residential center.  Placement in the crisis residential center or centers plus placement in juvenile detention shall not exceed seventy-two hours from the point of intake as provided in RCW 13.32A.130.

          (4) ((Juvenile detention facilities used pursuant to this section shall first be certified by the department to ensure that juveniles placed in the facility pursuant to this section are provided with living conditions suitable to the well-being of the child.))  Where space is available, juvenile courts((, when certified by the department to do so,)) shall provide secure placement for juveniles pursuant to this section, at department expense.

          (5) It is the intent of the legislature that by July 1, 1982, crisis residential centers, supplemented by community mental health programs and mental health professionals, will be able to respond appropriately to children admitted to centers under this chapter and will be able to respond to the needs of such children with appropriate treatment, supervision, and structure.