2319-S2 AMH FLEM H4268.4

2319-S2 AMH FLEM H4268.4

2SHB 2319 - H AMD 1132 ADOPTED 2-21-94

By Representatives Flemming, Sommers and others

On page 3, beginning on line 16, strike all of sections 102, 103, 104, and 105 and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 102. HEALTHY FAMILIES‑-WASHINGTON PROGRAM. (1) The department of health shall coordinate and fund community-based projects providing screening, tracking, and the delivery of appropriate primary prevention services to infants and toddlers and their families. The program shall be known as the healthy families‑-Washington program and shall have a goal of helping families and communities promote healthy child development, reduce preventable illnesses and disabilities, and reduce child abuse and neglect in Washington state.

(2) Participation by parents in the healthy families‑-Washington program shall be voluntary.

(3) Parents who elect to participate in the healthy families‑-Washington program shall receive education and support services only after signing a voluntary written authorization. The parents shall be informed of their right to withdraw their decision to participate in the healthy families‑-Washington program at any time of their choosing.

(4) Program criteria shall be established by the department of health in consultation with the family policy council established pursuant to chapter 70.190 RCW, and with private and public groups involved in child abuse and neglect prevention and shall reflect the following principles:

(a) Family policy principles enunciated by the family policy council;

(b) Flexibility in program design and implementation to accommodate unique community characteristics and needs;

(c) Services are offered, subject to the availability of funding, to infants and their families where a screening has revealed the infant meets one or more risk factors related to a biological, environmental, or psychosocial risk factor; and

(d) Increased coordination of existing services to prospective parents and parents of newborn children.

(5) The department of health shall establish a sliding fee scale for the provision of services under sections 102 through 104 of this act.

(6) For the purposes of sections 102 through 104 of this act "parent" means the birth or adoptive parent, or the legal guardian of a child.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 103. HEALTHY FAMILIES-WASHINGTON PROGRAM SITES‑-REQUIREMENTS. (1) Each community-based healthy families--Washington program site shall be designed to promote healthy child development and to reduce the incidence of preventable illnesses, disabilities, and child abuse and neglect in the defined community.

(2) Program participation by parents shall be voluntary. In offering or providing services, every effort shall be made to coordinate with and utilize other programs that fund or provide any of the services referenced in subsection (3) of this section. The primary focus for expenditure of healthy families‑-Washington program funds should be development of a coordinated system of family support services for parents of newborn children in the community who meet eligibility criteria, provision of visits at locations comfortable for parents and provision of services referenced in subsection (3) of this section that are not currently funded from other sources.

(3) Each program site shall make the following services available to families in the defined community:

(a) Screening prior to or soon after the birth of a child to determine whether an infant meets one or more risk factors related to a biological, environmental, or psychosocial risk factor;

(b) Visits for expectant or new parents of infants identified pursuant to (a) of this subsection and their parents, who have voluntarily signed a written authorization to participate, at a location with which the parent is comfortable. Visits shall be conducted by professionals or paraprofessionals under rules established by the department of health. If a professional or paraprofessional is not available to conduct the visit, volunteers may be used to the extent that they meet minimum competency standards established by the department of health. At the initial visit, areas of concern shall be identified in consultation with the parents;

(c) Linking each family with a primary care provider for the infant, tracking the infant's utilization of well-child health services, and providing reminders to participating families when a well-child visit has been missed;

(d) Parenting education and skills development;

(e) Parenting and family support information and referral;

(f) Parent support groups;

(g) Service coordination for individual families, and assistance with accessing services, provided in a manner that ensures that individual families have only one individual or agency to which they look for service coordination. Where appropriate for a family, service coordination may be conducted through interdisciplinary or interagency teams.

(4) The department of health shall evaluate each program site. The evaluation shall include an analysis of the impact of program services on the rate of child abuse and neglect in the community served by the program. The department of health shall report to the appropriate committees of the house of representatives and senate on the effectiveness of the healthy families--Washington program and whether funding should be continued or terminated. The department of health shall report its findings on December 1, 1998.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 104. HEALTHY FAMILIES-WASHINGTON PROGRAM SITES‑-APPLICATIONS. In developing and designing each healthy families‑-Washington program site, the department shall:

(1) Actively involve entities in the community of the program site with a demonstrated interest in healthy child development and family support activities;

(2) Actively involve parents who are not affiliated with entities providing child development or family support services;

(3) Identify a lead agency in each site, which may be a private nonprofit or public agency, that will be responsible for fiscal and administrative coordination of the program site;

(4) Identify the entities that will be providing the services described in section 103(3) of this act to participating families through the program;

(5) Develop statistics for each program site, with the assistance of the department of social and health services, on the rate of childhood immunization, preventable illnesses and disabilities, and child abuse and neglect over at least the past five years;

(6) Identify the community matching funds required by the department of health by rule; and

(7) Include components that will demonstrate sensitivity to religious, cultural, and socioeconomic differences in the program site."

Renumber the sections consecutively and correct any internal references accordingly.

On page 71, beginning on line 8, after "(1)" strike all material through "43.121 RCW" on line 9, and insert "Sections 102 through 104 of this act are each added to chapter 43.70 RCW"