H-1974.1                  _______________________________________________

                                             SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1623

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State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

By House Committee on Human Services (originally sponsored by Representatives Thibaudeau, Flemming, Brough, Wolfe, Roland, Brown, Leonard, Locke, Anderson, Talcott, King, Scott, J. Kohl and L. Johnson)

Read first time 03/03/93.

Authorizing use of foster care services funds for therapeutic child care.

          AN ACT Relating to therapeutic child care; amending RCW 74.14B.040; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that family preservation services and therapeutic child care strengthen at-risk families.  These services are successful at preventing a child's removal from the family home and resolving behaviors that have the potential to harm children.  Providing administrative agencies with the flexibility to transfer funds to prevention programs will reduce out-of-home placement of children, keep families together, and save the state money through avoided expenditures for foster care.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  Any federal funds made available for therapeutic child care shall be used to supplement and shall not supplant state funds to carry out the purposes of this act.

        Sec. 3.  RCW 74.14B.040 and 1987 c 503 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:

          The department shall, within funds appropriated for this purpose, provide therapeutic ((day)) child care and day treatment to children who have been abused or neglected and meet program eligibility criteria.

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