H-3666.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 2803

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      53rd Legislature     1994 Regular Session

By Representatives Morris, Long, Johanson, Chappell, Campbell, Brough, Fuhrman, Rayburn, Jones, Lemmon, Silver, Moak, Quall, Karahalios and Springer

Read first time 01/24/94.  Referred to Committee on Corrections.

Prohibiting the department of social and health services from limiting county's abilities to commit juvenile offenders.

    AN ACT Relating to juvenile offenders; amending RCW 13.06.050; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that a public safety risk is created by the department's current policy of conditioning counties' receipt of state funds on compliance with quasi-caps on juvenile offender commitments.  Further, this policy prevents juvenile offenders from receiving necessary rehabilitative services.

    Sec. 2.  RCW 13.06.050 and 1993 c 415 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

    No county shall be entitled to receive any state funds provided by this chapter until its application and plan are approved, and unless and until the minimum standards prescribed by the department of social and health services are complied with and then only on such terms as are set forth in this section.  In addition, any county making application for state funds under this chapter that also operates a juvenile detention facility must have standards of operations in place that include:  Intake and admissions, medical and health care, communication, correspondence, visiting and telephone use, security and control, sanitation and hygiene, juvenile rights, rules and discipline, property, juvenile records, safety and emergency procedures, programming, release and transfer, training and staff development, and food service.

    (1) The distribution of funds to a county or a group of counties shall be based on criteria including but not limited to the county's per capita income, regional or county at-risk populations, juvenile crime or arrest rates, rates of poverty, size of racial minority populations, and existing programs((, and the effectiveness and efficiency of consolidating local programs towards reducing commitments to state correctional facilities for offenders whose standard range disposition does not include commitment of the offender to the department and reducing reliance on other traditional departmental services)).

    (2) The department may not place caps on commitments to the department or otherwise limit a county's ability to commit juvenile offenders to the department.  The department's disbursal of funds under this chapter may not be conditioned on the number of juveniles committed to the department.

(3) The secretary will reimburse a county upon presentation and approval of a valid claim pursuant to the provisions of this chapter based on actual performance in meeting the terms and conditions of the approved plan and contract.  Funds received by participating counties under this chapter shall not be used to replace local funds for existing programs.

    (((3))) (4) The secretary, in conjunction with the human rights commission, shall evaluate the effectiveness of programs funded under this chapter in reducing racial disproportionality.  The secretary shall investigate whether implementation of such programs has reduced disproportionality in counties with initially high levels of disproportionality.  The analysis shall indicate which programs are cost-effective in reducing disproportionality in such areas as alternatives to detention, intake and risk assessment standards pursuant to RCW 13.40.038, alternatives to incarceration, and in the prosecution and adjudication of juveniles.  The secretary shall report his or her findings to the legislature by December 1, 1994, and December 1 of each year thereafter.

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