BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to detention of children in secure facilities; and amending RCW 13.32A.060, 13.32A.065, and 13.32A.130.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 13.32A.060 and 1997 c 146 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) An officer taking a child into custody under RCW 13.32A.050(1) (a) or (b) shall inform the child of the reason for such custody and shall:

(a) Transport the child to his or her home or to a parent at his or her place of employment, if no parent is at home. The parent may request that the officer take the child to the home of an adult extended family member, responsible adult, crisis residential center, the department, or a licensed youth shelter. In responding to the request of the parent, the officer shall take the child to a requested place which, in the officer's belief, is within a reasonable distance of the parent's home. The officer releasing a child into the custody of a parent, an adult extended family member, responsible adult, or a licensed youth shelter shall inform the person receiving the child of the reason for taking the child into custody and inform all parties of the nature and location of appropriate services available in the community; or

(b) After attempting to notify the parent, take the child to a designated crisis residential center's secure facility or a center's semi-secure facility if a secure facility is full, not available, or not located within a reasonable distance:

(i) If the child expresses fear or distress at the prospect of being returned to his or her home which leads the officer to believe there is a possibility that the child is experiencing some type of child abuse or neglect, as defined in RCW 26.44.020;

(ii) If it is not practical to transport the child to his or her home or place of the parent's employment; or

(iii) If there is no parent available to accept custody of the child; or

(c) After attempting to notify the parent, if a crisis residential center is full, not available, or not located within a reasonable distance, the officer may request the department to accept custody of the child. If the department determines that an appropriate placement is currently available, the department shall accept custody and place the child in an out-of-home placement. Upon accepting custody of a child from the officer, the department may place the child in an out-of-home placement for up to seventy-two hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, without filing a child in need of services petition under this chapter, obtaining parental consent, or obtaining an order for placement under chapter 13.34 RCW. Upon transferring a child to the department's custody, the officer shall provide written documentation of the reasons and the statutory basis for taking the child into custody. If the department declines to accept custody of the child, the officer may release the child after attempting to take the child to the following, in the order listed: The home of an adult extended family member; a responsible adult; a licensed youth shelter and shall immediately notify the department if no placement option is available and the child is released.

(2) An officer taking a child into custody under RCW 13.32A.050(1) (c) or (d) shall inform the child of the reason for custody. An officer taking a child into custody under RCW 13.32A.050(1)(c) may release the child to the supervising agency, or shall take the child to a designated crisis residential center's secure facility. If the secure facility is not available, not located within a reasonable distance, or full, the officer shall take the child to a semi-secure crisis residential center. An officer taking a child into custody under RCW 13.32A.050(1)(d) may place the child in a juvenile detention facility as provided in RCW 13.32A.065 or a secure facility, except that the child shall be taken to detention or to a secure facility within a crisis residential center whenever the officer has been notified that a juvenile court has entered ((~~a detention~~)) an order directing such placement under this chapter or chapter 13.34 RCW.

(3) Whenever an officer transfers custody of a child to a crisis residential center or the department, the child may reside in the crisis residential center or may be placed by the department in an out-of-home placement for an aggregate total period of time not to exceed seventy-two hours excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, except that a child placed in a secure facility within a crisis residential center under a court order entered under RCW 13.32A.250 must remain in the secure facility as provided in RCW 13.32A.065. Thereafter, the child may continue in out-of-home placement only if the parents have consented, a child in need of services petition has been filed under this chapter, or an order for placement has been entered under chapter 13.34 RCW.

(4) The department shall ensure that all law enforcement authorities are informed on a regular basis as to the location of all designated secure and semi-secure facilities within centers in their jurisdiction, where children taken into custody under RCW 13.32A.050 may be taken.

Sec. 2. RCW 13.32A.065 and 1996 c 133 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A child may be placed in detention or a secure facility within a crisis residential center after being taken into custody pursuant to RCW 13.32A.050(1)(d). The court shall hold a ((~~detention~~)) review hearing within twenty-four hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The court shall release the child after twenty-four hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, unless:

(a) A motion and order to show why the child should not be held in contempt has been filed and served on the child at or before the detention hearing; and

(b) The court believes that the child would not appear at a hearing on contempt.

(2) If the court ((~~orders the child to remain in detention~~)) finds that the conditions in subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section have been met, the court may order the child to remain confined either in detention or in a secure facility within a crisis residential center and shall set the matter for a hearing on contempt within seventy-two hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

Sec. 3. RCW 13.32A.130 and 1997 c 146 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A child admitted to a secure facility within a crisis residential center shall remain in the facility for not more than five consecutive days, but for at least twenty-four hours after admission. If the child admitted under this section is transferred between centers or between secure and semi-secure facilities, the aggregate length of time spent in all such centers or facilities may not exceed five consecutive days.

(2)(a)(i) The facility administrator shall determine within twenty-four hours after a child's admission to a secure facility whether the child is likely to remain in a semi-secure facility and may transfer the child to a semi-secure facility or release the child to the department. The determination shall be based on: (A) The need for continued assessment, protection, and treatment of the child in a secure facility; and (B) the likelihood the child would remain at a semi-secure facility until his or her parents can take the child home or a petition can be filed under this title.

(ii) In making the determination the administrator shall consider the following information if known: (A) The child's age and maturity; (B) the child's condition upon arrival at the center; (C) the circumstances that led to the child's being taken to the center; (D) whether the child's behavior endangers the health, safety, or welfare of the child or any other person; (E) the child's history of running away which has endangered the health, safety, and welfare of the child; and (F) the child's willingness to cooperate in the assessment.

(b) If the administrator of a secure facility determines the child is unlikely to remain in a semi-secure facility, the administrator shall keep the child in the secure facility pursuant to this chapter and in order to provide for space for the child may transfer another child who has been in the facility for at least seventy-two hours to a semi-secure facility. The administrator shall only make a transfer of a child after determining that the child who may be transferred is likely to remain at the semi-secure facility.

(c) A crisis residential center administrator is authorized to transfer a child to a crisis residential center in the area where the child's parents reside or where the child's lawfully prescribed residence is located.

(d) An administrator may transfer a child from a semi-secure facility to a secure facility whenever he or she reasonably believes that the child is likely to leave the semi-secure facility and not return and after full consideration of all factors in (a)(i) and (ii) of this subsection.

(3) If no parent is available or willing to remove the child during the first seventy-two hours following admission, the department shall consider the filing of a petition under RCW 13.32A.140.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the parents may remove the child at any time during the five-day period unless the staff of the crisis residential center has reasonable cause to believe that the child is absent from the home because he or she is abused or neglected or if allegations of abuse or neglect have been made against the parents. The department or any agency legally charged with the supervision of a child may remove a child from a crisis residential center at any time after the first twenty-four-hour period after admission has elapsed and only after full consideration by all parties of the factors in subsection (2)(a) of this section.

(5) Crisis residential center staff shall make reasonable efforts to protect the child and achieve a reconciliation of the family. If a reconciliation and voluntary return of the child has not been achieved within forty-eight hours from the time of intake, and if the administrator of the center does not consider it likely that reconciliation will be achieved within the five-day period, then the administrator shall inform the parent and child of: (a) The availability of counseling services; (b) the right to file a child in need of services petition for an out-of-home placement, the right of a parent to file an at-risk youth petition, and the right of the parent and child to obtain assistance in filing the petition; (c) the right to request the facility administrator or his or her designee to form a multidisciplinary team; (d) the right to request a review of any out-of-home placement; (e) the right to request a mental health or chemical dependency evaluation by a county-designated professional or a private treatment facility; and (f) the right to request treatment in a program to address the child's at-risk behavior under RCW 13.32A.197.

(6) At no time shall information regarding a parent's or child's rights be withheld. The department shall develop and distribute to all law enforcement agencies and to each crisis residential center administrator a written statement delineating the services and rights. Every officer taking a child into custody shall provide the child and his or her parent(s) or responsible adult with whom the child is placed with a copy of the statement. In addition, the administrator of the facility or his or her designee shall provide every resident and parent with a copy of the statement.

(7) A crisis residential center and its administrator or his or her designee acting in good faith in carrying out the provisions of this section are immune from criminal or civil liability for such actions.

(8) This section does not apply to children admitted to a secure facility within a crisis residential center by a court order issued under RCW 13.32A.250(3) or 28A.225.090(2).