AN
ACT Relating to providing services for persons through twenty years of age, who
are or who have been in foster care; amending RCW 74.13.031; and adding a new
section to chapter 74.13 RCW.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
74.13.031 and 1999 c 267 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
The
department shall have the duty to provide child welfare services and shall:
(1)
Develop, administer, supervise, and monitor a coordinated and comprehensive
plan that establishes, aids, and strengthens services for the protection and
care of runaway, dependent, or neglected children.
(2)
Within available resources, recruit an adequate number of prospective adoptive
and foster homes, both regular and specialized, i.e. homes for children of
ethnic minority, including Indian homes for Indian children, sibling groups,
handicapped and emotionally disturbed, teens, pregnant and parenting teens, and
annually report to the governor and the legislature concerning the department's
success in: (a) Meeting the need for adoptive and foster home placements; (b)
reducing the foster parent turnover rate; (c) completing home studies for
legally free children; and (d) implementing and operating the passport program
required by RCW 74.13.285. The report shall include a section entitled
"Foster Home Turn-Over, Causes and Recommendations."
(3)
Investigate complaints of any recent act or failure to act on the part of a
parent or caretaker that results in death, serious physical or emotional harm,
or sexual abuse or exploitation, or that presents an imminent risk of serious
harm, and on the basis of the findings of such investigation, offer child
welfare services in relation to the problem to such parents, legal custodians,
or persons serving in loco parentis, and/or bring the situation to the
attention of an appropriate court, or another community agency: PROVIDED, That
an investigation is not required of nonaccidental injuries which are clearly
not the result of a lack of care or supervision by the child's parents, legal custodians,
or persons serving in loco parentis. If the investigation reveals that a crime
against a child may have been committed, the department shall notify the
appropriate law enforcement agency.
(4)
Offer, on a voluntary basis, family reconciliation services to families who are
in conflict.
(5)
Monitor out-of-home placements, on a timely and routine basis, to assure the
safety, well-being, and quality of care being provided is within the scope of
the intent of the legislature as defined in RCW 74.13.010 and 74.15.010, and
annually submit a report measuring the extent to which the department achieved
the specified goals to the governor and the legislature.
(6)
Have authority to accept custody of children from parents and to accept custody
of children from juvenile courts, where authorized to do so under law, to
provide child welfare services including placement for adoption, and to provide
for the physical care of such children and make payment of maintenance costs if
needed. Except where required by Public Law 95-608 (25 U.S.C. Sec. 1915), no
private adoption agency which receives children for adoption from the
department shall discriminate on the basis of race, creed, or color when
considering applications in their placement for adoption.
(7)
Have authority to provide temporary shelter to children who have run away from
home and who are admitted to crisis residential centers.
(8)
Have authority to purchase care for children; and shall follow in general the
policy of using properly approved private agency services for the actual care
and supervision of such children insofar as they are available, paying for care
of such children as are accepted by the department as eligible for support at
reasonable rates established by the department.
(9)
Establish a children's services advisory committee which shall assist the
secretary in the development of a partnership plan for utilizing resources of
the public and private sectors, and advise on all matters pertaining to child
welfare, licensing of child care agencies, adoption, and services related
thereto. At least one member shall represent the adoption community.
(10)
Have authority to provide continued foster care or group care for individuals
from eighteen through twenty years of age to enable them to complete their high
school or vocational school program.
(11)
Have authority within funds appropriated for foster care services to purchase
care for Indian children who are in the custody of a federally recognized
Indian tribe or tribally licensed child-placing agency pursuant to parental
consent, tribal court order, or state juvenile court order; and the purchase of
such care shall be subject to the same eligibility standards and rates of
support applicable to other children for whom the department purchases care.
Notwithstanding
any other provision of RCW 13.32A.170 through 13.32A.200 and 74.13.032 through
74.13.036, or of this section all services to be provided by the department of
social and health services under subsections (4), (6), and (7) of this section,
subject to the limitations of these subsections, may be provided by any program
offering such services funded pursuant to Titles II and III of the federal
juvenile justice and delinquency prevention act of 1974.
(12)
Within amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, provide preventive
services to families with children that prevent or shorten the duration of an
out-of-home placement.
(13)
Have authority to provide independent living services to youths, including
individuals eighteen through twenty years of age, who are or have been in
foster care.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. A
new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:
Independent
living services include assistance in achieving basic educational requirements
such as a GED, enrollment in vocational and technical training programs offered
at the community and vocational colleges, and obtaining and maintaining
employment; and accomplishing basic life skills such as money management,
nutrition, preparing meals, and cleaning house. A baseline skill level in
ability to function productively and independently shall be determined at
entry. Performance shall be measured and must demonstrate improvement from
involvement in the program. Each recipient shall have a plan for achieving
independent living skills by the time the recipient reaches age twenty-one.
The plan shall be written within the first thirty days of placement and
reviewed every ninety days. A recipient who fails to consistently adhere to
the elements of the plan shall be subject to reassessment by the professional
staff of the program and may be declared ineligible to receive services.
