BILL REQ. #:  H-0799.1 

Read first time 01/17/2007.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & Children's Services.

     AN ACT Relating to improving casework in child welfare cases; adding a new section to chapter 74.13 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   Tragic child fatalities in the state over the past several years have focused attention on the safety of children in our child welfare system. In reviewing child safety issues within the child welfare system, issues related to child welfare caseworkers arise frequently. Child welfare caseworkers are asked to deal with the difficult situations, often crisis situations, involving the lives of children and families. Many of these caseworkers are inexperienced workers who are new to the field, and some do not have an educational background in social work. These workers are required to take on challenging cases on their own and are expected to make good choices without errors in judgment.
     In other occupations dealing with crisis situations such as law enforcement and emergency medical treatment providers, workers operate under a very different model. Law enforcement and emergency medical providers work in teams to provide the best care for the people they serve. New workers are paired with more experienced workers, and they both are given the opportunity to work as a team to reach decisions.
     Employing a team approach in child welfare will also improve outcomes and safety for children in the child welfare system. This approach will lead to better caseworker decision making, more focus on parents which will lead to an increase in safe reunifications, and an increased retention of caseworkers.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:
     To the extent funding is appropriated in the operating budget, the department shall establish a pilot program to improve child welfare casework through the development of a team approach to casework by December 1, 2007. The pilot program shall extend through December 31, 2010, to the extent that funding is provided.
     (1) The program sites shall be selected by September 1, 2007, and shall consist of two sites, with at least one site located in eastern Washington.
     (2) The program shall assign caseworkers in teams of two to staff all aspects of the child welfare case. The caseworkers shall be assigned cases for which they are jointly responsible. The caseworkers shall jointly staff the cases and make decisions as a team. However, the caseworkers may divide the work to permit one caseworker to focus on the child and one caseworker to focus on the parents in the case. Decisions in the case, however, should be discussed and reached as a team.
     (3) The program shall include a caseworker to supervisor ratio of no greater than twelve caseworkers to one supervisor.
     (4) The department shall measure the performance and outcomes of the program, including changes in any of the following: Reunifications, child abuse or neglect re-referrals, continuances or delays in the court case, progress in dependency cases, caseworker satisfaction, retention, and safety. The department shall report its preliminary findings to the legislature by December 2009 and a final report by December 2010.