BILL REQ. #:  H-2363.2 

READ FIRST TIME 2/28/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to creating a domestic violence pilot program to colocate a domestic violence advocate in department of social and health services offices; adding a new section to chapter 74.13 RCW; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department of social and health services shall create a pilot program to place a domestic violence advocate in a minimum of two division of children and family services offices.
     (2) The purpose of the program is to provide domestic violence safety planning, advocacy, information, and support to adult victims of domestic violence who are receiving services from the division of children and family services offices, and to increase the capacity of division of children and family services workers to identify and respond effectively to domestic violence in their caseloads.
     (3) The goals of the program are to:
     (a) Increase the safety of children and adult victims of domestic violence who are involved with the department's child protective services division;
     (b) Increase the adult domestic violence victim's understanding of available domestic violence resources and supports;
     (c) Increase the adult domestic violence victim's and the domestic violence perpetrator's understanding of the effects of domestic violence on children;
     (d) Provide consultation and training to child protective services social workers so that they may increase their knowledge of domestic violence and practice skills for addressing domestic violence in their caseloads, and provide safe, effective responses for children and their families experiencing domestic violence;
     (e) Decrease the rate at which victims of domestic violence are referred back to the division of children and family services;
     (f) Decrease the number of children of domestic violence victims that are placed in protective custody;
     (g) Improve the ability of division of children and family services social workers to accurately identify the full spectrum of abusive and coercive tactics that are utilized by domestic violence perpetrators, and their impact on children's safety and well-being, as well as the way they disrupt or undermine the parenting practices of adult victims of domestic violence;
     (h) Improve the ability of the division of children and family services social worker to identify the range of strategies employed by adult domestic violence victims to support the safety and well-being of their children;
     (i) Increase the strategies available to division of children and family services social workers to hold the domestic violence perpetrator accountable for abusive and coercive behavior and its adverse impact on children;
     (j) Increase the ability of division of children and family services social workers to accurately identify the domestic violence perpetrator as the person responsible for the adverse impact of domestic violence on children;
     (k) Strengthen collaborations between department staff and community providers and resources; and
     (l) Conduct an evaluation of the program by comparing the outcomes of the program offices to the outcomes of the two offices that do not have the domestic violence advocate, and to develop a report of the findings and recommendations that may be used to replicate the program statewide.
     (4) The department shall convene advisory groups at the program sites to provide advice on the implementation and progress of the pilot program. The advisory groups shall include representatives from a local domestic violence agency, public health, domestic violence perpetrator's treatment program, protection order programs, law enforcement, and others who are appropriate for the advisory group.
     (5) The department shall utilize a request for proposal process and shall select the pilot sites by September 2007. The request for proposal shall require:
     (a) The community-based domestic violence agency to have experience providing domestic violence shelter or advocacy services under chapter 70.123 RCW, and experience working with families involved with child protective services or child welfare services.
     (b) The agency must be willing to commit to the following:
     (i) Involvement in the program for the duration of the program;
     (ii) Providing the employees who will be the domestic violence victim advocates located at the department offices;
     (iii) Agree to supervise and support the advocates placed into the department offices;
     (iv) Collaborate with the division of children and family services program supervisor at each site; and
     (v) Participate in the evaluation of the pilot program.
     (c) The domestic violence advocate shall provide the following services while colocated at the department office:
     (i) Provide on-site education, consultation, and support to division of children and family services staff to meet the needs of the children and families involved in domestic violence situations on subjects including, but not limited to:
     (A) Identifying indicators of domestic violence;
     (B) Interviewing techniques that do not increase the risk of danger to the adult victim of domestic violence or the child;
     (C) Identifying protective behaviors that may reduce the risk of harm to the adult victim or the child;
     (D) Determining risks posed by an alleged domestic violence perpetrator to the adult victim or the child; and
     (E) How to refer victims to a domestic violence advocate;
     (ii) Provide advocacy services to facilitate linkage to appropriate community supports for families receiving services from division of children and family services offices;
     (iii) Participating in child protective services unit meetings, case reviews, or child protection team meetings, for families with identified domestic violence concerns; and
     (iv)(A) Provide general information to department workers regarding domestic violence issues such as battering tactics, resources, and safety planning development. It is not the role of the advocate to provide information or training to department workers on specialized areas of child welfare practice such as risk assessments.
     (B) Further, the domestic violence advocate shall not provide case consultation services to any family to whom they are providing direct advocacy. The domestic violence advocate may not provide direct advocacy services to any family on whose case they have provided consultation.
     (6) Provision of services by a domestic violence advocate under this section does not waive or diminish the confidential or privileged nature of communications between a victim of domestic violence and advocate pursuant to RCW 5.60.060, 70.123.075, or 70.123.076.
     (7) The program shall be evaluated to determine the outcomes of the program.
     (a) The department shall utilize the services of an evaluator from a university or other organization who has expertise in evaluating the division of children and family services and expertise in domestic violence and child maltreatment issues of children and families. The department shall select the evaluator by September 2007.
     (b) Beginning in October 2007, the evaluator shall conduct a preprogram assessment. The evaluator shall assess and compare the program sites to two additional divisions of children and family services offices selected as comparison sites. The comparison sites shall not have a domestic violence advocate colocated at the site.
     (c) The evaluator shall collect and assess data from the program and nonprogram comparison sites to determine the following outcomes:
     (i) Changes to the rate of being referred back to child protective services intake for domestic violence related concerns;
     (ii) Whether there are documented safety assessments that identify domestic violence safety risk factors for the children and the adult victim of domestic violence;
     (iii) Whether there are documented service plans with strategies that address and mitigate identified domestic violence safety risks;
     (iv) Whether there is an increase in the ability of the adult victims of domestic violence, as well as the perpetrator of domestic violence, to identify safety risks and adverse impacts of domestic violence on the children;
     (v) Whether there is an increase in the adult domestic violence victim's access to resources available to them within the community to increase the safety and security for themselves and the children;
     (vi) Whether there is an increase in the ability of the perpetrator of domestic violence to identify and understand the adverse impact of the abusive and coercive domestic violence behaviors on their children;
     (vii) Changes to the rate of children of adult domestic violence victims placed into protective custody in the program offices compared to the comparison sites at the end of the three-year pilot program period;
     (viii) Whether there is an increase in the knowledge of division of children and family services caseworkers regarding response to domestic violence in the child protective services caseload and changes in practice;
     (ix) Whether the capacity of the social worker to accurately identify domestic violence perpetrators as responsible for the negative consequences of domestic violence increases and is reflected through case plans, who is the target of investigations, and against whom findings are made; and
     (x) Whether the focus on the perpetrator will cause division of children and family services social workers to develop service plans and strategies for the perpetrator with the aim of reducing child neglect or abuse risks caused by the perpetrator's domestic violence behaviors.
     (d)(i) The evaluator shall use the results of the evaluation to identify the effectiveness of the program including effectiveness of training, consultation, and advocacy services, changes in social worker practices, improvements in services to families, barriers to implementing program services, and service gaps for families affected by domestic violence.
     (ii) The evaluation shall include recommendations to the department for improving domestic violence responses in other division of children and family services community offices of Washington state.
     (e) The evaluator shall report the findings of the program to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2010.
     (8) The pilot program shall begin in January 2008.
     (9) This section expires January 1, 2011.