BILL REQ. #:  H-1167.2 

Read first time 02/07/2007.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & Children's Services.

     AN ACT Relating to supporting the needs of children who have been in foster care; amending RCW 43.31.465; reenacting and 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:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall create a pilot program to establish a foster youth community coordinator in three regional office locations within the state. The purpose of the pilot program is to provide assistance to foster youth who are reaching eighteen years of age to facilitate their ability to live independently upon leaving state care.
     (2) The program shall include two sites selected by the department not later than September 1, 2007.
     (3) The responsibilities of the foster youth community coordinator include the following:
     (a) To facilitate collaboration among organizations providing services to foster youth who are reaching their eighteenth birthday and leaving foster care, as well as collaboration between the department and these organizations;
     (b) To facilitate training of those providing services to youth who are preparing to leave foster care regarding the following:
     (i) The educational needs of foster youth, particularly interventions for older youth;
     (ii) The foster care system;
     (iii) The educational rights of children;
     (iv) The role of education in the development and adjustment of children;
     (v) Improving the education outcomes of youth in foster care;
     (vi) Building communities that support the needs of youth in out-of-home care; and
     (vii) Education support for foster youth in transition; and
     (c) Improving communication to foster youth regarding the services and programs available to them as they prepare to leave foster care and live independently.
     (4) The program shall include measurable objectives for the purpose of evaluation.
     (5) The department shall evaluate the program to determine whether the objectives of the program have been met and shall inform the legislature not later than January 1, 2009, of the results of the pilot program.

Sec. 2   RCW 43.31.465 and 2005 c 402 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A foster youth individual development account program is hereby established within the individual development account program established pursuant to RCW 43.31.460 for the purpose of facilitating the creation by the department and by sponsoring organizations of individual development accounts for foster youth.
     (2) The department shall select sponsoring organizations to establish and monitor individual development accounts for foster youth from those entities with whom the department of social and health services contracts for independent living services for youth who are or have been dependents of the department of social and health services.
     (3) ((An)) Within funding provided, the department shall establish an individual development account for each child who has been in an out-of-home placement under chapter 13.34 RCW for a period of six or more months. Beginning July 1, 2007, the department shall deposit not less than five hundred dollars to the individual development account of each child who was in an out-of-home placement for six or more months during the previous fiscal year.
     (4) The department shall continue making annual contributions of not less than one hundred dollars to be deposited at the beginning of each fiscal year to the individual development accounts of children for whom an account was established pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.
     (5) Individual development accounts ((may be)) established by or on behalf of a foster youth are intended to enable the individual to accumulate funds for the following purposes:
     (a) The acquisition of postsecondary education or job training;
     (b) Housing needs, including rent, security deposit, and utilities costs;
     (c) The purchase of a computer if necessary for postsecondary education or job training;
     (d) The purchase of a car if necessary for employment or postsecondary education; and
     (e) Payment of health insurance premiums.
     (((4))) (6) A foster youth participating in the program ((must)) may contribute to an individual development account. The contributions may be derived from earned income or other income, as provided by the department. Other income shall include financial incentives for educational achievement provided by entities contracted with the department of social and health services for independent living services for youth who are or have been dependents of the department of social and health services.

Sec. 3   RCW 74.13.031 and 2006 c 266 s 1 and 2006 c 221 s 3 are each reenacted and 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, to provide for the routine and necessary medical, dental, and mental health care, or necessary emergency care of the children, 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)(a) Have authority to provide continued foster care or group care as needed to participate in or complete a high school or vocational school program.
     (b)(i) Beginning in 2006, the department has the authority to allow up to fifty youth reaching age eighteen to continue in foster care or group care as needed to participate in or complete a posthigh school academic or vocational program, and to receive necessary support and transition services.
     (ii) In 2007 and 2008, the department has the authority to allow up to fifty additional youth per year reaching age eighteen to remain in foster care or group care as provided in (b)(i) of this subsection.
     (iii) A youth who remains eligible for such placement and services pursuant to department rules may continue in foster care or group care until the youth reaches his or her twenty-first birthday. Eligibility requirements shall include active enrollment in a posthigh school academic or vocational program and maintenance of a 2.0 grade point average.
     (11) Refer cases to the division of child support whenever state or federal funds are expended for the care and maintenance of a child, including a child with a developmental disability who is placed as a result of an action under chapter 13.34 RCW, unless the department finds that there is good cause not to pursue collection of child support against the parent or parents of the child. Cases involving individuals age eighteen through twenty shall not be referred to the division of child support unless required by federal law.
     (12) 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.
     (13) 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.
     (14) Have authority to provide independent living services to youths, including individuals who have attained eighteen years of age, and have not attained twenty-one years of age who are or have been in foster care.
     (15) Youth under the age of twenty-one years may enter into a voluntary placement agreement with the department to return to foster care for a period of up to six months following the youth's eighteenth birthday for the purpose of receiving independent living skills while residing in a foster care placement, including a transitional living placement.