BILL REQ. #:  S-4024.2 

Read first time 01/16/08.   Referred to Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.

     AN ACT Relating to intensive behavior support services for children with developmental disabilities; adding a new chapter to Title 71A RCW; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that a developmental disability is a natural part of human life, and the presence of a developmental disability in the life of a person does not diminish the person's rights or opportunity to participate fully in the life of the local community.
     The legislature recognizes that the number of children who have a developmental disability and intense behaviors is increasing and more families are seeking out-of-home placement for their children. The legislature intends that services be created to develop skills and supports designed for the child, family members, and others involved in the child's life to avoid disruption to the family and reduce the need for out-of-home placement.
     Within available funds, the legislature directs the department to focus these services to allow a child with a developmental disability who has intense behaviors to have a permanent and stable familial relationship. The legislature intends for these services to be locally based and offered as early as possible to avoid family disruption and out-of-home placement.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   Intensive in-home services may be provided by the department, or an entity with which the department has contracted, to children and their families only when the department has determined that:
     (1) The child is under the age of eighteen;
     (2) The child has a developmental disability and has been determined eligible for these services;
     (3) The child/family score is substantially high enough on the behavior sections of the assessment conducted by the division of developmental disabilities within the department to indicate the child's behavior puts the child or family at significant risk and/or is very likely to require an out-of-home placement;
     (4) The child meets eligibility for the home and community waiver or waivers;
     (5) The child resides in his or her family home or is temporarily in an out-of-home placement with a plan to return home;
     (6) The family demonstrates the ability and willingness to learn the skills necessary to participate in the care outlined in the completed individual support plan; and
     (7) The family is not subject to a pending child protective services referral.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) The department shall implement these services statewide with a core team of highly trained individuals that it either contracts for or hires directly.
     (2) The core team shall have the following characteristics and responsibilities:
     (a) Expertise in behavior management, therapies, and children's crisis intervention, or have access to such specialized expertise;
     (b) Ability to coordinate the array of services/supports needed to stabilize the family;
     (c) Ability to conduct transition planning as an individual/family leaves the program; and
     (d) Ability to authorize or coordinate the services in the family's home and other environments, such as schools and neighborhoods.
     (3) The intensive behavior support services shall be designed to enhance the child's and parent's skills to manage behaviors, increase family and personal self-sufficiency, improve functioning of the family, reduce stress on children and families, and assist the family to locate and use other community services.
     (4) The following types of services would constitute intensive behavior support services:
     (a) Behavior consultation;
     (b) Minor home adaptations;
     (c) Motor vehicle adaptations;
     (d) Goods, services, and supplies;
     (e) In-home daily care;
     (f) Therapies;
     (g) In-home respite and planned out-of-home respite;
     (h) Intensive behavior management training of families and other individuals and partners working with the child in all domains, including the school and individualized education plan team; and
     (i) Coordination and planning.
     (5) The department shall be the lead administrative agency for children's intensive behavior support services and shall:
     (a) Collaborate with appropriate stakeholders to develop and implement the intensive behavior support services program within the division of developmental disabilities;
     (b) Utilize best practices and evidence-based practices;
     (c) Provide coordination and planning for the implementation and expansion of intensive in-home services;
     (d) Contract for the provision of intensive in-home services;
     (e) Monitor and evaluate services to determine whether the program meets standards identified in the service contract;
     (f) Collect data regarding the number of families served, and cost and outcomes of the program;
     (g) Adopt appropriate rules to implement the program;
     (h) License out-of-home placements on a timely basis;
     (i) Maintain a caseload of one staff for every thirty clients;
     (j) Assess the child for placement in a waiver program if the child has more complex needs and the family is unable to care for the child at home.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   Sections 1 through 3 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 71A RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   The sum of two million eight hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, from the general fund to the department of social and health services for the purposes of this act.