READ FIRST TIME 02/22/13.   

     AN ACT Relating to measuring performance of the child welfare system; amending RCW 74.13B.020 and 74.13.360; adding a new section to chapter 74.13 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature recognizes that the goals of the child welfare system are to protect the safety, permanence, and well-being of the children it serves. The legislature further recognizes the importance of maintaining publicly accessible data that tracks the performance of the child welfare system, leading to transparency and public understanding of the system.
     (2) The legislature believes it is important to measure safety, permanence, and well-being such that the public and the legislature may understand how the child welfare system is performing. This information will also serve the legislature in determining priorities for investment of public dollars as well as need for substantive legislative changes to facilitate improvement.
     (3) The reports to the legislature under section 2 of this act will be used to provide feedback to the department of social and health services. The agencies referenced in section 2 of this act will not disclose individually identifiable private information except as allowable under federal and state law.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The University of Washington, through partners for our children, within the school of social work, and the department, in collaboration with other stakeholders, shall develop measurements in the areas of safety, permanency, and well-being, using existing and available data. Measurements must be calculated from data used in the routine work of the state agencies' data and information technology departments. Any new record linkage or data-matching activities required in fulfillment of this section may be performed by partners for our children pursuant to agreements developed under subsection (6) of this section.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, "state agencies" means any agency or subagency providing data used in the integrated client database maintained by the research and data analysis division of the department. Any exchange of data must be in accordance with applicable federal and state law.
     (3) All measurements must use a methodology accepted by the scientific community. All measurements must address any disproportionate racial and ethnic inequality. The initial measurements must be developed by December 1, 2013.
     (4) The measurements may not require the state agencies to revise their data collection systems, and may not require the state agencies to provide individually identifiable information.
     (5) The state agencies shall provide the University of Washington with all measurement data related to the measurements developed under this section at least quarterly beginning July 1, 2014. Partners for our children shall make any nonidentifiable data publicly available. Partners for our children shall report on the data to the legislature and the governor annually starting December 31, 2014.
     (6) By January 1, 2014, the state agencies shall execute agreements with partners for our children to enable sharing of data pursuant to RCW 42.48.020 sufficient to comply with this section.
     (7) The fact that partners for our children has chosen to use a specific measure, use a specific baseline, or compare any measure to a baseline is not admissible as evidence of negligence by the department in a civil action.

Sec. 3   RCW 74.13B.020 and 2012 c 205 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) No later than December 1, ((2013)) 2014, the department shall enter into performance-based contracts for the provision of family support and related services. The department may enter into performance-based contracts for additional services, other than case management.
     (2) ((Beginning December 1, 2013, the department may not renew its current contracts with individuals or entities for the provision of the child welfare services included in performance-based contracts under this section for services in geographic areas served by network administrators under such contracts, except as mutually agreed upon between the department and the network administrator to allow for the successful transition of services that meet the needs of children and families.     
     (3))) The department shall conduct a procurement process to enter into performance-based contracts with one or more network administrators for family support and related services. As part of the procurement process, the department shall consult with department caseworkers, the exclusive bargaining representative for employees of the department, tribal representatives, parents who were formerly involved in the child welfare system, youth currently or previously in foster care, child welfare services researchers, and the Washington state institute for public policy to assist in identifying the categories of family support and related services that will be included in the procurement. The categories of family support and related services shall be defined no later than July 15, 2012. In identifying services, the department must review current data and research related to the effectiveness of family support and related services that mitigate child safety concerns and promote permanency, including reunification, and child well-being. Expenditures for family support and related services purchased under this section must remain within the levels appropriated in the operating budget.
     (((4))) (3)(a) Network administrators shall, directly or through subcontracts with service providers:
     (i) Assist caseworkers in meeting their responsibility for implementation of case plans and individual service and safety plans; and
     (ii) Provide the family support and related services within the categories of contracted services that are included in a child or family's case plan or individual service and safety plan within funds available under contract.
     (b) While the department caseworker retains responsibility for case management, nothing in chapter 205, Laws of 2012 limits the ability of the department to continue to contract for the provision of case management services by child-placing agencies, behavioral rehabilitation services agencies, or other entities that provided case management under contract with the department prior to July 1, 2005.
     (((5))) (4) In conducting the procurement, the department shall actively consult with other state agencies with relevant expertise, such as the health care authority, and with philanthropic entities with expertise in performance-based contracting for child welfare services. The director of the office of financial management must approve the request for proposal prior to its issuance.
     (((6))) (5) The procurement process must be developed and implemented in a manner that complies with applicable provisions of intergovernmental agreements between the state of Washington and tribal governments and must provide an opportunity for tribal governments to contract for service delivery through network administrators.
     (((7))) (6) The procurement and resulting contracts must include, but are not limited to, the following standards and requirements:
     (a) The use of family engagement approaches to successfully motivate families to engage in services and training of the network's contracted providers to apply such approaches;
     (b) The use of parents and youth who are successful veterans of the child welfare system to act as mentors through activities that include, but are not limited to, helping families navigate the system, facilitating parent engagement, and minimizing distrust of the child welfare system;
     (c) The establishment of qualifications for service providers participating in provider networks, such as appropriate licensure or certification, education, and accreditation by professional accrediting entities;
     (d) Adequate provider capacity to meet the anticipated service needs in the network administrator's contracted service area. The network administrator must be able to demonstrate that its provider network is culturally competent and has adequate capacity to address disproportionality, including utilization of tribal and other ethnic providers capable of serving children and families of color or who need language-appropriate services;
     (e) Fiscal solvency of network administrators and providers participating in the network;
     (f) The use of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices, where appropriate, including fidelity and quality assurance provisions;
     (g) Network administrator quality assurance activities, including monitoring of the performance of providers in their provider network, with respect to meeting measurable service outcomes;
     (h) Network administrator data reporting, including data on contracted provider performance and service outcomes; and
     (i) Network administrator compliance with applicable provisions of intergovernmental agreements between the state of Washington and tribal governments and the federal and Washington state Indian child welfare act.
     (((8))) (7) As part of the procurement process under this section, the department shall issue the request for proposals no later than December 31, ((2012. The department shall notify the apparently successful bidders no later than June 30, 2013)) 2013, shall begin implementation of performance-based contracting no later than July 1, 2014, and shall fully implement performance-based contracting no later than July 1, 2015.
     (((9))) (8) Performance-based payment methodologies must be used in network administrator contracting. Performance measures should relate to successful engagement by a child or parent in services included in their case plan, and resulting improvement in identified problem behaviors and interactions. For the initial three-year period of implementation of performance-based contracting, the department may transfer financial risk for the provision of services to network administrators only to the limited extent necessary to implement a performance-based payment methodology, such as phased payment for services. However, the department may develop a shared savings methodology through which the network administrator will receive a defined share of any savings that result from improved performance. If the department receives a Title IV-E waiver, the shared savings methodology must be consistent with the terms of the waiver. If a shared savings methodology is adopted, the network administrator shall reinvest the savings in enhanced services to better meet the needs of the families and children they serve.
     (((10))) (9) The department must actively monitor network administrator compliance with the terms of contracts executed under this section.
     (((11))) (10) The use of performance-based contracts under this section must be done in a manner that does not adversely affect the state's ability to continue to obtain federal funding for child welfare-related functions currently performed by the state and with consideration of options to further maximize federal funding opportunities and increase flexibility in the use of such funds, including use for preventive and in-home child welfare services.

Sec. 4   RCW 74.13.360 and 2012 c 205 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) No later than December 30, ((2015)) 2016:
     (a) In the demonstration sites selected under RCW 74.13.368(4)(a), child welfare services shall be provided by supervising agencies with whom the department has entered into performance-based contracts. Supervising agencies may enter into subcontracts with other licensed agencies; and
     (b) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, and notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the department may not directly provide child welfare services to families and children provided child welfare services by supervising agencies in the demonstration sites selected under RCW 74.13.368(4)(a).
     (2) No later than December 30, ((2015)) 2016, for families and children provided child welfare services by supervising agencies in the demonstration sites selected under RCW 74.13.368(4)(a), the department is responsible for only the following:
     (a) Monitoring the quality of services for which the department contracts under this chapter;
     (b) Ensuring that the services are provided in accordance with federal law and the laws of this state, including the Indian child welfare act;
     (c) Providing child protection functions and services, including intake and investigation of allegations of child abuse or neglect, emergency shelter care functions under RCW 13.34.050, and referrals to appropriate providers; and
     (d) Issuing licenses pursuant to chapter 74.15 RCW.
     (3) No later than December 30, ((2015)) 2016, for families and children provided child welfare services by supervising agencies in the demonstration sites selected under RCW 74.13.368(4)(a), the department may provide child welfare services only:
     (a) For the limited purpose of establishing a control or comparison group as deemed necessary by the child welfare transformation design committee, with input from the Washington state institute for public policy, to implement the demonstration sites selected and defined pursuant to RCW 74.13.368(4)(a) in which the performance in achieving measurable outcomes will be compared and evaluated pursuant to RCW 74.13.370; or
     (b) In an emergency or as a provider of last resort. The department shall adopt rules describing the circumstances under which the department may provide those services. For purposes of this section, "provider of last resort" means the department is unable to contract with a private agency to provide child welfare services in a particular geographic area or, after entering into a contract with a private agency, either the contractor or the department terminates the contract.
     (4) For purposes of this chapter, on and after September 1, 2010, performance-based contracts shall be structured to hold the supervising agencies accountable for achieving the following goals in order of importance: Child safety; child permanency, including reunification; and child well-being.
     (5) A federally recognized tribe located in this state may enter into a performance-based contract with the department to provide child welfare services to Indian children whether or not they reside on a reservation. Nothing in this section prohibits a federally recognized Indian tribe located in this state from providing child welfare services to its members or other Indian children pursuant to existing tribal law, regulation, or custom, or from directly entering into agreements for the provision of such services with the department, if the department continues to otherwise provide such services, or with federal agencies.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   RCW 74.13.368 (Performance-based contracts--Child welfare transformation design committee) and 2012 c 205 s 10, 2010 c 291 s 2, & 2009 c 520 s 8 are each suspended as of the effective date of this section until December 1, 2015.