(1) The caseload forecast council is hereby created. The council shall consist of two individuals appointed by the governor and four individuals, one of whom is appointed by the chairperson of each of the two largest political caucuses in the senate and house of representatives. The chair of the council shall be selected from among the four caucus appointees. The council may select such other officers as the members deem necessary.
(2) The council shall employ a caseload forecast supervisor to supervise the preparation of all caseload forecasts. As used in this chapter, "supervisor" means the caseload forecast supervisor.
(3) Approval by an affirmative vote of at least five members of the council is required for any decisions regarding employment of the supervisor. Employment of the supervisor shall terminate after each term of three years. At the end of the first year of each three-year term the council shall consider extension of the supervisor's term by one year. The council may fix the compensation of the supervisor. The supervisor shall employ staff sufficient to accomplish the purposes of this section.
(4) The caseload forecast council shall oversee the preparation of and approve, by an affirmative vote of at least four members, the official state caseload forecasts prepared under RCW
43.88C.020. If the council is unable to approve a forecast before a date required in RCW
43.88C.020, the supervisor shall submit the forecast without approval and the forecast shall have the same effect as if approved by the council.
(5) A councilmember who does not cast an affirmative vote for approval of the official caseload forecast may request, and the supervisor shall provide, an alternative forecast based on assumptions specified by the member.
(6) Members of the caseload forecast council shall serve without additional compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW
44.04.120 while attending sessions of the council or on official business authorized by the council. Nonlegislative members of the council shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW
43.03.050 and
43.03.060.
(7) "Caseload," as used in this chapter, means:
(a) The number of persons expected to meet entitlement requirements and require the services of public assistance programs, state correctional institutions, state correctional noninstitutional supervision, state institutions for juvenile offenders, the common school system, long-term care, medical assistance, foster care, and adoption support;
(b) The number of students who are eligible for the Washington college bound scholarship program and are expected to attend an institution of higher education as defined in RCW
28B.92.030;
(c) The number of students who are eligible for the Washington college grant program under RCW
28B.92.200 and
28B.92.205 and are expected to attend an institution of higher education as defined in RCW
28B.92.030;
(d) The number of children who are eligible, as defined in RCW
43.216.505, to participate in, and the number of children actually served by, the early childhood education and assistance program; and
(e) Beginning with the first official forecast after July 23, 2023, the number of people eligible for the working families' tax credit under RCW
82.08.0206. The total number of people eligible for the working families' tax credit should include:
(i) The number of eligible people with no qualifying children;
(ii) The number of eligible people with one qualifying child;
(iii) The number of eligible people with two qualifying children; and
(iv) The number of eligible people with three or more qualifying children.
(8) The caseload forecast council shall forecast the temporary assistance for needy families and the working connections child care programs as a courtesy.
(9) By January 1, 2023, the caseload forecast council shall present the number of individuals who are assessed as eligible for and have requested a service through the individual and family services waiver and the basic plus waiver administered by the developmental disabilities administration as a courtesy. The caseload forecast council shall be presented with the service request list as defined in RCW
71A.10.020 to aid in development of this information.
(10) Beginning with the official forecast submitted in November 2022 and subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the caseload forecast council shall forecast the number of individuals who are assessed as eligible for and have requested supported living services, a service through the core waiver, an individual and family services waiver, and the basic plus waiver administered by the developmental disabilities administration as a courtesy. The caseload forecast council shall be presented with the service request list as defined in RCW
71A.10.020 to aid in development of this information.
(11) As a courtesy, beginning with the official forecast submitted in November 2022, the caseload forecast council shall forecast the number of individuals who are expected to reside in state-operated living alternatives administered by the developmental disabilities administration.
(12) The caseload forecast council shall forecast youth participating in the extended foster care program pursuant to RCW
74.13.031 separately from other children who are residing in foster care and who are under eighteen years of age.
(13) The caseload forecast council shall forecast the number of youth expected to receive behavioral rehabilitation services while involved in the foster care system and the number of screened in reports of child abuse or neglect.
(14) The caseload forecast council shall forecast the number of individuals who are functionally and financially eligible for medicaid waiver services administered by the developmental disabilities administration who also meet the criteria outlined in RCW
71A.12.370 and are expected to utilize a medicaid waiver service.
(15) The caseload forecast council shall forecast eligible children participating in the transition to kindergarten program under RCW
28A.300.072.
(16) Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions provided in RCW
43.88.020 apply to this chapter.
(17) During the 2021-2023 fiscal biennium, and beginning with the November 2021 forecast, the caseload forecast council shall produce an unofficial forecast of the long-term caseload for juvenile rehabilitation as a courtesy.