PROPOSED RULES
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Financial Services Administration)
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 03-18-099.
Title of Rule: Cost reimbursement schedule and ability to pay.
Purpose: Amending WAC 388-720-0020 that is used to determine the amounts owed by parent's and other responsible party's, for the cost of support, treatment, and confinement of juveniles in custody.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 13.40.220 Cost of support, treatment, and confinement, order, contempt of court.
Statute Being Implemented: RCW 13.40.220.
Summary: Revised rules are needed to clarify the term "ability to pay" as used in RCW 13.40.220. After the rule becomes law, agency staff will use the new language to help determine a responsible party's cost for the support, treatment, and confinement of a juvenile in custody.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: Without this WAC change, the department will not have a rule that clearly defines "ability to pay."
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Bill Stoner, DSHS, Financial Services Administration, 4450 10th Avenue S.E., Lacey, WA, (360) 664-5499; Implementation and Enforcement: Bill Ward, DSHS, Financial Services Administration, 4450 10th Avenue S.E., Lacey, WA, (360) 664-5501.
Name of Proponent: Department of Social and Health Services, governmental.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: Revised rules are needed to clarify the term "ability to pay" as used in RCW 13.40.220. Without this WAC change, the department will not have a rule that clearly defines "ability to pay." After the rule becomes law, agency staff will use the new language to help determine a responsible party's cost for the support, treatment, and confinement of a juvenile in custody.
Proposal Changes the Following Existing Rules: The rule clarifies the term "ability to pay." After the rule becomes law, agency staff will use the new language to help determine a responsible party's cost for the support, treatment, and confinement of a juvenile in custody.
No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. This rule does not affect small businesses.
RCW 34.05.328 does not apply to this rule adoption. This change is exempt from the requirements of this RCW, because it affects the liability for the care of dependents (RCW 34.05.328 (5)(b)(vii)).
Hearing Location: Blake Office Park (behind Goodyear Courtesy Tire), 4500 10th Avenue S.E., Rose Room, Lacey, WA 98503, on January 6, 2004, at 10:00 a.m.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Andy Fernando, DSHS Rules Coordinator, by January 2, 2004, phone (360) 664-6094, TTY (360) 664-6178, e-mail fernaax@dshs.wa.gov.
Submit Written Comments to: Identify WAC Numbers, DSHS Rules Coordinator, Rules and Policies Assistance Unit, mail to P.O. Box 45850, Olympia, WA 98504-5850, deliver to 4500 10th Avenue S.E., Lacey, WA, fax (360) 664-6185, e-mail fernaax@dshs.wa.gov, by 5:00 p.m., January 6, 2004.
Date of Intended Adoption: Not earlier than January 7, 2004.
November 7, 2003
Brian H. Lindgren, Manager
Rules and Policies Assistance Unit
3322.1
| Monthly Gross Income | Percentage of Gross Income Ordered for Reimbursement of Costs Number of Parents and Dependents Remaining in Household |
|||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8+ | |||
| AFDC or $0 - 600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| $601 | - | 1000 | 8% | 6% | 4% | 2% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| $1001 | - | 2000 | 12% | 10% | 8% | 6% | 4% | 2% | 0 | 0 |
| $2001 | - | 3000 | 16% | 14% | 12% | 10% | 8% | 6% | 4% | 2% |
| $3001 | - | 4000+ | 18% | 16% | 14% | 12% | 10% | 8% | 6% | 4% |
(1) Within fifteen days of receipt((, a parent shall mail
to the department a certified)) of the financial information
statement ((on forms provided by)), a parent or other legally
obligated person shall complete, sign and mail the statement
to the department. Based on the statement and on other
information available to it, the department shall determine
the parent's gross income, the number of parents and
dependents, and the reimbursement obligation, and shall serve
on the parent a notice and finding of financial
responsibility.
(2) If a parent or legally obligated person fails to timely provide a financial statement, the reimbursement obligation shall be twenty-three hundred dollars per month.
(3) If the juvenile's parents or other legally obligated person reside in separate households, each parent shall be liable for reimbursement.
(4) The gross income of a parent shall be reduced by the amount the parent pays in spousal maintenance to the juvenile's parent, which is gross income to the receiving parent. The gross income of a parent or other legally obligated person shall be reduced by the amount of current child support paid for any child, including the juvenile offender. This credit shall be available when the support is paid to any section of the department or to any other person legally entitled to receive those support payments, pursuant to court order or administrative order for a child the parent did not claim as a dependent under the reimbursement schedule.
(5) Reimbursement may not exceed the cost of care as determined by the department.
(6) The reimbursement obligation commences the day the juvenile enters the custody of the department, regardless of when the notice and finding of financial responsibility is received by the parent. A monthly reimbursement obligation shall be reduced on a pro rata basis for any days in which the juvenile was not in the custody of the department.
(7) The parent or other legally obligated person of the juvenile shall be exempt from the payment of the cost of the juvenile's care in the state facility if the parent or other legally obligated person receives adoption support or is eligible to receive adoption support for the juvenile offender; or if the parent, or other legally obligated person, or such person's child, spouse, or spouse's child, was the victim of the offense for which the juvenile was committed to the department.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 13.40.220. 00-22-019, recodified as § 388-720-0020, filed 10/20/00, effective 11/20/00; 96-24-075, § 275-47-020, filed 12/2/96, effective 1/2/97; 94-15-009 (Order 3752), § 275-47-020, filed 7/8/94, effective 8/8/94.]