wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 6020 > Original Bill
With the recent sharp increase of infant deaths and near deaths, persistent overcrowding and excessive cost in the JR-25 system, and millions paid out in settlements, it is important to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion goals are prioritized. The highest priority is to ensure board members are not offended by the word "oversight." Rather than weakening the ability of the board to review the department of children, youth, and families oversight board's contracts and changing its annual reporting requirements to biannual, the legislature finds that changing the name of the board is an important priority.
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The department of children, youth, and families is created as an executive branch agency. The department is vested with all powers and duties transferred to it under chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd sp. sess. and such other powers and duties as may be authorized by law. The vision for the department is that Washington state's children and youth grow up safe and healthythriving physically, emotionally, and academically, nurtured by family and community.
The department, in partnership with state and local agencies, tribes, and communities, shall protect children and youth from harm and promote healthy development with effective, high quality prevention, intervention, and early education services delivered in an equitable manner. An important role for the department shall be to provide preventative services to help secure and preserve families in crisis. The department shall partner with the federally recognized Indian tribes to develop effective services for youth and families while respecting the sovereignty of those tribes and the government-to-government relationship. Nothing in chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd sp. sess. alters the duties, requirements, and policies of the federal Indian child welfare act, 25 U.S.C. Secs. 1901 through 1963, as amended, or the Indian child welfare act, chapter 13.38 RCW.
Beginning July 1, 2018, the department must develop definitions for, work plans to address, and metrics to measure the outcomes for children, youth, and families served by the department and must work with state agencies to ensure services for children, youth, and families are science-based, outcome-driven, data-informed, and collaborative.
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Beginning July 1, 2018, the department must establish short and long-term population level outcome measure goals, including metrics regarding reducing disparities by family income, race, and ethnicity in each outcome.
In addition to transparent, frequent reporting of the outcome measures in (c)(i) through (viii) of this subsection, the department must report to the legislature an examination of engagement, resource utilization, and outcomes for clients receiving department services and youth participating in juvenile court alternative programs funded by the department, no less than annually and beginning September 1, 2020. The data in this report must be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and geography. This report must identify areas of focus to advance equity that will inform department strategies so that all children, youth, and families are thriving. Metrics detailing progress towards eliminating disparities and disproportionality over time must also be included. The report must also include information on department outcome measures, actions taken, progress toward these goals, and plans for the future year.
The outcome measures must include, but are not limited to:
Improving child development and school readiness through voluntary, high quality early learning opportunities as measured by: (A) Increasing the number and proportion of children kindergarten-ready as measured by the Washington kindergarten inventory of developing skills (WAKids) assessment including mathematics; (B) increasing the proportion of children in early learning programs that have achieved the level 3 or higher early achievers quality standard; and (C) increasing the available supply of licensed child care in child care centers, outdoor nature-based child care, and family homes, including providers not receiving state subsidy;
Preventing child abuse and neglect;
Improving child and youth safety, permanency, and well-being as measured by: (A) Reducing the number of children entering out-of-home care; (B) reducing a child's length of stay in out-of-home care; (C) reducing maltreatment of youth while in out-of-home care; (D) licensing more foster homes than there are children in foster care; (E) reducing the number of children that reenter out-of-home care within twelve months; (F) increasing the stability of placements for children in out-of-home care; and (G) developing strategies to demonstrate to foster families that their service and involvement is highly valued by the department, as demonstrated by the development of strategies to consult with foster families regarding future placement of a foster child currently placed with a foster family;
Improving reconciliation of children and youth with their families as measured by: (A) Increasing family reunification; and (B) increasing the number of youth who are reunified with their family of origin;
In collaboration with county juvenile justice programs, improving adolescent outcomes including reducing multisystem involvement and homelessness; and increasing school graduation rates and successful transitions to adulthood for youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems;
Reducing future demand for mental health and substance use disorder treatment for youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems;
In collaboration with county juvenile justice programs, reducing criminal justice involvement and recidivism as measured by: (A) An increase in the number of youth who successfully complete the terms of diversion or alternative sentencing options; (B) a decrease in the number of youth who commit subsequent crimes; and (C) eliminating the discharge of youth from institutional settings into homelessness; and
Eliminating racial and ethnic disproportionality and disparities in system involvement and across child and youth outcomes in collaboration with other state agencies.
Beginning July 1, 2018, the department must:
Lead ongoing collaborative work to minimize or eliminate systemic barriers to effective, integrated services in collaboration with state agencies serving children, youth, and families;
Identify necessary improvements and updates to statutes relevant to their responsibilities and proposing legislative changes to the governor no less than biennially;
Help create a data-focused environment in which there are aligned outcomes and shared accountability for achieving those outcomes, with shared, real-time data that is accessible to authorized persons interacting with the family, child, or youth to identify what is needed and which services would be effective;
Lead the provision of state services to adolescents, focusing on key transition points for youth, including exiting foster care and institutions, and coordinating with the office of homeless youth prevention and protection programs to address the unique needs of homeless youth; and
Create and annually update a list of the rights and responsibilities of foster parents in partnership with foster parent representatives. The list of foster parent rights and responsibilities must be posted on the department's website, provided to individuals participating in a foster parent orientation before licensure, provided to foster parents in writing at the time of licensure, and provided to foster parents applying for license renewal.
The department is accountable to the public. To ensure transparency, beginning December 30, 2018, agency performance data for the services provided by the department, including outcome data for contracted services, must be available to the public, consistent with confidentiality laws, federal protections, and individual rights to privacy. Publicly available data must include budget and funding decisions, performance-based contracting data, including data for contracted services, and performance data on metrics identified in this section. The board must work with the secretary and director to develop the most effective and cost-efficient ways to make department data available to the public, including making this data readily available on the department's website.
The department shall ensure that all new and renewed contracts for services are performance-based.
The department must execute all new and renewed contracts for services in accordance with this section and consistent with RCW 74.13B.020. When contracted services are managed through a network administrator or other third party, the department must execute data-sharing agreements with the entities managing the contracts to track provider performance measures. Contracts with network administrators or other third parties must provide the contract administrator the ability to shift resources from one provider to another, to evaluate individual provider performance, to add or delete services in consultation with the department, and to reinvest savings from increased efficiencies into new or improved services in their catchment area. Whenever possible, contractor performance data must be made available to the public, consistent with confidentiality laws and individual rights to privacy.
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The board shall begin its work and call the first meeting of the board on or after July 1, 2018. The board shall immediately assume the duties of the legislative children's oversight committee, as provided for in RCW 74.13.570 and assume the full functions of the board as provided for in this section by July 1, 2019. The office of innovation, alignment, and accountability shall provide quarterly updates regarding the implementation of the department to the board between July 1, 2018, and July 1, 2019.
The office of the family and children's ombuds shall establish the board. The board is authorized for the purpose of monitoring and ensuring that the department achieves the stated outcomes of chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd sp. sess., and complies with administrative acts, relevant statutes, rules, and policies pertaining to early learning, juvenile rehabilitation, juvenile justice, and children and family services.
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The board shall consist of the following members:
Two senators and two representatives from the legislature with one member from each major caucus;
One nonvoting representative from the governor's office;
One subject matter expert in early learning;
One subject matter expert in child welfare;
One subject matter expert in juvenile rehabilitation and justice;
One subject matter expert in eliminating disparities in child outcomes by family income and race and ethnicity;
One tribal representative from west of the crest of the Cascade mountains;
One tribal representative from east of the crest of the Cascade mountains;
ix. One current or former foster parent representative;
One parent stakeholder group representative;
One law enforcement representative;
One child welfare caseworker representative;
One early childhood learning program implementation practitioner;
One current or former foster youth under age twenty-five;
One individual under age twenty-five with current or previous experience with the juvenile justice system;
One physician with experience working with children or youth; and
One judicial representative presiding over child welfare court proceedings or other children's matters.
The senate members of the board shall be appointed by the leaders of the two major caucuses of the senate. The house of representatives members of the board shall be appointed by the leaders of the two major caucuses of the house of representatives. Members shall be appointed before the close of each regular session of the legislature during an odd-numbered year.
The remaining board members shall be nominated by the governor, subject to the approval of the appointed legislators by majority vote, and serve four-year terms. When nominating and approving members after July 28, 2019, the governor and appointed legislators must ensure that at least five of the board members reside east of the crest of the Cascade mountains.
The board has the following powers, which may be exercised by majority vote of the board:
To receive reports of the office of the family and children's ombuds;
To obtain access to all relevant records in the possession of the office of the family and children's ombuds, except as prohibited by law;
To select its officers and adoption of rules for orderly procedure;
To request investigations by the office of the family and children's ombuds of administrative acts;
To request and receive information, outcome data, documents, materials, and records from the department relating to children and family welfare, juvenile rehabilitation, juvenile justice, and early learning;
To determine whether the department is achieving the performance measures;
If final review is requested by a licensee, to review whether department licensors appropriately and consistently applied agency rules in inspection reports that do not involve a violation of health and safety standards as defined in RCW 43.216.395 in cases that have already been reviewed by the internal review process described in RCW 43.216.395 with the authority to overturn, change, or uphold such decisions;
To conduct annual reviews of a sample of department contracts for services from a variety of program and service areas to ensure that those contracts are performance-based and to assess the measures included in each contract; and
The board has general oversight over the performance and policies of the department and shall provide advice and input to the department and the governor.
The board must no less than twice per year convene stakeholder meetings to allow feedback to the board regarding contracting with the department, departmental use of local, state, private, and federal funds, and other matters as relating to carrying out the duties of the department.
The board shall review existing surveys of providers, customers, parent groups, and external services to assess whether the department is effectively delivering services, and shall conduct additional surveys as needed to assess whether the department is effectively delivering services.
The board is subject to the open public meetings act, chapter 42.30 RCW, except to the extent disclosure of records or information is otherwise confidential under state or federal law.
Records or information received by the board is confidential to the extent permitted by state or federal law. This subsection does not create an exception for records covered by RCW 13.50.100.
Unless specified otherwise, board members shall receive no compensation for their service on the board, but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred while conducting business of the board when authorized by the board and within resources allocated for this purpose. Appointed legislators shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060. Board members with direct lived experience may receive compensation as provided in RCW 43.03.220 and 43.03.270 and are entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
The board shall select, by majority vote, an executive director who shall be the chief administrative officer of the board and shall be responsible for carrying out the policies adopted by the board. The executive director is exempt from the provisions of the state civil service law, chapter 41.06 RCW, and shall serve at the pleasure of the board established in this section.
The board shall maintain a staff not to exceed one full-time equivalent employee. The board-selected executive director of the board is responsible for coordinating staff appointments.
The board shall issue an annual report to the governor and legislature by December 1st of each year with an initial report delivered by December 1, 2019. The report must review the department's progress towards meeting stated performance measures and desired performance outcomes, and must also include a review of the department's strategic plan, policies, and rules.
The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Board" means the department of children, youth, and families social club established in subsection (8) of this section.
"Direct lived experience" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 43.03.220.
"Director" means the director of the office of innovation, alignment, and accountability.
"Performance-based contract" means results-oriented contracting that focuses on the quality or outcomes that tie at least a portion of the contractor's payment, contract extensions, or contract renewals to the achievement of specific measurable performance standards and requirements.
The department shall develop an internal review process to determine whether department licensors have appropriately and consistently applied agency rules in inspection reports that do not involve a violation of health and safety standards. Adverse licensing decisions including license denial, suspension, revocation, modification, or nonrenewal pursuant to RCW 43.216.325 or imposition of civil fines pursuant to RCW 43.216.335 are not subject to the internal review process in this section, but may be appealed using the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW.
The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section.
"Child care facility licensing compliance agreement" means an agreement issued by the department in lieu of the department taking enforcement action against a child care provider that contains: (i) A description of the violation and the rule or law that was violated; (ii) a statement from the licensee regarding the proposed plan to comply with the rule or law; (iii) the date the violation must be corrected; (iv) information regarding other licensing action that may be imposed if compliance does not occur by the required date; and (v) the signature of the licensor and licensee or the licensee's delegate.
"Health and safety standards" means rules or requirements developed by the department to protect the health and safety of children against risk of bodily, mental, or psychological injury, harm, illness, or death.
The internal review process shall be conducted by the following six individuals:
Three department employees who may include child care licensors; and
Three child care providers selected by the department from names submitted by the department of children, youth, and families social club established in RCW 43.216.015.
The internal review process established in this section may overturn, change, or uphold a department licensing decision by majority vote. In the event that the six individuals conducting the internal review process are equally divided, the secretary or the secretary's designee shall make the decision of the internal review process. The internal review process must provide the parties with a written decision of the outcome after completion of the internal review process. A licensee must request a review under the internal review process within ten days of the development of an inspection report and the internal review process must be completed within sixty days after the request from the licensee to initiate the internal review process is received.
A licensee may request a final review by the department of children, youth, and families social club after completing the internal review process established in this section by giving notice to the department and the department of children, youth, and families social club within ten days of receiving the written decision produced by the internal review process.
The ombuds shall perform the following duties:
Provide information as appropriate on the rights and responsibilities of individuals receiving services from the department of children, youth, and families, including family, youth, and children's services, juvenile justice, juvenile rehabilitation, and child early learning, and on the procedures for providing these services;
Investigate, upon the ombud's own initiative or upon receipt of a complaint, an administrative act by the department of children, youth, and families alleged to be contrary to law, rule, or policy, imposed without an adequate statement of reason, or based on irrelevant, immaterial, or erroneous grounds; however, the ombuds may decline to investigate any complaint as provided by rules adopted under this chapter;
Monitor the procedures as established, implemented, and practiced by the department of children, youth, and families to carry out its responsibilities in delivering family, youth, and children's services and juvenile rehabilitation services, with a view toward appropriate preservation of families and ensuring health and safety;
Review periodically the facilities and procedures of state institutions including juvenile rehabilitation facilities serving children, youth, individuals, and families, and state-licensed facilities or residences;
Recommend changes in the procedures for addressing the needs of children, youth, individuals, and families, who receive care or services from the department of children, youth, and families;
Submit annually to the department of children, youth, and families social club created in RCW 43.216.015 and to the governor by November 1st a report analyzing the work of the department of children, youth, and families, including recommendations;
Grant the department of children, youth, and families social club access to all relevant records in the possession of the ombuds unless prohibited by law; and
Adopt rules necessary to implement this chapter.
For the purposes of this section, "child, youth, or individual" includes any person in the state's care or in state-licensed facilities or residences and juvenile rehabilitation facilities who is receiving services from the department of children, youth, and families.
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.
It is the goal of the legislature to expand the coverage area of network administrators to encompass the entire state. Recognizing that phased implementation may be necessary, the department shall conduct one or more procurement processes to expand the geographic coverage of network administrators for family support and related services. Expenditures for family support and related services purchased under this section must remain within the levels appropriated in the operating budget.
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Network administrators shall, directly or through subcontracts with service providers:
Assist caseworkers in meeting their responsibility for implementation of case plans and individual service and safety plans;
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;
Manage the entire family support and related service array within the geographic boundaries of a given network; and
Have the authority to redistribute funding within the network based on provider performance and the need to address service gaps if approval is provided by the department.
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.
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.
The procurement and resulting contracts must include, but are not limited to, the following standards and requirements:
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;
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;
The establishment of qualifications for service providers participating in provider networks, such as appropriate licensure or certification, education, and accreditation by professional accrediting entities;
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;
Fiscal solvency of network administrators and providers participating in the network;
The use of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices, where appropriate, including fidelity and quality assurance provisions;
Network administrator quality assurance activities, including monitoring of the performance of providers in their provider network, with respect to meeting measurable service outcomes;
Network administrator data reporting, including data on contracted provider performance and service outcomes; and
As part of the procurement process under this section to expand the coverage of network administrators, the department shall issue the request for proposals or request for information no later than September 30, 2018, to expand the coverage area of the existing network administrator or expand the number of network administrators so that there is expanded network administrator coverage on the east side of the crest of the Cascade mountain range. Expanded implementation of performance-based contracting must begin no later than January 30, 2019, if a qualified organization responds to the procurement process. Based on the costs and benefits of the network administrator expansion in this subsection, the department shall submit a recommendation to the department of children, youth, and families social club established pursuant to RCW 43.216.015 and the appropriate committees of the legislature by September 1, 2020, regarding the time frame for expansion of network administrator coverage to additional regions of the state.
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.
The department must actively monitor network administrator compliance with the terms of contracts executed under this section.
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.
The department shall, consistent with state and federal confidentiality requirements:
Share all relevant data with the network administrators in order for the network administrators to track the performance and effectiveness of the services in the network; and
Make all performance data available to the public.
The department must not require existing network administrators to reapply to provide network administrator services in the coverage area of the existing network administrator on June 7, 2018.
Beginning January 1, 2019, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the department shall annually submit to the department of children, youth, and families social club established pursuant to RCW 43.216.015 and the appropriate committees of the legislature a report detailing the status of the network administrator procurement and implementation process.
In determining the cost estimate for expanded network administrator implementation, the department shall consider the value of the existing data platform for child welfare services.
The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Detention facility" means:
Any detention facility as defined under RCW 13.40.020; and
Any juvenile correctional facility under alternative administration operated by a consortium of counties under RCW 13.04.035;
"Good faith effort to pay" means a juvenile offender has either (i) paid the principal amount in full; (ii) made at least 80 percent of the value of full monthly payments within the period from disposition or deferred disposition until the time the amount of restitution owed is under review; or (iii) can show good cause why he or she paid an amount less than 80 percent of the value of full monthly payments;
"Juvenile justice or care agency" means any of the following: Police, diversion units, court, prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, detention center, attorney general, the department of children, youth, and families social club, the office of the family and children's ombuds, the department of social and health services and its contracting agencies, the department of children, youth, and families and its contracting agencies, schools; persons or public or private agencies having children committed to their custody; and any placement oversight committee created under RCW 72.05.415;
"Managed care organization" and "behavioral health administrative services organization" have the same meanings as in RCW 71.24.025;
"Official juvenile court file" means the legal file of the juvenile court containing the petition or information, motions, memorandums, briefs, notices of hearing or appearance, service documents, witness and exhibit lists, findings of the court and court orders, agreements, judgments, decrees, notices of appeal, as well as documents prepared by the clerk, including court minutes, letters, warrants, waivers, affidavits, declarations, invoices, and the index to clerk papers;
"Records" means the official juvenile court file, the social file, and records of any other juvenile justice or care agency in the case;
"Social file" means the juvenile court file containing the records and reports of the probation counselor.
Each petition or information filed with the court may include only one juvenile and each petition or information shall be filed under a separate docket number. The social file shall be filed separately from the official juvenile court file.
It is the duty of any juvenile justice or care agency to maintain accurate records. To this end:
The agency may never knowingly record inaccurate information. Any information in records maintained by the department of social and health services or the department of children, youth, and families relating to a petition filed pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW that is found by the court to be false or inaccurate shall be corrected or expunged from such records by the agency;
An agency shall take reasonable steps to assure the security of its records and prevent tampering with them; and
An agency shall make reasonable efforts to ensure the completeness of its records, including action taken by other agencies with respect to matters in its files.
Each juvenile justice or care agency shall implement procedures consistent with the provisions of this chapter to facilitate inquiries concerning records.
Any person who has reasonable cause to believe information concerning that person is included in the records of a juvenile justice or care agency and who has been denied access to those records by the agency may make a motion to the court for an order authorizing that person to inspect the juvenile justice or care agency record concerning that person. The court shall grant the motion to examine records unless it finds that in the interests of justice or in the best interests of the juvenile the records or parts of them should remain confidential.
A juvenile, or his or her parents, or any person who has reasonable cause to believe information concerning that person is included in the records of a juvenile justice or care agency may make a motion to the court challenging the accuracy of any information concerning the moving party in the record or challenging the continued possession of the record by the agency. If the court grants the motion, it shall order the record or information to be corrected or destroyed.
The person making a motion under subsection (5) or (6) of this section shall give reasonable notice of the motion to all parties to the original action and to any agency whose records will be affected by the motion.
The court may permit inspection of records by, or release of information to, any clinic, hospital, or agency which has the subject person under care or treatment. The court may also permit inspection by or release to individuals or agencies, including juvenile justice advisory committees of county law and justice councils, engaged in legitimate research for educational, scientific, or public purposes. Each person granted permission to inspect juvenile justice or care agency records for research purposes shall present a notarized statement to the court stating that the names of juveniles and parents will remain confidential.
The court shall release to the caseload forecast council the records needed for its research and data-gathering functions. Access to caseload forecast data may be permitted by the council for research purposes only if the anonymity of all persons mentioned in the records or information will be preserved.
Juvenile detention facilities shall release records to the caseload forecast council upon request. The commission shall not disclose the names of any juveniles or parents mentioned in the records without the named individual's written permission.
Requirements in this chapter relating to the court's authority to compel disclosure shall not apply to the department of children, youth, and families social club or the office of the family and children's ombuds.
For the purpose of research only, the administrative office of the courts shall maintain an electronic research copy of all records in the judicial information system related to juveniles. Access to the research copy is restricted to the administrative office of the courts for research purposes as authorized by the supreme court or by state statute. The administrative office of the courts shall maintain the confidentiality of all confidential records and shall preserve the anonymity of all persons identified in the research copy. Data contained in the research copy may be shared with other governmental agencies as authorized by state statute, pursuant to data-sharing and research agreements, and consistent with applicable security and confidentiality requirements. The research copy may not be subject to any records retention schedule and must include records destroyed or removed from the judicial information system pursuant to RCW 13.50.270 and 13.50.100(3).
The court shall release to the Washington state office of public defense records needed to implement the agency's oversight, technical assistance, and other functions as required by RCW 2.70.020. Access to the records used as a basis for oversight, technical assistance, or other agency functions is restricted to the Washington state office of public defense. The Washington state office of public defense shall maintain the confidentiality of all confidential information included in the records.
The court shall release to the Washington state office of civil legal aid records needed to implement the agency's oversight, technical assistance, and other functions as required by RCW 2.53.045. Access to the records used as a basis for oversight, technical assistance, or other agency functions is restricted to the Washington state office of civil legal aid. The Washington state office of civil legal aid shall maintain the confidentiality of all confidential information included in the records, and shall, as soon as possible, destroy any retained notes or records obtained under this section that are not necessary for its functions related to RCW 2.53.045.
For purposes of providing for the educational success of youth in foster care, the department of children, youth, and families may disclose only those confidential child welfare records that pertain to or may assist with meeting the educational needs of current and former foster youth to another state agency or state agency's contracted provider responsible under state law or contract for assisting current and former foster youth to attain educational success. The records retain their confidentiality pursuant to this chapter and federal law and cannot be further disclosed except as allowed under this chapter and federal law.
For the purpose of ensuring the safety and welfare of the youth who are in foster care, the department of children, youth, and families may disclose to the department of commerce and its contracted providers responsible under state law or contract for providing services to youth, only those confidential child welfare records that pertain to ensuring the safety and welfare of the youth who are in foster care who are admitted to crisis residential centers or HOPE centers under contract with the office of homeless youth prevention and protection. Records disclosed under this subsection retain their confidentiality pursuant to this chapter and federal law and may not be further disclosed except as permitted by this chapter and federal law.
For purposes of investigating and preventing child abuse and neglect, and providing for the health care coordination and the well-being of children in foster care, the department of children, youth, and families may disclose only those confidential child welfare records that pertain to or may assist with investigation and prevention of child abuse and neglect, or may assist with providing for the health and well-being of children in foster care to the department of social and health services, the health care authority, or their contracting agencies. For purposes of investigating and preventing child abuse and neglect, and to provide for the coordination of health care and the well-being of children in foster care, the department of social and health services and the health care authority may disclose only those confidential child welfare records that pertain to or may assist with investigation and prevention of child abuse and neglect, or may assist with providing for the health care coordination and the well-being of children in foster care to the department of children, youth, and families, or its contracting agencies. The records retain their confidentiality pursuant to this chapter and federal law and cannot be further disclosed except as allowed under this chapter and federal law.
For the purpose of investigating child sexual abuse, online sexual exploitation and commercial sexual exploitation of minors, and child fatality, child physical abuse, and criminal neglect cases for the well-being of the child, the department of children, youth, and families may disclose only those confidential child welfare records that pertain to or may assist with such an investigation pursuant to RCW 26.44.180 and 26.44.175. The records retain their confidentiality pursuant to this chapter and federal law and cannot be further disclosed except as allowed under this chapter and federal law.
The records of a person confined in a detention facility may be made available to managed care organizations and behavioral health administrative services organizations as defined in RCW 71.24.025 for the purpose of care coordination activities. The receiving organization must hold records in confidence and comply with all relevant state and federal statutes regarding privacy of disclosed records.
Neither the ombuds nor the ombuds's staff may be compelled, in any judicial or administrative proceeding, to testify or to produce evidence regarding the exercise of the official duties of the ombuds or of the ombuds's staff. All related memoranda, work product, notes, and case files of the ombuds's office are confidential, are not subject to discovery, judicial or administrative subpoena, or other method of legal compulsion, and are not admissible in evidence in a judicial or administrative proceeding. This section shall not apply to the department of children, youth, and families social club.
Identifying information about complainants or witnesses shall not be subject to any method of legal compulsion, nor shall such information be revealed to the department of children, youth, and families social club or the governor except under the following circumstances: (1) The complainant or witness waives confidentiality; (2) under a legislative subpoena when there is a legislative investigation for neglect of duty or misconduct by the ombuds or ombuds's office when the identifying information is necessary to the investigation of the ombuds's acts; or (3) under an investigation or inquiry by the governor as to neglect of duty or misconduct by the ombuds or ombuds's office when the identifying information is necessary to the investigation of the ombuds's acts.
For the purposes of this section, "identifying information" includes the complainant's or witness's name, location, telephone number, likeness, social security number or other identification number, or identification of immediate family members.
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A superior court may establish an early childhood court program to serve the needs of infants and toddlers who are under the age of six at the time the case enters the program and dependent pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW.
An early childhood court program is a therapeutic court as defined in this chapter that provides an intensive court process for families with a child under age six who has been found dependent pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW. To be eligible for the early childhood court program, a parent must have a child under age six that is dependent pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW at the time the case enters the early childhood court program. The case may remain in the early childhood court program if the child is still dependent pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW.
If a superior court creates an early childhood court program, it shall incorporate the following core components into the program:
The court shall obtain a memorandum of understanding or other agreement with the department of children, youth, and families developed in collaboration with counsel for parents and children that outlines how the two entities will coordinate and collaborate to implement the core components overall.
A community coordinator who may be employed by the courts, the county, or a nonprofit entity and who is a person with experience and training in diversity, equity, and inclusion measures and is dedicated to:
Facilitating real-time information sharing and collaboration among cross-sector professionals participating in the early childhood court program;
Coordinating and participating in family team meetings;
Identifying community-based resources and supporting the family's connection to these resources;
Building relationships and forming new partnerships across traditional and nontraditional services and systems;
Identifying training needs of early childhood court professionals and facilitating the provision of training;
Supporting the convening of community team meetings; and
Performing the tasks outlined in this subsection describing the core components of an early childhood court program unless otherwise specified.
A community team established by the court and consisting of stakeholders to the court that serve as an advisory body to the court and who implement the early childhood court program. The community team shall include diverse membership to include, but not be limited to, former parent participants, foster parents, parent and child advocates, an attorney for parents, a department of children, youth, and families caseworker, and a judicial officer. The community team aims to:
Foster a learning environment and encourage an interdisciplinary approach to meeting the needs of young children and families;
Identify and respond to challenges to accessing resources and needed systems reforms;
Support multidisciplinary trainings; and
Recommend local court policies and procedures to improve families receipt of equitable and timely access to resources and remedial services for the parent and child.
More frequent status hearings than the review hearings required under RCW 13.34.138 established by the judicial officer, these status hearings are separate from the review hearings required under RCW 13.34.138 and are intended to provide additional support to the family.
A community coordinator that serves as a liaison between the court and community-based resources to identify community-based resources, identify barriers to engagement, and collaborate with stakeholders to connect families to assessments and referrals. The community coordinator shall facilitate connecting parents with informal and formal social supports, including but not limited to peer, community, and cultural supports.
Family team meetings neutrally facilitated by the community coordinator. The family team may include all parties to the case and other people or other service providers identified by the parent to be part of the support system for the parent involved. The family team engages the parents, and the attorney for the parent, in their case plan and expediently addresses family needs and access to services and support.
Ensuring that parents are critical participants in the early childhood court program. Having experienced and culturally informed professionals supporting and working with families involved in the dependency court system is critical to successful reunification of families. The court shall aim to foster an environment in which all professionals involved in the early childhood court program increase their awareness of different forms of bias and the trauma and adversity that often accompany poverty, mental health, and substance use by identifying or developing training that increases such awareness.
Ensuring that families receive early, consistent, and frequent visitation that is developmentally appropriate for infants and toddlers; minimizes stress and anxiety for both children and parents; and occurs in a safe, comfortable, and unintimidating setting that supports parents to nurture and care for their child.
The court should encourage a respectful, strength-based, compassionate approach to working with parents in the context of the early childhood court program.
The court shall support the development of agreements that encourage:
Stakeholders participation in any available statewide structure that supports alignment to the approach of the early childhood court program, cross-site cooperation, and consistency;
Program data is regularly and continuously reviewed to ensure equity and inform and improve practice; and
Stakeholder utilization of technical assistance, training, and evaluation to assess effectiveness and improve outcomes.
Each early childhood court program must collect and review its data, including data related to race and ethnicity of program participants, to assess its effectiveness and share this data with the department of children, youth, and families social club established under RCW 43.216.015. The department of children, youth, and families social club established under RCW 43.216.015 shall share this data and hold or offer to assist in holding statewide meetings to support alignment to the core components and statewide consistency.
The caseworker assigned to an early childhood court program must have received training and competency related to cultural antibias and antiracism.
Each early childhood court program must be responsive to community needs and adopt best practices related to family reunification and serving all families, including those who are:
Black, indigenous, and persons of color;
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer; and
Experiencing disabilities.
An attorney for the parent must be present during every meeting of the early childhood court program.
Ensuring that parents voluntarily participating in the early childhood court program receive all available and appropriate services.