wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 6094 > Substitute Bill
The legislature finds that thousands of infants are born in Washington state each year exposed to harmful substances including, but not limited to: Opiates and synthetic opioids such as heroin; methadone and fentanyl; methamphetamines; tobacco; marijuana; alcohol; morphine; buprenorphine; codeine; cocaine; and other substances. Prenatal substance exposure frequently results in infants suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome and its accompanying withdrawal symptoms after birth. Consequently, the legislature finds that substance-exposed infants have unique medical and nonmedical needs and benefit from specialized health care that addresses, not only their unique withdrawal symptoms, but their bonding and attachment needs.
The legislature further finds that the pilot project which provides medical and nonmedical, nonpharmacologic care and wraparound support to infants and their families in a nurturing environment, demonstrated that its nonhospital treatment model promotes bonding and attachment between substance-exposed infants and their parents and caregivers. Of the 49 parents who have resided full time with their infants in the study of the pilot project, 88 percent are in recovery, in custody of their infant, and housed.
The legislature further finds that substance-exposed infants are currently being treated in neonatal intensive care unit hospital settings for extended periods of time resulting in a high systemic cost and a lessened opportunity for parental bonding compared to the structure and the therapeutic environment provided at significantly lower cost to the state by the pilot project.
The legislature further finds that it is in the interest of the state to keep substance-exposed infants with their parents who are also in recovery. Promoting bonding and attachment during the first few weeks of the life of an infant increases the chance that the infant will not go into the foster care system and results in further cost savings to the state.
The legislature, therefore, intends to encourage alternatives to continued hospitalization for substance-exposed infants, including the continuation and development of pediatric transitional care facilities through the creation of a bundled, sustainable funding model for pediatric transitional care facilities using a combination of existing federal and state resources.
The health care authority shall study the feasibility and cost of providing facility-based payments to residential pediatric recovery centers as provided in section 1007 of P.L. 115-271.
The health care authority must submit a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature by November 1, 2026. The report shall detail any statutory or regulatory changes needed to authorize the payments, any necessary information technology changes for the authority and associated costs, any elements needed to prepare a federal waiver or a state plan amendment to allow for the use of federal matching funds for the facility-based payments to residential pediatric recovery centers, the anticipated annual cost to the state both if the federal matching funds are available and if the funds are not available, and a proposed timeline for implementation, if necessary.
Until the feasibility and cost report outlined in subsection (2) of this section is submitted, subject to amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the health care authority shall provide grant funds to the facility that was the subject of the pilot project created in section 215(117), chapter 475, Laws of 2023 to ensure the availability of services to infants with a history of substance exposure. It is the intent of the legislature to appropriate funds from the opioid abatement settlement account for this purpose.
This section expires December 31, 2028.