DCYF oversight board name

AN ACT Relating to clearly redefining the priorities of the 1
department of children, youth, and families oversight board and 2
ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion goals are met by changing 3
the official name of the department of children, youth, and families 4
oversight board to the department of children, youth, and families 5
social club; amending RCW 43.216.015, 43.216.395, 43.06A.030, 6
74.13B.020, 13.50.010, 43.06A.060, 43.06A.070, and 2.30.100; and 7
creating a new section. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:9
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. With the recent sharp increase of infant 10
deaths and near deaths, persistent overcrowding and excessive cost in 11
the JR-25 system, and millions paid out in settlements, it is 12
important to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion goals are 13
prioritized. The highest priority is to ensure board members are not 14
offended by the word "oversight." Rather than weakening the ability 15
of the board to review the department of children, youth, and 16
families oversight board's contracts and changing its annual 17
reporting requirements to biannual, the legislature finds that 18
changing the name of the board is an important priority.19
S-3741.1
SENATE BILL 6020
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senator Christian
Prefiled 01/07/26.
p. 1 SB 6020
Sec. 2. RCW 43.216.015 and 2025 c 179 s 1 are each amended to 1
read as follows: 2
(1)(a) The department of children, youth, and families is created 3
as an executive branch agency. The department is vested with all 4
powers and duties transferred to it under chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd 5
sp. sess. and such other powers and duties as may be authorized by 6
law. The vision for the department is that Washington state's 7
children and youth grow up safe and healthy — thriving physically, 8
emotionally, and academically, nurtured by family and community.9
(b) The department, in partnership with state and local agencies, 10
tribes, and communities, shall protect children and youth from harm 11
and promote healthy development with effective, high quality 12
prevention, intervention, and early education services delivered in 13
an equitable manner. An important role for the department shall be to 14
provide preventative services to help secure and preserve families in 15
crisis. The department shall partner with the federally recognized 16
Indian tribes to develop effective services for youth and families 17
while respecting the sovereignty of those tribes and the government-18
to-government relationship. Nothing in chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd 19
sp. sess. alters the duties, requirements, and policies of the 20
federal Indian child welfare act, 25 U.S.C. Secs. 1901 through 1963, 21
as amended, or the Indian child welfare act, chapter 13.38 RCW.22
(2) Beginning July 1, 2018, the department must develop 23
definitions for, work plans to address, and metrics to measure the 24
outcomes for children, youth, and families served by the department 25
and must work with state agencies to ensure services for children, 26
youth, and families are science-based, outcome-driven, data-informed, 27
and collaborative. 28
(3)(a) Beginning July 1, 2018, the department must establish 29
short and long-term population level outcome measure goals, including 30
metrics regarding reducing disparities by family income, race, and 31
ethnicity in each outcome. 32
(b) In addition to transparent, frequent reporting of the outcome 33
measures in (c)(i) through (viii) of this subsection, the department 34
must report to the legislature an examination of engagement, resource 35
utilization, and outcomes for clients receiving department services 36
and youth participating in juvenile court alternative programs funded 37
by the department, no less than annually and beginning September 1, 38
2020. The data in this report must be disaggregated by race, 39
ethnicity, and geography. This report must identify areas of focus to 40
p. 2 SB 6020
advance equity that will inform department strategies so that all 1
children, youth, and families are thriving. Metrics detailing 2
progress towards eliminating disparities and disproportionality over 3
time must also be included. The report must also include information 4
on department outcome measures, actions taken, progress toward these 5
goals, and plans for the future year. 6
(c) The outcome measures must include, but are not limited to:7
(i) Improving child development and school readiness through 8
voluntary, high quality early learning opportunities as measured by: 9
(A) Increasing the number and proportion of children kindergarten-10
ready as measured by the Washington kindergarten inventory of 11
developing skills (WAKids) assessment including mathematics; (B) 12
increasing the proportion of children in early learning programs that 13
have achieved the level 3 or higher early achievers quality standard; 14
and (C) increasing the available supply of licensed child care in 15
child care centers, outdoor nature-based child care, and family 16
homes, including providers not receiving state subsidy;17
(ii) Preventing child abuse and neglect; 18
(iii) Improving child and youth safety, permanency, and well-19
being as measured by: (A) Reducing the number of children entering 20
out-of-home care; (B) reducing a child's length of stay in out-of-21
home care; (C) reducing maltreatment of youth while in out-of-home 22
care; (D) licensing more foster homes than there are children in 23
foster care; (E) reducing the number of children that reenter out-of-24
home care within twelve months; (F) increasing the stability of 25
placements for children in out-of-home care; and (G) developing 26
strategies to demonstrate to foster families that their service and 27
involvement is highly valued by the department, as demonstrated by 28
the development of strategies to consult with foster families 29
regarding future placement of a foster child currently placed with a 30
foster family; 31
(iv) Improving reconciliation of children and youth with their 32
families as measured by: (A) Increasing family reunification; and (B) 33
increasing the number of youth who are reunified with their family of 34
origin; 35
(v) In collaboration with county juvenile justice programs, 36
improving adolescent outcomes including reducing multisystem 37
involvement and homelessness; and increasing school graduation rates 38
and successful transitions to adulthood for youth involved in the 39
child welfare and juvenile justice systems; 40
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(vi) Reducing future demand for mental health and substance use 1
disorder treatment for youth involved in the child welfare and 2
juvenile justice systems; 3
(vii) In collaboration with county juvenile justice programs, 4
reducing criminal justice involvement and recidivism as measured by: 5
(A) An increase in the number of youth who successfully complete the 6
terms of diversion or alternative sentencing options; (B) a decrease 7
in the number of youth who commit subsequent crimes; and (C) 8
eliminating the discharge of youth from institutional settings into 9
homelessness; and 10
(viii) Eliminating racial and ethnic disproportionality and 11
disparities in system involvement and across child and youth outcomes 12
in collaboration with other state agencies. 13
(4) Beginning July 1, 2018, the department must:14
(a) Lead ongoing collaborative work to minimize or eliminate 15
systemic barriers to effective, integrated services in collaboration 16
with state agencies serving children, youth, and families;17
(b) Identify necessary improvements and updates to statutes 18
relevant to their responsibilities and proposing legislative changes 19
to the governor no less than biennially; 20
(c) Help create a data-focused environment in which there are 21
aligned outcomes and shared accountability for achieving those 22
outcomes, with shared, real-time data that is accessible to 23
authorized persons interacting with the family, child, or youth to 24
identify what is needed and which services would be effective;25
(d) Lead the provision of state services to adolescents, focusing 26
on key transition points for youth, including exiting foster care and 27
institutions, and coordinating with the office of homeless youth 28
prevention and protection programs to address the unique needs of 29
homeless youth; and 30
(e) Create and annually update a list of the rights and 31
responsibilities of foster parents in partnership with foster parent 32
representatives. The list of foster parent rights and 33
responsibilities must be posted on the department's website, provided 34
to individuals participating in a foster parent orientation before 35
licensure, provided to foster parents in writing at the time of 36
licensure, and provided to foster parents applying for license 37
renewal. 38
(5) The department is accountable to the public. To ensure 39
transparency, beginning December 30, 2018, agency performance data 40
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for the services provided by the department, including outcome data 1
for contracted services, must be available to the public, consistent 2
with confidentiality laws, federal protections, and individual rights 3
to privacy. Publicly available data must include budget and funding 4
decisions, performance-based contracting data, including data for 5
contracted services, and performance data on metrics identified in 6
this section. The board must work with the secretary and director to 7
develop the most effective and cost-efficient ways to make department 8
data available to the public, including making this data readily 9
available on the department's website. 10
(6) The department shall ensure that all new and renewed 11
contracts for services are performance-based. 12
(7) The department must execute all new and renewed contracts for 13
services in accordance with this section and consistent with RCW 14
74.13B.020. When contracted services are managed through a network 15
administrator or other third party, the department must execute data-16
sharing agreements with the entities managing the contracts to track 17
provider performance measures. Contracts with network administrators 18
or other third parties must provide the contract administrator the 19
ability to shift resources from one provider to another, to evaluate 20
individual provider performance, to add or delete services in 21
consultation with the department, and to reinvest savings from 22
increased efficiencies into new or improved services in their 23
catchment area. Whenever possible, contractor performance data must 24
be made available to the public, consistent with confidentiality laws 25
and individual rights to privacy. 26
(8)(a) The board shall begin its work and call the first meeting 27
of the board on or after July 1, 2018. The board shall immediately 28
assume the duties of the legislative children's oversight committee, 29
as provided for in RCW 74.13.570 and assume the full functions of the 30
board as provided for in this section by July 1, 2019. The office of 31
innovation, alignment, and accountability shall provide quarterly 32
updates regarding the implementation of the department to the board 33
between July 1, 2018, and July 1, 2019. 34
(b) The office of the family and children's ombuds shall 35
establish the board. The board is authorized for the purpose of 36
monitoring and ensuring that the department achieves the stated 37
outcomes of chapter 6, Laws of 2017 3rd sp. sess., and complies with 38
administrative acts, relevant statutes, rules, and policies 39
p. 5 SB 6020
pertaining to early learning, juvenile rehabilitation, juvenile 1
justice, and children and family services. 2
(9)(a) The board shall consist of the following members:3
(i) Two senators and two representatives from the legislature 4
with one member from each major caucus; 5
(ii) One nonvoting representative from the governor's office;6
(iii) One subject matter expert in early learning;7
(iv) One subject matter expert in child welfare;8
(v) One subject matter expert in juvenile rehabilitation and 9
justice; 10
(vi) One subject matter expert in eliminating disparities in 11
child outcomes by family income and race and ethnicity;12
(vii) One tribal representative from west of the crest of the 13
Cascade mountains; 14
(viii) One tribal representative from east of the crest of the 15
Cascade mountains; 16
(ix) One current or former foster parent representative;17
(x) One representative of an organization that advocates for the 18
best interest of the child; 19
(xi) One parent stakeholder group representative;20
(xii) One law enforcement representative; 21
(xiii) One child welfare caseworker representative;22
(xiv) One early childhood learning program implementation 23
practitioner; 24
(xv) One current or former foster youth under age twenty-five;25
(xvi) One individual under age twenty-five with current or 26
previous experience with the juvenile justice system;27
(xvii) One physician with experience working with children or 28
youth; and 29
(xviii) One judicial representative presiding over child welfare 30
court proceedings or other children's matters. 31
(b) The senate members of the board shall be appointed by the 32
leaders of the two major caucuses of the senate. The house of 33
representatives members of the board shall be appointed by the 34
leaders of the two major caucuses of the house of representatives. 35
Members shall be appointed before the close of each regular session 36
of the legislature during an odd-numbered year. 37
(c) The remaining board members shall be nominated by the 38
governor, subject to the approval of the appointed legislators by 39
majority vote, and serve four-year terms. When nominating and 40
p. 6 SB 6020
approving members after July 28, 2019, the governor and appointed 1
legislators must ensure that at least five of the board members 2
reside east of the crest of the Cascade mountains. 3
(10) The board has the following powers, which may be exercised 4
by majority vote of the board: 5
(a) To receive reports of the office of the family and children's 6
ombuds; 7
(b) To obtain access to all relevant records in the possession of 8
the office of the family and children's ombuds, except as prohibited 9
by law; 10
(c) To select its officers and adoption of rules for orderly 11
procedure; 12
(d) To request investigations by the office of the family and 13
children's ombuds of administrative acts; 14
(e) To request and receive information, outcome data, documents, 15
materials, and records from the department relating to children and 16
family welfare, juvenile rehabilitation, juvenile justice, and early 17
learning; 18
(f) To determine whether the department is achieving the 19
performance measures; 20
(g) If final review is requested by a licensee, to review whether 21
department licensors appropriately and consistently applied agency 22
rules in inspection reports that do not involve a violation of health 23
and safety standards as defined in RCW 43.216.395 in cases that have 24
already been reviewed by the internal review process described in RCW 25
43.216.395 with the authority to overturn, change, or uphold such 26
decisions; 27
(h) To conduct annual reviews of a sample of department contracts 28
for services from a variety of program and service areas to ensure 29
that those contracts are performance-based and to assess the measures 30
included in each contract; and 31
(i) Upon receipt of records or data from the office of the family 32
and children's ombuds or the department, the board is subject to the 33
same confidentiality restrictions as the office of the family and 34
children's ombuds is under RCW 43.06A.050. The provisions of RCW 35
43.06A.060 also apply to the board. 36
(11) The board has general oversight over the performance and 37
policies of the department and shall provide advice and input to the 38
department and the governor. 39
p. 7 SB 6020
(12) The board must no less than twice per year convene 1
stakeholder meetings to allow feedback to the board regarding 2
contracting with the department, departmental use of local, state, 3
private, and federal funds, and other matters as relating to carrying 4
out the duties of the department. 5
(13) The board shall review existing surveys of providers, 6
customers, parent groups, and external services to assess whether the 7
department is effectively delivering services, and shall conduct 8
additional surveys as needed to assess whether the department is 9
effectively delivering services. 10
(14) The board is subject to the open public meetings act, 11
chapter 42.30 RCW, except to the extent disclosure of records or 12
information is otherwise confidential under state or federal law.13
(15) Records or information received by the board is confidential 14
to the extent permitted by state or federal law. This subsection does 15
not create an exception for records covered by RCW 13.50.100.16
(16) Unless specified otherwise, board members shall receive no 17
compensation for their service on the board, but shall be reimbursed 18
for travel expenses incurred while conducting business of the board 19
when authorized by the board and within resources allocated for this 20
purpose. Appointed legislators shall be reimbursed for travel 21
expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060. Board 22
members with direct lived experience may receive compensation as 23
provided in RCW 43.03.220 and 43.03.270 and are entitled to be 24
reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in 43.03.050 and 25
43.03.060. 26
(17) The board shall select, by majority vote, an executive 27
director who shall be the chief administrative officer of the board 28
and shall be responsible for carrying out the policies adopted by the 29
board. The executive director is exempt from the provisions of the 30
state civil service law, chapter 41.06 RCW, and shall serve at the 31
pleasure of the board established in this section.32
(18) The board shall maintain a staff not to exceed one full-time 33
equivalent employee. The board-selected executive director of the 34
board is responsible for coordinating staff appointments.35
(19) The board shall issue an annual report to the governor and 36
legislature by December 1st of each year with an initial report 37
delivered by December 1, 2019. The report must review the 38
department's progress towards meeting stated performance measures and 39
p. 8 SB 6020
desired performance outcomes, and must also include a review of the 1
department's strategic plan, policies, and rules. 2
(20) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 3
section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.4
(a) "Board" means the ((oversight board for )) department of 5
children, youth, and families social club established in subsection 6
(8) of this section. 7
(b) "Direct lived experience" has the same meaning as provided in 8
RCW 43.03.220. 9
(c) "Director" means the director of the office of innovation, 10
alignment, and accountability. 11
(d) "Performance-based contract" means results-oriented 12
contracting that focuses on the quality or outcomes that tie at least 13
a portion of the contractor's payment, contract extensions, or 14
contract renewals to the achievement of specific measurable 15
performance standards and requirements. 16
Sec. 3. RCW 43.216.395 and 2021 c 304 s 18 are each amended to 17
read as follows: 18
(1) The department shall develop an internal review process to 19
determine whether department licensors have appropriately and 20
consistently applied agency rules in inspection reports that do not 21
involve a violation of health and safety standards. Adverse licensing 22
decisions including license denial, suspension, revocation, 23
modification, or nonrenewal pursuant to RCW 43.216.325 or imposition 24
of civil fines pursuant to RCW 43.216.335 are not subject to the 25
internal review process in this section, but may be appealed using 26
the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW.27
(2) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 28
section. 29
(a) "Child care facility licensing compliance agreement" means an 30
agreement issued by the department in lieu of the department taking 31
enforcement action against a child care provider that contains: (i) A 32
description of the violation and the rule or law that was violated; 33
(ii) a statement from the licensee regarding the proposed plan to 34
comply with the rule or law; (iii) the date the violation must be 35
corrected; (iv) information regarding other licensing action that may 36
be imposed if compliance does not occur by the required date; and (v) 37
the signature of the licensor and licensee or the licensee's 38
delegate. 39
p. 9 SB 6020
(b) "Health and safety standards" means rules or requirements 1
developed by the department to protect the health and safety of 2
children against risk of bodily, mental, or psychological injury, 3
harm, illness, or death. 4
(3) The internal review process shall be conducted by the 5
following six individuals: 6
(a) Three department employees who may include child care 7
licensors; and 8
(b) Three child care providers selected by the department from 9
names submitted by the ((oversight board for )) department of 10
children, youth, and families social club established in RCW 11
43.216.015. 12
(4) The internal review process established in this section may 13
overturn, change, or uphold a department licensing decision by 14
majority vote. In the event that the six individuals conducting the 15
internal review process are equally divided, the secretary or the 16
secretary's designee shall make the decision of the internal review 17
process. The internal review process must provide the parties with a 18
written decision of the outcome after completion of the internal 19
review process. A licensee must request a review under the internal 20
review process within ten days of the development of an inspection 21
report and the internal review process must be completed within sixty 22
days after the request from the licensee to initiate the internal 23
review process is received. 24
(5) A licensee may request a final review by the ((oversight 25
board for )) department of children, youth, and families social club 26
after completing the internal review process established in this 27
section by giving notice to the department and the ((oversight board 28
for)) department of children, youth, and families social club within 29
ten days of receiving the written decision produced by the internal 30
review process. 31
Sec. 4. RCW 43.06A.030 and 2025 c 348 s 2 are each amended to 32
read as follows: 33
(1) The ombuds shall perform the following duties:34
(a) Provide information as appropriate on the rights and 35
responsibilities of individuals receiving services from the 36
department of children, youth, and families, including family, youth, 37
and children's services, juvenile justice, juvenile rehabilitation, 38
p. 10 SB 6020
and child early learning, and on the procedures for providing these 1
services; 2
(b) Investigate, upon the ombud's own initiative or upon receipt 3
of a complaint, an administrative act by the department of children, 4
youth, and families alleged to be contrary to law, rule, or policy, 5
imposed without an adequate statement of reason, or based on 6
irrelevant, immaterial, or erroneous grounds; however, the ombuds may 7
decline to investigate any complaint as provided by rules adopted 8
under this chapter; 9
(c) Monitor the procedures as established, implemented, and 10
practiced by the department of children, youth, and families to carry 11
out its responsibilities in delivering family, youth, and children's 12
services and juvenile rehabilitation services, with a view toward 13
appropriate preservation of families and ensuring health and safety;14
(d) Review periodically the facilities and procedures of state 15
institutions including juvenile rehabilitation facilities serving 16
children, youth, individuals, and families, and state-licensed 17
facilities or residences; 18
(e) Recommend changes in the procedures for addressing the needs 19
of children, youth, individuals, and families, who receive care or 20
services from the department of children, youth, and families;21
(f) Submit annually to the ((oversight board for )) department of 22
children, youth, and families social club created in RCW 43.216.015 23
and to the governor by November 1st a report analyzing the work of 24
the department of children, youth, and families, including 25
recommendations; 26
(g) Grant the ((oversight board for )) department of children, 27
youth, and families social club access to all relevant records in the 28
possession of the ombuds unless prohibited by law; and29
(h) Adopt rules necessary to implement this chapter.30
(2) For the purposes of this section, "child, youth, or 31
individual" includes any person in the state's care or in state-32
licensed facilities or residences and juvenile rehabilitation 33
facilities who is receiving services from the department of children, 34
youth, and families. 35
Sec. 5. RCW 74.13B.020 and 2018 c 284 s 64 are each amended to 36
read as follows: 37
(1) The department shall enter into performance-based contracts 38
for the provision of family support and related services. The 39
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department may enter into performance-based contracts for additional 1
services, other than case management. 2
(2) It is the goal of the legislature to expand the coverage area 3
of network administrators to encompass the entire state. Recognizing 4
that phased implementation may be necessary, the department shall 5
conduct one or more procurement processes to expand the geographic 6
coverage of network administrators for family support and related 7
services. Expenditures for family support and related services 8
purchased under this section must remain within the levels 9
appropriated in the operating budget. 10
(3)(a) Network administrators shall, directly or through 11
subcontracts with service providers: 12
(i) Assist caseworkers in meeting their responsibility for 13
implementation of case plans and individual service and safety plans;14
(ii) Provide the family support and related services within the 15
categories of contracted services that are included in a child or 16
family's case plan or individual service and safety plan within funds 17
available under contract; 18
(iii) Manage the entire family support and related service array 19
within the geographic boundaries of a given network; and20
(iv) Have the authority to redistribute funding within the 21
network based on provider performance and the need to address service 22
gaps if approval is provided by the department. 23
(b) While the department caseworker retains responsibility for 24
case management, nothing in chapter 205, Laws of 2012 limits the 25
ability of the department to continue to contract for the provision 26
of case management services by child-placing agencies, behavioral 27
rehabilitation services agencies, or other entities that provided 28
case management under contract with the department prior to July 1, 29
2005. 30
(4) The procurement process must be developed and implemented in 31
a manner that complies with applicable provisions of 32
intergovernmental agreements between the state of Washington and 33
tribal governments and must provide an opportunity for tribal 34
governments to contract for service delivery through network 35
administrators. 36
(5) The procurement and resulting contracts must include, but are 37
not limited to, the following standards and requirements:38
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(a) The use of family engagement approaches to successfully 1
motivate families to engage in services and training of the network's 2
contracted providers to apply such approaches; 3
(b) The use of parents and youth who are successful veterans of 4
the child welfare system to act as mentors through activities that 5
include, but are not limited to, helping families navigate the 6
system, facilitating parent engagement, and minimizing distrust of 7
the child welfare system; 8
(c) The establishment of qualifications for service providers 9
participating in provider networks, such as appropriate licensure or 10
certification, education, and accreditation by professional 11
accrediting entities; 12
(d) Adequate provider capacity to meet the anticipated service 13
needs in the network administrator's contracted service area. The 14
network administrator must be able to demonstrate that its provider 15
network is culturally competent and has adequate capacity to address 16
disproportionality, including utilization of tribal and other ethnic 17
providers capable of serving children and families of color or who 18
need language-appropriate services; 19
(e) Fiscal solvency of network administrators and providers 20
participating in the network; 21
(f) The use of evidence-based, research-based, and promising 22
practices, where appropriate, including fidelity and quality 23
assurance provisions; 24
(g) Network administrator quality assurance activities, including 25
monitoring of the performance of providers in their provider network, 26
with respect to meeting measurable service outcomes;27
(h) Network administrator data reporting, including data on 28
contracted provider performance and service outcomes; and29
(i) Network administrator compliance with applicable provisions 30
of intergovernmental agreements between the state of Washington and 31
tribal governments and the federal and Washington state Indian child 32
welfare act. 33
(6) As part of the procurement process under this section to 34
expand the coverage of network administrators, the department shall 35
issue the request for proposals or request for information no later 36
than September 30, 2018, to expand the coverage area of the existing 37
network administrator or expand the number of network administrators 38
so that there is expanded network administrator coverage on the east 39
side of the crest of the Cascade mountain range. Expanded 40
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implementation of performance-based contracting must begin no later 1
than January 30, 2019, if a qualified organization responds to the 2
procurement process. Based on the costs and benefits of the network 3
administrator expansion in this subsection, the department shall 4
submit a recommendation to the ((oversight board for )) department of 5
children, youth, and families social club established pursuant to RCW 6
43.216.015 and the appropriate committees of the legislature by 7
September 1, 2020, regarding the time frame for expansion of network 8
administrator coverage to additional regions of the state.9
(7) Performance-based payment methodologies must be used in 10
network administrator contracting. Performance measures should relate 11
to successful engagement by a child or parent in services included in 12
their case plan, and resulting improvement in identified problem 13
behaviors and interactions. For the initial three-year period of 14
implementation of performance-based contracting, the department may 15
transfer financial risk for the provision of services to network 16
administrators only to the limited extent necessary to implement a 17
performance-based payment methodology, such as phased payment for 18
services. However, the department may develop a shared savings 19
methodology through which the network administrator will receive a 20
defined share of any savings that result from improved performance. 21
If the department receives a Title IV-E waiver, the shared savings 22
methodology must be consistent with the terms of the waiver. If a 23
shared savings methodology is adopted, the network administrator 24
shall reinvest the savings in enhanced services to better meet the 25
needs of the families and children they serve. 26
(8) The department must actively monitor network administrator 27
compliance with the terms of contracts executed under this section.28
(9) The use of performance -based contracts under this section 29
must be done in a manner that does not adversely affect the state's 30
ability to continue to obtain federal funding for child welfare-31
related functions currently performed by the state and with 32
consideration of options to further maximize federal funding 33
opportunities and increase flexibility in the use of such funds, 34
including use for preventive and in-home child welfare services.35
(10) The department shall, consistent with state and federal 36
confidentiality requirements: 37
(a) Share all relevant data with the network administrators in 38
order for the network administrators to track the performance and 39
effectiveness of the services in the network; and 40
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(b) Make all performance data available to the public.1
(11) The department must not require existing network 2
administrators to reapply to provide network administrator services 3
in the coverage area of the existing network administrator on June 7, 4
2018. 5
(12) Beginning January 1, 2019, and in compliance with RCW 6
43.01.036, the department shall annually submit to the ((oversight 7
board for )) department of children, youth, and families social club 8
established pursuant to RCW 43.216.015 and the appropriate committees 9
of the legislature a report detailing the status of the network 10
administrator procurement and implementation process.11
(13) In determining the cost estimate for expanded network 12
administrator implementation, the department shall consider the value 13
of the existing data platform for child welfare services.14
Sec. 6. RCW 13.50.010 and 2024 c 99 s 1 are each amended to read 15
as follows: 16
(1) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 17
chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.18
(a) "Detention facility" means: 19
(i) Any detention facility as defined under RCW 13.40.020; and20
(ii) Any juvenile correctional facility under alternative 21
administration operated by a consortium of counties under RCW 22
13.04.035; 23
(b) "Good faith effort to pay" means a juvenile offender has 24
either (i) paid the principal amount in full; (ii) made at least 80 25
percent of the value of full monthly payments within the period from 26
disposition or deferred disposition until the time the amount of 27
restitution owed is under review; or (iii) can show good cause why he 28
or she paid an amount less than 80 percent of the value of full 29
monthly payments; 30
(c) "Juvenile justice or care agency" means any of the following: 31
Police, diversion units, court, prosecuting attorney, defense 32
attorney, detention center, attorney general, the ((oversight board 33
for)) department of children, youth, and families social club , the 34
office of the family and children's ombuds, the department of social 35
and health services and its contracting agencies, the department of 36
children, youth, and families and its contracting agencies, schools; 37
persons or public or private agencies having children committed to 38
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their custody; and any placement oversight committee created under 1
RCW 72.05.415; 2
(d) "Managed care organization" and "behavioral health 3
administrative services organization" have the same meanings as in 4
RCW 71.24.025; 5
(e) "Official juvenile court file" means the legal file of the 6
juvenile court containing the petition or information, motions, 7
memorandums, briefs, notices of hearing or appearance, service 8
documents, witness and exhibit lists, findings of the court and court 9
orders, agreements, judgments, decrees, notices of appeal, as well as 10
documents prepared by the clerk, including court minutes, letters, 11
warrants, waivers, affidavits, declarations, invoices, and the index 12
to clerk papers; 13
(f) "Records" means the official juvenile court file, the social 14
file, and records of any other juvenile justice or care agency in the 15
case; 16
(g) "Social file" means the juvenile court file containing the 17
records and reports of the probation counselor. 18
(2) Each petition or information filed with the court may include 19
only one juvenile and each petition or information shall be filed 20
under a separate docket number. The social file shall be filed 21
separately from the official juvenile court file. 22
(3) It is the duty of any juvenile justice or care agency to 23
maintain accurate records. To this end: 24
(a) The agency may never knowingly record inaccurate information. 25
Any information in records maintained by the department of social and 26
health services or the department of children, youth, and families 27
relating to a petition filed pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW that is 28
found by the court to be false or inaccurate shall be corrected or 29
expunged from such records by the agency; 30
(b) An agency shall take reasonable steps to assure the security 31
of its records and prevent tampering with them; and32
(c) An agency shall make reasonable efforts to ensure the 33
completeness of its records, including action taken by other agencies 34
with respect to matters in its files. 35
(4) Each juvenile justice or care agency shall implement 36
procedures consistent with the provisions of this chapter to 37
facilitate inquiries concerning records. 38
(5) Any person who has reasonable cause to believe information 39
concerning that person is included in the records of a juvenile 40
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justice or care agency and who has been denied access to those 1
records by the agency may make a motion to the court for an order 2
authorizing that person to inspect the juvenile justice or care 3
agency record concerning that person. The court shall grant the 4
motion to examine records unless it finds that in the interests of 5
justice or in the best interests of the juvenile the records or parts 6
of them should remain confidential. 7
(6) A juvenile, or his or her parents, or any person who has 8
reasonable cause to believe information concerning that person is 9
included in the records of a juvenile justice or care agency may make 10
a motion to the court challenging the accuracy of any information 11
concerning the moving party in the record or challenging the 12
continued possession of the record by the agency. If the court grants 13
the motion, it shall order the record or information to be corrected 14
or destroyed. 15
(7) The person making a motion under subsection (5) or (6) of 16
this section shall give reasonable notice of the motion to all 17
parties to the original action and to any agency whose records will 18
be affected by the motion. 19
(8) The court may permit inspection of records by, or release of 20
information to, any clinic, hospital, or agency which has the subject 21
person under care or treatment. The court may also permit inspection 22
by or release to individuals or agencies, including juvenile justice 23
advisory committees of county law and justice councils, engaged in 24
legitimate research for educational, scientific, or public purposes. 25
Each person granted permission to inspect juvenile justice or care 26
agency records for research purposes shall present a notarized 27
statement to the court stating that the names of juveniles and 28
parents will remain confidential. 29
(9) The court shall release to the caseload forecast council the 30
records needed for its research and data-gathering functions. Access 31
to caseload forecast data may be permitted by the council for 32
research purposes only if the anonymity of all persons mentioned in 33
the records or information will be preserved. 34
(10) Juvenile detention facilities shall release records to the 35
caseload forecast council upon request. The commission shall not 36
disclose the names of any juveniles or parents mentioned in the 37
records without the named individual's written permission.38
(11) Requirements in this chapter relating to the court's 39
authority to compel disclosure shall not apply to the ((oversight 40
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board for )) department of children, youth, and families social club 1
or the office of the family and children's ombuds. 2
(12) For the purpose of research only, the administrative office 3
of the courts shall maintain an electronic research copy of all 4
records in the judicial information system related to juveniles. 5
Access to the research copy is restricted to the administrative 6
office of the courts for research purposes as authorized by the 7
supreme court or by state statute. The administrative office of the 8
courts shall maintain the confidentiality of all confidential records 9
and shall preserve the anonymity of all persons identified in the 10
research copy. Data contained in the research copy may be shared with 11
other governmental agencies as authorized by state statute, pursuant 12
to data-sharing and research agreements, and consistent with 13
applicable security and confidentiality requirements. The research 14
copy may not be subject to any records retention schedule and must 15
include records destroyed or removed from the judicial information 16
system pursuant to RCW 13.50.270 and 13.50.100(3).17
(13) The court shall release to the Washington state office of 18
public defense records needed to implement the agency's oversight, 19
technical assistance, and other functions as required by RCW 20
2.70.020. Access to the records used as a basis for oversight, 21
technical assistance, or other agency functions is restricted to the 22
Washington state office of public defense. The Washington state 23
office of public defense shall maintain the confidentiality of all 24
confidential information included in the records. 25
(14) The court shall release to the Washington state office of 26
civil legal aid records needed to implement the agency's oversight, 27
technical assistance, and other functions as required by RCW 28
2.53.045. Access to the records used as a basis for oversight, 29
technical assistance, or other agency functions is restricted to the 30
Washington state office of civil legal aid. The Washington state 31
office of civil legal aid shall maintain the confidentiality of all 32
confidential information included in the records, and shall, as soon 33
as possible, destroy any retained notes or records obtained under 34
this section that are not necessary for its functions related to RCW 35
2.53.045. 36
(15) For purposes of providing for the educational success of 37
youth in foster care, the department of children, youth, and families 38
may disclose only those confidential child welfare records that 39
pertain to or may assist with meeting the educational needs of 40
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current and former foster youth to another state agency or state 1
agency's contracted provider responsible under state law or contract 2
for assisting current and former foster youth to attain educational 3
success. The records retain their confidentiality pursuant to this 4
chapter and federal law and cannot be further disclosed except as 5
allowed under this chapter and federal law. 6
(16) For the purpose of ensuring the safety and welfare of the 7
youth who are in foster care, the department of children, youth, and 8
families may disclose to the department of commerce and its 9
contracted providers responsible under state law or contract for 10
providing services to youth, only those confidential child welfare 11
records that pertain to ensuring the safety and welfare of the youth 12
who are in foster care who are admitted to crisis residential centers 13
or HOPE centers under contract with the office of homeless youth 14
prevention and protection. Records disclosed under this subsection 15
retain their confidentiality pursuant to this chapter and federal law 16
and may not be further disclosed except as permitted by this chapter 17
and federal law. 18
(17) For purposes of investigating and preventing child abuse and 19
neglect, and providing for the health care coordination and the well-20
being of children in foster care, the department of children, youth, 21
and families may disclose only those confidential child welfare 22
records that pertain to or may assist with investigation and 23
prevention of child abuse and neglect, or may assist with providing 24
for the health and well-being of children in foster care to the 25
department of social and health services, the health care authority, 26
or their contracting agencies. For purposes of investigating and 27
preventing child abuse and neglect, and to provide for the 28
coordination of health care and the well-being of children in foster 29
care, the department of social and health services and the health 30
care authority may disclose only those confidential child welfare 31
records that pertain to or may assist with investigation and 32
prevention of child abuse and neglect, or may assist with providing 33
for the health care coordination and the well-being of children in 34
foster care to the department of children, youth, and families, or 35
its contracting agencies. The records retain their confidentiality 36
pursuant to this chapter and federal law and cannot be further 37
disclosed except as allowed under this chapter and federal law.38
(18) For the purpose of investigating child sexual abuse, online 39
sexual exploitation and commercial sexual exploitation of minors, and 40
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child fatality, child physical abuse, and criminal neglect cases for 1
the well-being of the child, the department of children, youth, and 2
families may disclose only those confidential child welfare records 3
that pertain to or may assist with such an investigation pursuant to 4
RCW 26.44.180 and 26.44.175. The records retain their confidentiality 5
pursuant to this chapter and federal law and cannot be further 6
disclosed except as allowed under this chapter and federal law.7
(19) The records of a person confined in a detention facility may 8
be made available to managed care organizations and behavioral health 9
administrative services organizations as defined in RCW 71.24.025 for 10
the purpose of care coordination activities. The receiving 11
organization must hold records in confidence and comply with all 12
relevant state and federal statutes regarding privacy of disclosed 13
records. 14
Sec. 7. RCW 43.06A.060 and 2017 3rd sp.s. c 6 s 812 are each 15
amended to read as follows: 16
Neither the ombuds nor the ombuds's staff may be compelled, in 17
any judicial or administrative proceeding, to testify or to produce 18
evidence regarding the exercise of the official duties of the ombuds 19
or of the ombuds's staff. All related memoranda, work product, notes, 20
and case files of the ombuds's office are confidential, are not 21
subject to discovery, judicial or administrative subpoena, or other 22
method of legal compulsion, and are not admissible in evidence in a 23
judicial or administrative proceeding. This section shall not apply 24
to the ((oversight board for )) department of children, youth, and 25
families social club. 26
Sec. 8. RCW 43.06A.070 and 2017 3rd sp.s. c 6 s 813 are each 27
amended to read as follows: 28
Identifying information about complainants or witnesses shall not 29
be subject to any method of legal compulsion, nor shall such 30
information be revealed to the ((oversight board for )) department of 31
children, youth, and families social club or the governor except 32
under the following circumstances: (1) The complainant or witness 33
waives confidentiality; (2) under a legislative subpoena when there 34
is a legislative investigation for neglect of duty or misconduct by 35
the ombuds or ombuds's office when the identifying information is 36
necessary to the investigation of the ombuds's acts; or (3) under an 37
investigation or inquiry by the governor as to neglect of duty or 38
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misconduct by the ombuds or ombuds's office when the identifying 1
information is necessary to the investigation of the ombuds's acts.2
For the purposes of this section, "identifying information" 3
includes the complainant's or witness's name, location, telephone 4
number, likeness, social security number or other identification 5
number, or identification of immediate family members.6
Sec. 9. RCW 2.30.100 and 2025 c 120 s 2 are each amended to read 7
as follows: 8
(1)(a) A superior court may establish an early childhood court 9
program to serve the needs of infants and toddlers who are under the 10
age of six at the time the case enters the program and dependent 11
pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW. 12
(b) An early childhood court program is a therapeutic court as 13
defined in this chapter that provides an intensive court process for 14
families with a child under age six who has been found dependent 15
pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW. To be eligible for the early childhood 16
court program, a parent must have a child under age six that is 17
dependent pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW at the time the case enters 18
the early childhood court program. The case may remain in the early 19
childhood court program if the child is still dependent pursuant to 20
chapter 13.34 RCW. 21
(2) If a superior court creates an early childhood court program, 22
it shall incorporate the following core components into the program:23
(a) The court shall obtain a memorandum of understanding or other 24
agreement with the department of children, youth, and families 25
developed in collaboration with counsel for parents and children that 26
outlines how the two entities will coordinate and collaborate to 27
implement the core components overall. 28
(b) A community coordinator who may be employed by the courts, 29
the county, or a nonprofit entity and who is a person with experience 30
and training in diversity, equity, and inclusion measures and is 31
dedicated to: 32
(i) Facilitating real-time information sharing and collaboration 33
among cross-sector professionals participating in the early childhood 34
court program; 35
(ii) Coordinating and participating in family team meetings;36
(iii) Identifying community-based resources and supporting the 37
family's connection to these resources; 38
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(iv) Building relationships and forming new partnerships across 1
traditional and nontraditional services and systems;2
(v) Identifying training needs of early childhood court 3
professionals and facilitating the provision of training;4
(vi) Supporting the convening of community team meetings; and5
(vii) Performing the tasks outlined in this subsection describing 6
the core components of an early childhood court program unless 7
otherwise specified. 8
(c) A community team established by the court and consisting of 9
stakeholders to the court that serve as an advisory body to the court 10
and who implement the early childhood court program. The community 11
team shall include diverse membership to include, but not be limited 12
to, former parent participants, foster parents, parent and child 13
advocates, an attorney for parents, a department of children, youth, 14
and families caseworker, and a judicial officer. The community team 15
aims to: 16
(i) Foster a learning environment and encourage an 17
interdisciplinary approach to meeting the needs of young children and 18
families; 19
(ii) Identify and respond to challenges to accessing resources 20
and needed systems reforms; 21
(iii) Support multidisciplinary trainings; and22
(iv) Recommend local court policies and procedures to improve 23
families receipt of equitable and timely access to resources and 24
remedial services for the parent and child. 25
(d) More frequent status hearings than the review hearings 26
required under RCW 13.34.138 established by the judicial officer, 27
these status hearings are separate from the review hearings required 28
under RCW 13.34.138 and are intended to provide additional support to 29
the family. 30
(e) A community coordinator that serves as a liaison between the 31
court and community-based resources to identify community-based 32
resources, identify barriers to engagement, and collaborate with 33
stakeholders to connect families to assessments and referrals. The 34
community coordinator shall facilitate connecting parents with 35
informal and formal social supports, including but not limited to 36
peer, community, and cultural supports. 37
(f) Family team meetings neutrally facilitated by the community 38
coordinator. The family team may include all parties to the case and 39
other people or other service providers identified by the parent to 40
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be part of the support system for the parent involved. The family 1
team engages the parents, and the attorney for the parent, in their 2
case plan and expediently addresses family needs and access to 3
services and support. 4
(g) Ensuring that parents are critical participants in the early 5
childhood court program. Having experienced and culturally informed 6
professionals supporting and working with families involved in the 7
dependency court system is critical to successful reunification of 8
families. The court shall aim to foster an environment in which all 9
professionals involved in the early childhood court program increase 10
their awareness of different forms of bias and the trauma and 11
adversity that often accompany poverty, mental health, and substance 12
use by identifying or developing training that increases such 13
awareness. 14
(h) Ensuring that families receive early, consistent, and 15
frequent visitation that is developmentally appropriate for infants 16
and toddlers; minimizes stress and anxiety for both children and 17
parents; and occurs in a safe, comfortable, and unintimidating 18
setting that supports parents to nurture and care for their child.19
(i) The court shall ensure that the individualized case plan for 20
parents involved in the early childhood court program address 21
protective factors that mitigate or eliminate safety risks to the 22
child. 23
(j) The court should encourage a respectful, strength-based, 24
compassionate approach to working with parents in the context of the 25
early childhood court program. 26
(k) The court shall support the development of agreements that 27
encourage: 28
(i) Stakeholders participation in any available statewide 29
structure that supports alignment to the approach of the early 30
childhood court program, cross-site cooperation, and consistency;31
(ii) Program data is regularly and continuously reviewed to 32
ensure equity and inform and improve practice; and33
(iii) Stakeholder utilization of technical assistance, training, 34
and evaluation to assess effectiveness and improve outcomes.35
(l) Each early childhood court program must collect and review 36
its data, including data related to race and ethnicity of program 37
participants, to assess its effectiveness and share this data with 38
the ((oversight board for )) department of children, youth, and 39
families social club established under RCW 43.216.015. The 40
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((oversight board for )) department of children, youth, and families 1
social club established under RCW 43.216.015 shall share this data 2
and hold or offer to assist in holding statewide meetings to support 3
alignment to the core components and statewide consistency.4
(m) The caseworker assigned to an early childhood court program 5
must have received training and competency related to cultural 6
antibias and antiracism. 7
(n) Each early childhood court program must be responsive to 8
community needs and adopt best practices related to family 9
reunification and serving all families, including those who are:10
(i) Black, indigenous, and persons of color; 11
(ii) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer; and12
(iii) Experiencing disabilities. 13
(o) An attorney for the parent must be present during every 14
meeting of the early childhood court program. 15
(p) Ensuring that parents voluntarily participating in the early 16
childhood court program receive all available and appropriate 17
services. 18
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