BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Kevin Murray, Chairman

                                           2161 (Hancock)
          
          Hearing Date:  8/17/2006        Amended: 8/7/2006
          Consultant:  John Miller        Policy Vote: Human Svcs  5 - 0
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          BILL SUMMARY:  AB 2161 creates a three year pilot project in  
          five counties which will merge duplicative process for licensing  
          and approving relatives, foster families and adoptive parents  
          within the child welfare system. 
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                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2006-07      2007-08       2008-09     Fund
           DSS admin and oversight$ 426      $ 853       $ 853     GF*

          *Federal costs would equal $700,000 and County costs $204,000  
          for a full year.
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          STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE

          This bill will create a pilot program which will merge the often  
          duplicative and redundant processes for licensing and approving  
          relatives, foster families and adoptive parents. Under current  
          regulation and practices, any change in a families status  
          triggers an often duplicative review. For example, all currently  
          approved foster parents caring for a child in their home must  
          undergo a second, identical criminal background check of they  
          decide to adopt the foster child. This bill will create a  
          "unified home approval and permanency assessment" for families  
          caring for a child under the jurisdiction of a court.

          The Department of Social Services is to promulgate standards for  
          home approvals, establish criteria and select participating  
          counties, track program performance and oversee county  
          operations and prepare an evaluation at the end of the project.  
          The bill does not alter the cost sharing arrangements between  
          federal, state and county sources, and is implemented contingent  
          upon continued availability of federal participation. The  
          Department of Social Services has been notified that federal  










          funding would continue to be available to the state if this  
          pilot is implemented.

          Streamlining the approval process could lead to offsetting  
          savings for county welfare departments. 

          Proposed amendments are technical (change a code reference).