§ 70.190.005. Purpose
The legislature finds that a primary goal of public involvement in the lives of children has been to strengthen the family unit.
However, the legislature recognizes that traditional two-parent families with one parent routinely at home are now in the minority. In addition, extended family and natural community supports have eroded drastically. The legislature recognizes that public policy assumptions must be altered to account for this new social reality. Public effort must be redirected to expand, support, strengthen, and help reconstruct family and community networks to assist in meeting the needs of children.
The legislature finds that a broad variety of services for children and families has been independently designed over the years and that the coordination and cost-effectiveness of these services will be enhanced through the adoption of an approach that allows communities to prioritize and coordinate services to meet their local needs. The legislature further finds that the most successful programs for reaching and working with at-risk families and children treat individuals' problems in the context of the family, offer a broad spectrum of services, are flexible in the use of program resources, and use staff who are trained in crossing traditional program categories in order to broker services necessary to fully meet a family's needs.
The legislature further finds that eligibility criteria, expenditure restrictions, and reporting requirements of state and federal categorical programs often create barriers toward the effective use of resources for addressing the multiple problems of at-risk families and children.
The purposes of this chapter are (1) to modify public policy and programs to empower communities to support and respond to the needs of individual families and children and (2) to improve the responsiveness of services for children and families at risk by facilitating greater coordination and flexibility in the use of funds by state and local service agencies.
[1994 sp.s. c 7 § 301; 1992 c 198 § 1.]
Notes:
Finding -- Intent -- Severability -- 1994 sp.s. c 7: See notes following RCW 43.70.540.
Sections: 70.190.005 70.190.010 70.190.020 70.190.030 70.190.040 70.190.050 70.190.060 70.190.065 70.190.070 70.190.075 70.190.080 70.190.085 70.190.090 70.190.100 70.190.110 Next
Last modified: April 7, 2009