July is an exciting month when it comes to systemic advocacy updates, as most bills that passed during the previous legislative session officially become law! July 1st is also the start of a new state fiscal year, which means re-allocated or new funding from the Legislature goes to state agencies to then get out the door to support children, youth, families, and community providers.
Below are some of the bills that LCYC strongly supported through language drafting, public testimony, advocacy letters and emails, and coalition partnership:
House Bill 1406 (effective 7/23/23) makes it easier for youth under 18 to access shelter when they feel unsafe or unwelcome at home. The new law allows a minor to provide authorization to stay in a licensed overnight youth shelter if the shelter: (1) is unable to make contact with a parent despite the shelter’s notification efforts required by law; or (2) makes contact with a parent, but the parent does not request that the child return home (even if the parent does not explicitly consent for the minor remaining in the shelter). The law also allows youth to stay in a HOPE Center for up to 90 days (an increase from the previous 30-day limit). Finally, through the bill, the Office of Homeless Youth (OHY) received funding to issue grants for “Community Support Teams,” which are intended to provide holistic, wraparound supports to youth focused on resolving family conflict and obtaining or maintaining long-term and stable housing.
Senate Bill 5028 (effective 7/23/23) makes the name change process more accessible. Our work on this bill has been inspired by the LGBTQIA+ young people we work with who seek a name change to reflect their identity. The new law allows people to file a name change petition in any district court, instead of only in the district court of the judicial district in which the person resides. It requires the petition to only note the person's desire for the name change, instead of requiring that a name change petition state the reasons for the requested name change. Additionally, it expands the circumstances under which a name change petition may be filed in the superior court and requires the superior court to seal the file upon granting a name change. It also allows individuals or qualified legal service providers (like LCYC!) to petition the district court to waive all fees for filing, transmitting, and recording a name change.
Here are some bills that will have an impact on the young people we provide legal representation to and that we will closely track implementation of:
House Bill 1580 (effective 7/23/23) requires the Governor’s Office to develop a Children and Youth Multisystem Care Coordinator to address the challenging situation around youth being “stuck” in hospitals. The Care Coordinator will serve as a state lead on addressing complex cases, specifically youth under 18 who are at risk of remaining or are staying in a hospital without medical necessity, without the ability to return to the care of a parent, and not dependent. The Care Coordinator will work across state agencies to serve these youth in identifying appropriate use of state and other resources and access, when appropriate, flexible funding to support young people’s safe discharge from hospitals.
Senate Bill 5599 (effective 7/23/23) aims to support minors seeking or receiving gender affirming treatment or reproductive health care service to access safe housing. Shelters must notify parents within 72 hours of a youth accessing shelter, unless there is a “compelling reason” not to, which historically has included circumstances that indicate that notifying the parent would subject the minor to abuse or neglect. Senate Bill 5599 expands the list of “compelling reasons” to not notify a parent and instead notify DCYF—when a minor is seeking or receiving a “protected health care service” (includes gender affirming treatment or reproductive health care services). Upon notification from a shelter, DCYF must offer to make behavioral health services referrals on behalf of the minor and offer services designed to resolve family conflict and work toward reunification (the latter is also required when a host home program notifies DCYF of a youth’s participation in the program). The Legislature also allocated funding to OHY for “Supportive Care Grants,” which will go to organizations to address the needs of youth seeking protected health care services.
A bill also passed that will support a developmentally appropriate response to juvenile sexual offending behavior. Our partners at TeamChild shared a blog post about this critical shift in addressing this issue.
Since legislative session wrapped up, LCYC has partnered with The Mockingbird Society and the Housing Justice Collective to work with young people with lived experience to make recommendations to OHY regarding implementation of House Bill 1406 and Senate Bill 5599. More to come as those bills are implemented and funds become available to communities!
We also continue to monitor implementation efforts from previous legislative sessions, including around House Bill 1905 (2022), which sought to create a Youth and Young Adult Housing Response team to support young people leaving public systems of care who are at imminent risk of homelessness.
And, we’re already looking ahead to the 2024 session and identifying priority advocacy issues, alongside our advocacy and coalition partners.
If you want to learn more about our systemic advocacy work this session or how you can get engaged and provide remote testimony on a bill you care about, please contact LCYC’s Deputy Director, Erin Shea McCann: esmccann@lcycwa.org.