EXECUTIVE
ORDER EO
94-08
ESTABLISHING THE COUNCIL ON FAMILIES, YOUTH AND JUSTICE
I. Introduction
The quality of our state's future depends upon
the strength of our families and upon our ability to ensure the safe, healthy,
and disciplined development of our children.
Over the past twenty years, increasing numbers
of young people have found themselves facing problems many adults can scarcely
imagine; hard-core substance abuse, delinquency, school failure, teen pregnancy
and deadly violence have become almost common place in our children's schools
and in their lives.
In 1977, the Washington legislature passed the
Juvenile Justice Act, adopting laws relating to juvenile offenders, family
reconciliation, youth at risk, and dependency proceedings for children whose
parents may not be meeting their obligations.
That year marked the last major revision of
Washington's juvenile laws. Since then, the lives of our state's children and
youth have changed dramatically, as evidenced by the following:
·
the number of suspected child abuse and neglect
cases reported to Child Protective Services has doubled in the past six years;
·
the number of children in out-of-home care has
increased by 30 percent in the past 10 years;
·
the rate of teen pregnancy increased by 19 percent
between 1988 and 1991;
·
the use of cocaine among young people increased
by almost 400 percent between 1985 and 1992;
·
13 percent of our 11 to 18 year olds are
presently in need of treatment for alcohol and other drug problems;
·
almost 27 percent of our youth fail to complete
high school; and
·
the number of young people arrested for violent
crimes has almost doubled since 1982.
Since 1977, in an effort to address the needs of
the growing number of young people in trouble, the legislature has enacted
several additional taws relating to children youth, and families. However,
there has not been a comprehensive review of the 1977 Juvenile Justice Act and
these later laws to determine whether their objectives and assumptions remain
valid in light of the vastly different lives and problems of today's children
and families, to assess their relationship to one another, or to determine
their effectiveness in meeting their objectives.
II.
Council on Families, Youth, and Justice
WHEREAS, the citizens of
Washington rightfully expect that our juvenile system will protect our children
and youth from abuse and neglect, assist troubled families, emphasize parental
involvement and accountability, help prevent delinquent behavior, provide swift
and certain punishment, and ensure public safety;
NOW,
THEREFORE, I, Mike Lowry, Governor of the State
of Washington, by virtue of the power vested in me, do hereby establish the
Council on Families, Youth, and Justice.
The mission of the Council is to perform a
comprehensive review of Washington's juvenile laws and to recommend
modifications to these laws that will result in an integrated juvenile system
that is effective in meeting its objectives, as well as in meeting the needs of
the children, youth, and families it serves, and that will result in the
prudent use of limited state resources. The Council's mission also includes the
development of a state-wide strategy for preventing children and youth from
entering the juvenile system.
The Council shall be composed of four work groups,
as follows: (1) Juvenile Offenders Work Group; (2) Youth in Crisis Work Group;
(3) Dependency Work Group; and, (4) Prevention Strategies Work Group. The
Governor shall appoint a chair for each work group. The four work group chairs shall serve as co-chairs of the
Council. The work groups shall be composed of at least 10, but not more than
17, members. The membership of each work group shall be appointed by its chair,
subject to the approval of the Governor. The membership shall be ethnically,
racially, and geographically diverse, and shall include persons with relevant
expertise and/or broad-based experience.
III. Responsibilities of the Council
A. The
Council shall have the following responsibilities:
1. Conduct a comprehensive review of
Washington's juvenile laws, including but not limited to those relating to
juvenile offenders, dependency/termination proceedings, family reconciliation,
at-risk youth, juvenile records, involuntary treatment, compulsory school
attendance, and sexually aggressive youth, to determine whether the laws'
objectives and assumptions continue to be valid, to assess their relationship
to each other and how they can be better integrated, and to identify
impediments in the laws that inhibit their effectiveness in meeting their objectives.
As part of its review, the Council shall evaluate the fiscal impact of the
current system.
2. Develop a state-wide strategy for
preventing children and youth from entering the juvenile system. The strategy
shall include approaches for identifying, developing, maximizing and allocating
resources for prevention activities and for identifying and disseminating
effective prevention practices, programs and services. In addition, the
strategy shall specifically acknowledge the reform of the states health care
system and the decentralization of the state's family services system, as set
forth in E2SHB 2319 (Chapter 7, Laws of 1994, 1st Special Session). The
strategy shall define the proper role of the state in relation to these reforms
and shall determine how the state can best promote and complement them.
B. The
specific responsibilities of the work groups are:
1. The Juvenile Offenders Work Group shall
review the juvenile offender statutes for their effectiveness in: a) deterring
first-time and minor offenders from further criminal activity; b) providing
appropriate offenders with meaningful opportunities for rehabilitation,
together with adequate sanctions for those offenders who fail to rehabilitate, and c) imposing penalties that are reasonably proportionate to particularly
serious crimes and to persistent patterns of criminal behavior.
2. The Youth in Crisis Work Group shall
review the laws relating to youth in crisis for their effectiveness in: a)
keeping runaway, truant, and substance abusing youth off the streets while
ensuring their safety at home, or where appropriate, in an alternative
placement; and b) connecting these youth and their families with timely and
appropriate services.
3. The Dependency Work Group shall review
the dependency/termination laws for their timeliness and effectiveness in: a)
protecting children in appropriate cases; b) reuniting families; and c) placing
children in permanent homes when reunification is not in the child's best
interests.
4. The Prevention Strategies Work Group
shall review past and present state prevention efforts, along with recent state
reforms, to determine the state's proper role in promoting and supporting
prevention activities across the state.
C. In
carrying out its responsibilities, the Council shall review previous studies
and the efforts of other groups and organizations, including the Juvenile
Issues Task Force and the Governor's Juvenile Justice Advisory Council. In
addition, the Council shall coordinate with the Special Legislative Task Force
on the Juvenile Justice Act.
D. Prior
to adopting its final recommendations, the Council shall present its
preliminary recommendations to the Special Legislative Task Force on the
Juvenile Justice Act and to the public for comment.
E. The
Council shall submit a report containing final recommendations for legislation
to the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Legislature by December 1, 1994.
The recommendations shall reflect consideration of their fiscal impact.
F. The
Council shall complete its responsibilities prior to the end of the 1995
legislative session and shall expire following the last day of that session.
G. The
Office of Financial Management, in collaboration with the Attorney General's
Office and other state agencies participating in the work of the Council, shall
develop a plan for the provision of such resources as may be necessary to carry
out the functions of the Council. Members of the Council may receive per them
and travel expenses in accordance with OFM policies.
This Executive Order is effective immediately.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto
set my hand and caused
the seal of the State
of Washington to be
affixed at Olympia
this 21st day of June
A.D., Nineteen hundred and ninety-four.
MIKE LOWRY
Governor of Washington
BY THE GOVERNOR:
_________________________________
Assistant Secretary of
State
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