9-2-2101. Department of family services; duties and responsibilities; state grants; authority to contract for shelters; definitions; youth programs.

(a) The department of family services is created. The department of family services is the state youth services authority and the authority for public assistance and social services.

(b) The department shall develop and administer a state program to provide shelter care for youth.

(c) The department shall administer a comprehensive state program for community services for youth which shall include the following:

(i) A coordinated network of services by contracting for shelter services on a regional basis and for juvenile community alternatives on a county basis either through a contract with the county commissioners or through a contract with a single organization designated by the county commissioners. Contracting agencies may establish subcontracts in order to provide those services required by the department. All contracts purchasing services prepared by the department shall provide for periodic program and fiscal review of the operations and expenditure of state funds by the person or organization with whom the department has contracted. All contracts shall be terminated within sixty (60) days upon the occurrence of one (1) of the following unless the deficiency is corrected to the satisfaction of the department:

(A) If the person or organization will not allow on site inspections and review of the programs purchased;

(B) If misuse of state funds is found; or

(C) If the program is not of an acceptable standard or quality.

(ii) Minimum standards and policies and procedures for the establishment and operation of the community services for youth;

(iii) Rules for the granting of contracts;

(iv) Monitoring regional shelter services facilities a minimum of once a year and state funded juvenile community services at least once every three (3) years.

(d) In order to receive juvenile community alternative funds a county shall submit a plan to the department developed by representatives of public and private providers who provide services to troubled youth in the county. The plan shall be in accordance with rules and regulations established by the department. At a minimum the plan shall include:

(i) Identification of gaps in services to troubled youth in the county and an explanation of the proposed projects;

(ii) Goals and objectives that will enable the department to monitor the activities that are funded, the number of children and families served and the outcomes achieved;

(iii) A demonstration of a commitment to keep youth in the home and community and to work with the family either with community alternative funds or through other funding;

(iv) Cooperative agreements among participating agencies which outline the activities to be undertaken by each agency to achieve the goals of the plan.

(e) The purposes of the community services for youth program are to:

(i) Work on the immediate problems of troubled youth in Wyoming communities;

(ii) Work with children and families to encourage the resolution of intrafamily problems through counseling and other services;

(iii) Work on reuniting youth with their families in cases where the child has been placed out of the home and where additional work needs to be done in order for the youth to be reintegrated into the family;

(iv) Strengthen family relationships and promote stable living conditions for troubled youth;

(v) Help youth decide on a future course of action;

(vi) Provide appropriate alternatives to involvement in the correctional system.

(f) Community services for youth may include treatment services either directly or through contracts with other agencies.

(g) In order to qualify for funding under this section, a shelter services provider shall:

(i) House no more than ten (10) children together within one (1) facility. This paragraph shall not:

(A) Limit the number of children who may be served in a region; or

(B) If requested by any local authority, prohibit a provider from providing temporary emergency shelter within one (1) facility to more than ten (10) children under the age of eighteen (18) years for not more than seventy-two (72) consecutive hours.

(ii) Develop individualized programming for children receiving shelter services for thirty (30) days or less which shall be distinct from individualized programming for children who are expected to receive shelter services for longer than thirty (30) days.

(h) As used in this section:

(i) "Community services for youth" means shelter services and juvenile community alternatives;

(ii) "Juvenile community alternatives" means projects which use existing services in a county to divert juveniles from approved correctional programs until no other solution can be determined suitable;

(iii) "Shelter services" means residential services for children through eighteen (18) years of age which shall include:

(A) Temporary shelter;

(B) Crisis counseling;

(C) Family involvement;

(D) Aftercare;

(E) Individualized programming for each child.

(j) If there is an existing shelter in a community that meets the criteria for placement of youth as specified in this section and is sufficient to meet the needs of the community, additional shelters shall not be acquired or constructed.

(k) The department shall administer the low income home energy assistance program in accordance with W.S. 42-2-501.