Advocacy

State Legislative Advocacy

In Washington state, girls[1] are disproportionately witnessing or experiencing some forms of violence in their lives, which can have negative impacts on their mental health and well-being. This is especially true for girls of color growing up in communities where systemic racism has prevented access to services or where services do not meet community needs. More than their white peers, girls of color witness physical abuse, feel unsafe at school, are disconnected from adults who they see as helpful and access fewer after-school activities. The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating these disparities, and reform efforts must address the overlapping impacts these issues have on marginalized[2] girls and gender expansive young people. Reforms that are girl-centered, racially equitable, and community-driven must be included in local and state budgets.

In Washington state, girls[1] are disproportionately witnessing or experiencing some forms of violence in their lives, which can have negative impacts on their mental health and well-being. This is especially true for girls of color growing up in communities where systemic racism has prevented access to services or where services do not meet community needs. More than their white peers, girls of color witness physical abuse, feel unsafe at school, are disconnected from adults who they see as helpful and access fewer after-school activities. The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating these disparities, and reform efforts must address the overlapping impacts these issues have on marginalized[2] girls and gender expansive young people. Reforms that are girl-centered, racially equitable, and community-driven must be included in local and state budgets.

JFG’s 2024 Legislative Agenda

This legislative session, JFG is advocating for our very own budget proviso to expand girl-centered programming and race equity training. In addition to the budget proviso, below is our policy agenda that was compiled by our coalition of advocates, youth advocates, board members, and our community over the past few months:

1. SYSTEMS 
Improve and expand prevention, diversion and discharge services for girls in school and girls involved in- or at risk of becoming involved in WA state public systems including child welfare and/or juvenile justice.

We Support:

  • Eliminating Isolation and Restraint in Schools (HB 1479 / SB 5559): Concerning restraint or isolation of students in public schools and educational programs.

  • Invest in 9th Grade Success Initiative (HB 5408): Establishing the ninth grade success grant program.

  • Second Chances (HB 1383 / SB 5981): Concerning people convicted of one or more crimes committed before the person's 18th birthday petitioning the indeterminate sentence review board for early release

  • Financial Capabilities Bill (SB 5591 / HB 2342): Provides bank accounts and a monthly allowance for youth in foster care aged 14+, coupled with financial education starting at 12 years old

  • Chronic Absenteeism (SB 5591 / HB 2146): Supporting students who are chronically absent and at risk for not graduating high school.

  • Homeless Student Stability Program Budget Request $2.6m: Grant program supports students (K-12) and their families who are experiencing homelessness. 

2. SAFETY
Promote safe and inclusive communities and homes for girls and survivors of gender-based and domestic violence.

We Support:

  • "Stealthing" Bill (HB 1958 / SB 5408): Concerning nonconsensual removal of or tampering with a sexually protective device.


3. HEALTHCARE
Address the mental health crisis (particularly for BIPOC youth) and safeguard reproductive justice/ gender-affirming healthcare using a girl-centered racial equity lens.

We Support:

  • Mental Health Literacy Education: Improve student access to mental health literacy education. Provide funding to a state agency (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction or Department of Health) to fund an FTE staff position to serve as a mental health curriculum lead responsible for reviewing, disseminating, and cataloging high-quality, mental health literacy instructional curriculum for the P-12 education system.

  • Keep Our Care Act (KOCA) (HB 1263 / SB 5241): Concerning material changes to the operations and governance structure of participants in the health care marketplace.

  • Medication Abortion on College Campuses: Providing contraception vending machines at institutions of higher education.

Previously Supported Legislation

2023 Legislative Agenda

We'd like to call special attention to JFG's own budget proviso we are proposing for 2023. This funding would allow JFG to expand the following programs:

  • Girls* Advocacy Programs for Truant & Court-Impacted Girls - Engaging girls as drivers of change is the best approach to policy change, and the Girls* Advocacy & Impact Network (GAIN) program provides girls in Washington state with an opportunity to learn about and practice different types of advocacy in order to address the issues that affect their lives.

  • Girl*-centered, Anti-Bias Training for Public Systems Caregivers - JFG has worked with system professionals, youth and stakeholders across to develop a two-hour online Girl-centered, Race Equity Practices training. The training goal is to engage county-level community members who work in professional settings across multiple systems and parents of youth in developing a foundational understanding of girl-centered, race equity, trauma-informed practices they can use to support girl’s development and access to opportunity.

In addition to the budget proviso, below is our policy agenda that was compiled by our coalition of advocates, youth advocates, board members, and our community over the past few months:

  1. Improve and expand prevention, diversion and discharge services for girls^ involved in- or at risk of becoming involved in WA state public systems including child welfare, housing, behavioral health and/or juvenile justice. Girls of color and gender expansive youth are over-represented in WA state’s population of dually involved youth. The child welfare system inadvertently serves as a feeder system into the juvenile justice system, as youth that have at least one criminal charge were often displaced through the child welfare system previously. Furthermore, girls with child welfare involvement are more likely to be detained or charged with serious crimes compared to those without child welfare involvement. Many of these issues can lead dually-involved girls to face higher rates of homelessness, system involvement, hospitalizations, and more in their adulthood.

We support:

  • Eliminating fines, fees, and restitution for juveniles (Debt-free Youth Justice)

  • Raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction

  • Juvenile Record Sealing

  • JR youths to petition the indeterminate sentencing review board after reaching age 24

  • Youth Initiated Access to Safe Shelter (Unaccompanied youth do not need parental consent for emergency shelter)

  • Basic Income Trust program which provides monthly cash assistance to qualified WA residents

  • Extended Foster Care

2. Promote safe and inclusive school communities for girls and expand youth development funding for girl-centered, racially equitable programming. The need for gender-responsive and racially-equitable policies is urgent, as COVID has only exacerbated existing disparities along the lines of both race and gender. Advocates and policymakers must implement girl-centered, racially equitable, and community driven solutions that shift educational systems away from punishment and towards a holistic approach that supports girls’ social and emotional wellbeing and safety.

We support:

  • School Equity: Add equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism to existing cultural competency training for school and district staff. 

  • Youth Development: Create more granting opportunities to support youth development programs

  • School-based Diversion Program (partnership with local courts)

  • Eliminate the use of isolation in the public school system

  • Decriminalization of BIPOC[3] girls in the education system

3. Address the mental health crisis using a girl-centered racial equity lens. The demand and access issues that girls and BIPOC girls face continues to grow, yet mental health policies and services that are gender and culturally responsive are simply not being widely developed. Reforms must be girl-centered, racially equitable, and community-driven, addressing the ways in which overlapping experiences with systemic racism and discrimination exacerbate mental health issues for girls, BIPOC girls, and gender expansive youth.
 
We support:

  • Funding for CARE (Culturally Affirming & Responsive) Mental Health Care for Kids and Families in Washington State

  • Reproductive Justice Bills (safeguarding abortion healthcare access in WA)

  • Expanding culturally responsive care in the Medicaid system

  • Ensuring proper implementation of Comprehensive Sexual Health Education

The Washington State Legislative Session will begin on January 9th, 2023.

Below you can find a list of the issue areas we are tracking this session. We will add bill numbers as they become available.

Note:

  • Bills listed in strike-through text have failed to advance past a cutoff deadline, and generally cannot become law.

  • “SB” denotes bills originally introduced in the Senate. “HB” denotes bills originally introduced in the House of Representatives.

  • Bills listed together (e.g., “HB 1234 / SB 5678”) are “companion bills” that, as introduced, are generally identical in substance, but are given different bill numbers because they are introduced in both chambers. Only one of the bills, either the House or Senate version, must advance in order for the legislation to become law.

[1] The term “girl(s)” refers to gender expansive youth (cis girls, trans girls, non-binary youth, gender non-conforming youth, gender queer youth and any girl-identified youth).

[2] The Girls@theMargin national alliance uses the term “marginalized” not to describe girls and young women, but to call attention to their treatment by decision makers, communities, families, and the systems charged with their care.

[3] BIPOC refers to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. We use BIPOC to center the unique experiences of Black and Indigenous communities and to avoid generalizing all people of color.

2022 Legislative Agenda

JFG’s Key Policy Priorities:

  1. Improve and expand prevention, diversion and discharge services for girls^ involved in- or at risk of becoming involved in WA state public systems including child welfare, housing, behavioral health and/or juvenile justice.

  2. Promote safe and inclusive school communities for girls and expand youth development funding for girl-centered, racially equitable programming.

  3. Address the mental health crisis using a girl-centered racial equity lens.

Priority Bills:

Reducing homelessness for youth and young adults discharging from a publicly funded system of care: (HB 1905) - PASSED!

The legislature finds that young people discharging from publicly funded systems of care are at increased risk of homelessness. Youth and young adults experiencing homelessness face traumatic events at a higher rate than their peers who have stable housing. Homelessness has long-term impacts on brain development and well-being and creates barriers to education and employment. HB 1905 establishes a goal that any unaccompanied youth discharged from a publicly funded system of care in our state will be discharged into safe and stable housing. The office of homeless youth prevention and protection programs and the department of children, youth, and families published the improving stability for youth exiting systems of care report in 2020 outlining steps to achieve this goal.

Concerning student excused absences for mental health reasons: (HB 1834) - PASSED!

After hearing from youth across the state of Washington, the legislature recognizes that students' mental health is a component of their physical health and that students' mental health can affect their ability to learn. The legislature finds that school districts are not consistently recognizing student absences for mental health reasons as excused absences. Therefore, the legislature intends to require that student absences for mental health reasons be categorized as excused absences.

Preventing homelessness among persons discharging from inpatient behavioral health settings (HB 1860) - PASSED!

The legislature finds that social determinants of health, particularly housing, are highly correlated with long-term recovery from behavioral health conditions. Seeking inpatient treatment for a mental health or substance use challenge is an act of valor. Upon discharge from care, these individuals deserve a safe, stable place from which to launch their recovery. It is far easier and more cost-effective to help maintain a person's recovery after treatment than to discharge them into homelessness and begin the process anew amid another crisis. Sometimes, there may not be another chance. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to seize the incredible opportunity presented by a person seeking inpatient behavioral health care by ensuring that these courageous individuals are discharged to appropriate housing.

Concerning assisted outpatient treatment for persons with behavioral health disorders (HB 1773) - PASSED!

Rather than a hospital, this legislation proposes assisted outpatient treatment for individuals after a court ruling. Their care would then be coordinated by a care team and a judge, with two priorities: recovery and stability of the patient, and using the least restrictive treatment necessary. 

2021 Legislative Agenda

JFG’s Key Policy Priorities:

  1. Ending the School to Prison Pipeline

  2. Addressing Gender-Based Violence

Priority Bills:

Concerning menstrual products in schools (HB 1273): PASSED!
By 2022-23 school year, school districts and private schools must make menstrual hygiene products available at no cost in all gender-neutral bathrooms and bathrooms designated for female students located in schools that serve students in any of K-12 and institutions of higher education. We believe this legislation is crucial to addressing inequities in access to menstrual products to the most vulnerable girls in our state.

JFG Youth Program & Training Specialist, Hailey Gray, testifies on HB 1273

Concerning school-based health centers (HB 1225): PASSED!
A school-based health center (SBHC) is a student-focused health center located in or adjacent to a school where students can receive integrated medical, behavioral health, and other healthcare services such as dental care. SBHCs work collaboratively with local school communities—including students, families, school administration, school nurses, counselors, social workers, teachers, other school staff and community-based organizations—to serve the whole child and remove barriers to learning.

Girls Advocacy & Impact Network (GAIN) Member, Talia See, testifies on HB 1225

County-Level Supported Initiatives:

State Priority Areas:

Youth Support and Development

  • Expand Mental and Behavioral Health Services – (YouthCare & Mockingbird)

  • Preserve Critical Services, Investments in Housing & Homelessness Services, and Expand Medical Services to Young People Experiencing Homelessness – (YouthCare, Mockingbird & WA Coalition for Homeless Youth Advocacy)

  • Legal Representation for all Children and Youth in Foster Care (Mockingbird)

  • New Transitions to Independence for Youth in Extended Foster Care (Mockingbird) 

  • Establish Intergovernmental Task Force Between Tribal Governments and State Agencies (Mockingbird)

  • Reduce Youth Contact with Police (Mockingbird)

  • Encourage Partnerships that Expand Youth Development Opportunities (School’s Out WA)

COVID Relief

Budget Priorities

  • Equitable Revenue Reform (Mockingbird) 

  • Budget Defense: Statewide Housing Asset for Young People (WACHYA)

  • Pass New Progressive Revenue (Mockingbird)

  • Sustain Lifesaving Services (Mockingbird)

  • Proactive Budget Items (WACHYA & SOWA)

  • Learning Assistance Program (LAP) Funding (SOWA)

2020 Legislative Agenda

Comprehensive Sexual & Relationship Health Education (SB 5395): PASSED!
Support safety for girl-identifying youth by expanding access to comprehensive sexual and relationship health education in schools. Lead by Planned Parenthood *JFG Legislative Priority

This legislation will require all public schools in Washington State to provide comprehensive, inclusive, and medically accurate sex education, including education about consent and sexual assault prevention. At this moment, there are two vehicles — one in the House and one in the Senate. SB 5395, is ready to be voted on by the full Senate, while HB 2184 is in the House Education committee and needs to be scheduled for a public hearing. It's still a little unclear which bill will be the vehicle but you can expect that we’ll be asking you to reach out to legislators in January, telling them about the importance of comprehensive sex education and urging their support. Read our Sex Ed One-pager here!

If you have a moment, please send a note of thanks to the legislators who sponsored these bills and made their passage a reality: Senator Claire Wilson and Rep. Monica Stonier

Concerning Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (HB 1775 / SB 5744): PASSED Unanimously! Shift policing practices toward treating trafficked girls as victims, not criminals; Provide more resources for sexually exploited youth. Lead by YouthCare and WACHYA/Mockingbird Society *JFG Legislative Priority

This legislation will ensure that Washington State implements a victim-centered and trauma informed approach to commercially sexually exploited youth. The bill will limit the crime of prostitution to individuals 18 years or older and create two therapeutic receiving centers for sexually exploited youth, located west and east of the Cascades, to assess youth for mental health and substance use disorder, make referrals, and/or provide licensed, residential substance use disorder and mental health treatment. HB 1775 is in Appropriations and we anticipate it will be scheduled for hearing in the early weeks of January. Similarly SB 5744 is in its fiscal committee in the Senate, the Ways and Means Committee, and it needs to be scheduled for hearing. Your advocacy to members of the Appropriations, as well as the Ways and Means Committee, will be key to getting the bills moved out of committee and on to the floor for debate and passage. Click here to read the Non-Criminalization one-pager.

If you have a moment, please send a note of thanks to the legislators who sponsored these bills and made their passage a reality: Rep.Tina Orwall and Senator Manka Dhingra

 Help homeless youth obtain state identification cards (SHB 2607): PASSED! - Lead by YouthCare

Reduce state ID documentation requirements and cost barriers for young people experiencing homelessness. Obtaining identification cards can be particularly challenging for homeless youth and creates barriers to getting a job, renting an apartment, or traveling outside the state.

If you have a moment, please send a note of thanks to the legislators who sponsored these bills and made their passage a reality: Rep. Lisa Callan and Senator Marko Liias

Implement alternatives to detention for status offenses (SHB 2873): PASSED! - Lead by YouthCare

Improve and expand community-based family reconciliation services, increase receiving care placements for dependent youth who have run from care, and enhance services at Crisis Residential Centers/Hope Centers. Last year, the legislature made bold progress by eliminating the use of detention for status offenses; the state must now invest in therapeutic alternatives to ensure young people receive the supports they need.

If you have a moment, please send a note of thanks to the legislators who sponsored these bills and made their passage a reality: Rep. Jesse Johnson and Senator Jeannie Darneille

2019 Legislative Agenda

Eliminating the use of the valid court order exception to place youth in detention for noncriminal behavior (SB 5290): PASSED!
Will phase out the practice of incarcerating youth who commit status offenses, such as running away and skipping school. *JFG Legislative Priority

This major change of policy will positively impact thousands of young people’s lives. There is a lot of work to be done, however, to implement the law — we need to make sure that the youth and their families have the support they need as well as access to resources in their communities to help them on their path to stability. We will be reaching out throughout the session asking you to talk with your lawmakers about the importance of investing in these programs. 

Want to know how laws are made in Washington state?

Watch this short video created by the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence: