§ 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) Subject to the availability of funds, 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.