S-0534.1
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SENATE BILL 5472
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State of
By Senators
Kastama, Holmquist,
Rasmussen, Regala, Marr, Carrell,
Hargrove, Roach, Jacobsen, Kilmer, Sheldon, Swecker, Shin,
Clements and Keiser
Read first time 01/19/2007. Referred to
Committee on Human Services
& Corrections.
1 AN ACT Relating to
a pilot program for family counseling; creating
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
STATE OF
4 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The secretary of the department of
5 health shall
establish a pilot program to provide merit checks of no
6 more than one hundred dollars to no more
than four hundred fifty
7 couples who complete a
family preparation course.
Matching funds may
8 be used to
increase the number of participants in the pilot program.
9 The pilot program must begin no later than
January 1, 2008, and
10 continue for no more than five years, in a
county with a population
11 between seven hundred
twenty thousand and one million.
Under the pilot
12 program, a man and a woman who intend to
apply for a marriage license
13 may, together or separately, complete a
family preparation course of
14 not less than four hours
with a family preparation course provider.
15 The county auditor shall provide to
couples interested in applying for
17 certificate of completion forms for the
family preparation course and
18 information that includes a brief
explanation of the course of required
19 instruction, the required length of time
of the course, and an
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1 explanation of the
qualified instructor requirements.
Within ninety
2 days of applying for a marriage license,
either applicant may verify
3 completion of a family preparation course
by filing with the department
4 of health a copy of the marriage certificate
and a valid certificate of
5 completion from a
registered course provider. Completed forms must
6 include names and addresses of
participants, the name and work address
7 of the course provider, signatures of
participants attesting to the
8 completion of the
required coursework and the required length of
9 instruction, and
the signature of the qualified instructor attesting to
10 being a qualified instructor and providing
the required coursework and
11 time requirement for the participants.
12 (2) For the
purposes of this section, a family preparation course
13 must include instruction regarding:
14 (a) Conflict management;
15 (b) Communication skills;
16 (c) Financial responsibilities in a
marriage; and
17 (d) Children and
parenting responsibilities.
18 (3) The family
preparation course must be at least four hours in
19 length and must
be taken from a qualified instructor who is a:
20 (a) Licensed psychologist;
21 (b) Certified social
worker;
22 (c) Certified marriage and family
therapist;
23 (d) Certified mental health counselor;
24 (e) Registered counselor
with relevant training or coursework;
25 (f) Provider designated by a family court
judge or commissioner; or
26 (g) Official representative of a religious
institution, if the
27 representative
has relevant training in conflict management,
28 communication skills, financial
responsibilities in marriage, and
29 children and parenting
responsibilities.
30 (4) Any costs of
the family preparation course must be paid by the
31 applicant.
32 (5) When the department of health receives
a copy of a marriage
33 certificate and a
certificate of completion of a family preparation
34 course issued by a qualified instructor
consistent with this section,
35 the department shall, within sixty days,
issue a merit check to the
36 couple, not to exceed
one hundred dollars per married couple.
37 (6) The
department of health's statistics center shall compile
SB 5472 p. 2
1 information on divorced or annulled couples who had
previously
2 participated in a family preparation
course.
3 (7) The department
of health shall notify county auditors if there
4 are no available funds for this pilot
program.
5 (8) The department
of health shall report to the appropriate
6 committees of the legislature five years
after the completion of the
7 pilot program. The committees shall make
recommendations on whether
8 the program should be initiated statewide
based on the results of the
9 number of participants who are still
married as opposed to the average
10 divorce rate.
11 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The sum of forty-five thousand
dollars, or
12 as much thereof as may be necessary, is
appropriated for the biennium
13 ending June 30, 2009, from the general
fund to the department of health
14 for the purposes of this
act.
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