The goals of the children's system of care are to:

(1) Maintain a multiagency collaborative planning and system management mechanism at the state and local levels through the establishment of an oversight committee at the local level in accordance with the principles and program requirements associated with the federal center for children's mental health services;

(2) Recommend and make necessary financing changes to support individualized and flexible home and community-based services and supports that are child centered, family driven, strength based, and culturally competent;

(3) Support a common screening tool and integrated care coordination system;

(4) Recommend and make necessary changes in contracting to support integrated service delivery;

(5) Promote and increase the expansion of system capacity for children and their families in each demonstration site community;

(6) Develop the capacity of family members to provide support for one another and to strengthen the family voice in system implementation through the utilization of a citizens' advisory board as described in *RCW 74.55.040 and through other outreach activities;

(7) Conduct research and draw on outside consultation to identify best practices to inform system development and refinement; and

(8) Demonstrate cost-effectiveness by creating system efficiencies that generate savings from the current level of expenditures for children being served by the participating agencies. These savings must be used to provide more services to the children involved in the project, or to serve more children.

*Reviser's note: RCW 74.55.040 expired January 1, 2004.