This bill creates a new section in chapter 71A.12 RCW and amends RCW 71A.12.290 to require the (unnamed) department that oversees home and community living services to begin providing employment services to clients at age 20 instead of 21, and makes other programmatic and procedural changes. It defines enrollment in an employment program as beginning when a client is authorized to receive employment, requires the department to develop rules to implement employment services and to determine service hours based on assistance needed to reach employment outcomes (not based on time spent working), and replaces the statutory term "community access" with "community inclusion." The bill establishes a procedural choice right: clients age 20 and older must be offered the option to transition from an employment program to a community inclusion program after nine months of enrollment in employment services, and clients in community inclusion may move into employment programs at any time. The department is prohibited from requiring prior approval to effectuate a client's choice to transition to community inclusion after verifying nine months of participation. The department must inform clients and legal representatives of all employment and day service options, how to request exceptions from enrollment in employment programs, and details about activities, scope, amount, and duration. The department must work with counties and stakeholders to strengthen and expand community inclusion, including considering alternative service settings outside the client's residence and developing rules that allow exceptions to the nine-month participation requirement. This is a statutory, procedural change to service eligibility, enrollment, and administrative rulemaking and does not create a new criminal offense or alter penalties. The department responsible is not identified in the provided text, and specific definitions of "employment services," "employment-related activities," "community inclusion program," and the detailed rules referenced are not included in the extracted facts. The act takes effect October 1, 2026.

If enacted, more young adults receiving home and community living services will become eligible for employment supports a year earlier (age 20 instead of 21) and will have a clear, no-prior-approval option to move into a community inclusion program after about nine months in an employment program, while also being allowed to return to employment services at any time. Clients and their legal representatives will get required information about all day service options and how to request exceptions, giving clients more real choices about whether they pursue paid work-focused services or programs that emphasize community integration and independent living skills. The state department named in the chapter will need to write rules, track enrollments, work with counties and stakeholders to expand community inclusion options (including non-residential settings), and create exceptions to the nine-month timing, which will likely increase administrative work and create demand for more community inclusion capacity and possibly additional funding for counties and providers. Important details are missing from the extracted text—such as which department is responsible, how services are defined, and where funding will come from—so the scale of cost and how quickly programs can expand is uncertain.