General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2004>Welfare (Social Services)

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Welfare (Social Services)

Passed

P HB237

Income tax; Neighborhood Assistance Act tax credit. Extends the sunset date for the tax credits allowed under the Neighborhood Assistance Act from the close of fiscal year 2004 to the close of fiscal year 2009.
Patron - Nutter

P HB239

Neighborhood Assistance Act; donation of professional services; tax credit. Stipulates that the tax credit available to certain health care professionals who donate services shall be available if the organization that operates the clinic where the services are donated has received an allocation of tax credits from the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services. Currently, the law provides such credit only if the clinic itself has received such allocation.
Patron - Nutter

P HB285

Donations of health care services by certain professionals; tax credit. Stipulates that physicians, dentists, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, optometrists, dental hygienists, professional counselors, clinical social workers, clinical psychologists, marriage and family therapists, physical therapists, and pharmacists licensed pursuant to Title 54.1 who provide health care services within the scope of their licensure, without charge, to patients of certain free and not-for-profit clinics, shall be eligible for the income tax credit under the Neighborhood Assistance Act, regardless of where the services are delivered. Currently, the Act requires that such services be provided at the free or not-for-profit clinic in order for these health care professionals to be eligible for the tax credit.
Patron - Cosgrove

P HB420

Child abuse and neglect; multidisciplinary investigation teams. Enables local social services departments to develop multidisciplinary teams to provide consultation to the local department during the investigation of selected cases involving child abuse or neglect and make recommendations regarding the prosecution of such cases. The teams may include members of the medical, mental health, legal and law-enforcement professions, including the attorney for the Commonwealth or his designee, a local child-protective services representative, and the guardian ad litem or other court-appointed advocate for the child. The bill also contains provisions regarding the confidentiality of information exchanged during such consultation. This bill is identical to SB 429.
Patron - Watts

P HB635

Exception to regulation for assisted living facilities. Authorizes an exception to the regulatory requirement for assisted living facilities with special Alzheimer's care units that at least two direct care staff members be awake and on duty at all times who shall be responsible for the care and supervision of the residents under very limited circumstances. The exception will only be granted when the facility (i) offers a safe, secure environment in a freestanding self-contained unit for residents who have been assessed by an independent clinical psychologist or a licensed physician as having a serious cognitive impairment due to a primary psychiatric diagnosis of dementia; (ii) has an individual facility capacity that does not exceed five residents; (iii) is located in a converted single-family dwelling where the bedrooms, living space and common areas are located on the first level of the dwelling and such facility is located in an established residential neighborhood in any county having a population of no less than 259,000 and no greater than 263,000; (iv) has at least one direct care staff member in such facility at all times that residents are present who shall be responsible for the care and supervision of the residents; (v) has established written emergency procedures that provide for prompt assistance to the direct caregiver by other staff members who may be located at locations other than the facility where the assistance is requested, including a requirement that the direct caregiver have on his person a mobile electronic device that may be used to signal for emergency assistance; (vi) has established written criteria and procedures, in consultation with a licensed physician, to periodically review the appropriateness of each resident's continued residence in such facility and to provide for the transfer of any resident to another facility that has staffing of two or more direct care staff members whenever warranted by a change in a resident's condition; (vii) is operated by a limited liability company initially organized or authorized to transact business in Virginia before January 1, 1997, that operates at least three but no more than nine such facilities; (viii) has provided written notice to any current resident and his legally authorized representative within 30 days after the effective date of this act and, thereafter, to any new resident and his legally authorized resident at the time of admission that one direct care staff member rather than two is present at all times.
Patron - O'Bannon

P HB907

Medical assistance services; application. Provides that an application for medical assistance services for a person admitted to a State Veteran's Care Center located in the Commonwealth may be filed and processed in the jurisdiction where such Care Center is located.
Patron - Watts

P HB1109

Independent living services. Provides local departments of social services with statutory authorization to provide independent living services to persons between 18 and 21 years of age in order to help them transition from foster care to self-sufficiency. Currently, there is no state or federal law against providing such services, and this bill serves to codify the existing policy of allowing local departments to do so, if they choose. Consistent with this intent, the bill adds the provision of independent living services to persons between 18 and 21 years of age who are transitioning out of foster care to the services that may be provided by a children's residential facility.
Patron - Moran

P HB1135

Child protective services; training and investigation procedures. Requires the Department of Social Services Child Protective Services Unit to include standards of training regarding the legal duties of child protective services workers in order to protect the constitutional and statutory rights and safety of children and families from the initial time of contact during investigation through treatment. The bill also requires local departments of social services, at the initial time of contact with the person subject to a child abuse and neglect investigation, to advise the person of the complaints or allegations made against the person, in a manner that is consistent with laws protecting the rights of the person making the report or complaint. This bill is identical to SB 584.
Patron - McDonnell

P SB1

Out-of-Family Investigations Advisory Committee. Establishes a set membership of 15 members for Out-Of-Family Investigations Advisory Committee. Currently, the membership has no limit, but the committee must consist of at least nine members. Other changes to the makeup and operations of the committee conform to the Joint Rules Committee legislative guidelines for collegial bodies. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study the Operations, Practices, Duties, and Funding of the Commonwealth's Agencies, Boards, Commissions, Councils, and Other Governmental Entities pursuant to HJR 159 (2002).
Patron - Martin

P SB35

Subsidized custody of children living with relative caregivers. Directs the Department of Social Services to establish a subsidized custody program for the benefit of children in the custody of a local board of social services on or after July 1, 2004, who are living with relative caregivers and for whom reunification with their natural parents and adoption by relatives are ruled out as placement options. A relative caregiver means a person, other than a natural parent, to whom the child is related by blood, marriage, or adoption. A relative caregiver shall obtain legal custody over such child. Within the limitations of federal funding and the subsidized custody appropriation to the Department, the subsidized custody program shall include (i) a one-time special-need payment, which shall be a lump sum payment for expenses resulting from the assumption of care of the child, (ii) services for the child, including but not limited to, short-term casework, information and referral, and crisis intervention, and (iii) a maintenance subsidy that shall be payable monthly to the relative caregiver equal to the prevailing foster care rate. The Department may establish an asset test for eligibility under the program. The subsidized custody payment shall be made pursuant to a subsidized custody agreement entered into between the local board and the relative caregiver. The relative caregiver receiving a custody subsidy shall submit annually to the local department a sworn statement that the child is still living with and receiving support from the relative. The parent of any child receiving assistance through the subsidized custody program shall remain liable for the support of the child. The bill requires the State Board of Social Services to promulgate emergency regulations and the Department to seek all federal waivers. The final enactment clause states the act shall not become effective unless federal funds are made available through a federal Title IV-E waiver and an appropriation of funds effectuating the purposes of the act is included in the biennial budget passed by the 2004 General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor.
Patron - Miller

P SB50

Duties of the Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. Adds to the general duties of the advisory board the duty of providing advice on child abuse and neglect issues identified by the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services. The additional duty will give the advisory board specific direction in fulfilling its broad mandate of providing advice on all programs concerning programs for the prevention and treatment of abused and neglected children and their families. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study the Operations, Practices, Duties, and Funding of the Commonwealth's Agencies, Boards, Commissions, Councils, and Other Governmental Entities pursuant to HJR 159 (2002).
Patron - Martin

P SB62

Adoption; child-placing agencies outside the Commonwealth. Requires any child-placing agency outside the Commonwealth, or its agent, that executes an entrustment agreement in the Commonwealth with a birth parent for the termination of all parental rights and responsibilities with respect to a child to comply with the Commonwealth's laws regarding entrustment agreements, revocations of entrustment agreements and birth parent counseling. Any entrustment agreement that fails to follow such requirements shall be void. The bill adds the requirement that an entrustment agreement for the termination of all parental rights and responsibilities shall be executed in writing and notarized.
Patron - Edwards

P SB78

Kinship care. Defines the practice of kinship care as the full-time care, nurturing, and protection of children by relatives. The bill requires a local board of social services to seek out kinship care options to keep children out of foster care and as a placement option for those children in foster care, if it is in the child's best interest.
Patron - Miller

P SB81

Donations of health care services by certain professionals; tax credit. Stipulates that physicians, chiropractors, dentists, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, optometrists, dental hygienists, professional counselors, clinical social workers, clinical psychologists, marriage and family therapists, physical therapists, and pharmacists licensed pursuant to Title 54.1 who provide health care services within the scope of their licensure, without charge, to patients of certain free and not-for-profit clinics, shall be eligible for the income tax credit under the Neighborhood Assistance Act, regardless of where the services are delivered. Currently, the Act requires that such services be provided at the free or not-for-profit clinic in order for these health care professionals to be eligible for the tax credit.
Patron - Obenshain

P SB181

Emergency electrical systems. Directs the State Board of Social Services to promulgate regulations for assisted living facilities with six or more residents to be able to connect by July 1, 2007, to a temporary emergency electrical power source for the provision of electricity during an interruption of the normal electric power supply. The installation shall be in compliance with the Uniform Statewide Building Code. This bill incorporates SB 292.
Patron - Blevins

P SB185

Central registry of founded complaints; checks for certain volunteer organizations. Adds any Virginia affiliate of Childhelp USA® to the list of organizations whose volunteer applicants shall be subject to a search of the central registry of founded complaints by the Department of Social Services for no cost. The central registry contains information obtained by the Department regarding a founded case of child abuse or neglect. Childhelp USA® is a not-for-profit entity organized to meet the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused and neglected children, primarily through treatment, prevention, and research. Other organizations that receive free central registry checks include Virginia affiliates of Big Brother/Big Sisters of America and Compeer, volunteer fire companies or rescue squads, and court-appointed special advocates.
Patron - Howell

P SB409

Child protective services; notification of parent. Requires the local department of social services to notify the custodial parent and make reasonable efforts to notify the noncustodial parent of a report of suspected abuse or neglect concerning a child who is the subject of an investigation or receiving family assessment, in those cases in which such custodial or noncustodial parent is not the subject of the investigation.
Patron - Ruff

P SB417

Child day centers; religious exemption from licensure. Clarifies that a child day center, including a child day center that is a child welfare agency, operated or conducted under the auspices of a religious institution shall be exempt from licensure requirements.
Patron - Newman

P SB429

P SB436

Neighborhood Assistance Act; sunset extension and tax credit increase. Extends the sunset for the Neighborhood Assistance Act from 2004 to 2009.
Patron - Locke

P SB584

P SB595

Grievance procedures of state and local social services employees. Changes the law by requiring the application of locally adopted grievance procedures to local social services employees. Currently, the state grievance procedures apply to state and local social services employees, unless a locality chooses to apply local procedures.
Patron - Howell

P SB612

Criminal background check; foster parents. Provides that a child-placing agency may approve as a foster parent an applicant convicted of statutory burglary for breaking and entering to commit larceny, who has had his civil rights restored by the Governor, provided 25 years have elapsed following the conviction.
Patron - Ticer

Failed

F HB236

Faith-based and community initiatives; non-U.S. citizens. Requires the Virginia Department of Social Services to provide information and referral services to noncitizen residents of the Commonwealth who wish to become United States citizens, including guidance on the requirements of attaining citizenship, the benefits derived from citizenship, and a directory of public and private resources available for citizenship preparation. The bill also requires the Department to provide information to faith-based, private, volunteer, and community organizations, as well as local government and other state agencies, regarding federal naturalization laws and state and federal laws and regulations related to immigrants' access to federal and state programs. Such information shall be made available through the Department's website, among other methods.
Patron - Cox

F HB558

Child protective services; notification of criminal matters and child removal. Requires the local department of social services to notify within 24 hours of receipt of a complaint the attorney for the Commonwealth and the local law-enforcement agency and make available to them the records of the local department involving criminal child abuse or neglect. The bill also mandates that physicians, child protective workers or law-enforcement officials take children into custody without prior approval of parents or guardians for up to 72 hours when certain conditions are met rather than use discretion.
Patron - Keister

F HB861

Permanency planning for children in foster care. Changes the definition of independent living, as it relates to permanency planning for children in foster care, to mean a program of services and activities for children in foster care aged 14 years and older. Under current law, the definition applies to children aged 16 years and older.
Patron - Ingram

F HB1252

Social services; Virginia Caregivers Grant. Increases the grant available to a caregiver of a mentally or physically impaired relative from $500 to $3,000 if the caregiver can provide appropriate documentation that without such care, the relative would be domiciled in a nursing facility. Grants from this fund shall not exceed the amount appropriated by the General Assembly to the Virginia Caregivers Grant Fund.
Patron - Baskerville

F SB66

Exemption from licensure as day care centers for certain martial arts programs. Provides an exemption from licensure as day care centers for programs of instruction that focus solely on the martial arts and operate as drop-in programs where, by written policy given to and signed by a parent or guardian, children are free to enter and leave the premises without permission or supervision and parents are clearly notified that the facilities are not licensed as child day centers, regardless of (i) such programs' locations or the number of days per week of operation; (ii) the provision of transportation services, including drop-off and pick-up times; (iii) the initiation of measures designed to protect the health and safety of the enrolled children, such as requiring the child to obtain the permission of the instructor to leave a class, requiring verbal or written permission from the parent for the child to leave a facility during a class, or operating a "hot line" to enable the parent to notify the facility when a child will not be in attendance, or maintaining a mechanism by which the bus driver can check on the whereabouts of any child who does not board the bus as scheduled; (iv) the scheduling of breaks for snacks, homework or other activities approved by the parent; or (v) the advertising of the martial arts program as an alternative to child day centers for children of school age who are at least six years old.
Patron - Martin

F SB108

Parental placement adoption; how consent executed. Eliminates the requirement that the birth parent or parents execute consent to a parental placement adoption before the juvenile and domestic relations district court in person and in the presence of the prospective adoptive parents. Instead, the consent of the birth parents shall be in writing that has been signed and acknowledged before an officer authorized by law to take acknowledgement. The juvenile and domestic relations district court shall accept the consent of the birth parents at a hearing in the presence of the prospective adoptive parents and transfer custody of the child to the prospective adoptive parents, pending notification to any nonconsenting birth parent.
Patron - Williams

F SB314

Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect. Requires any regular minister, priest, rabbi, or accredited practitioner to report suspected child abuse or neglect to a local department of social services or the Department of Social Services' toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline. The bill excepts from the mandatory reporting requirement information required by the doctrine of the religious organization or denomination to be kept in a confidential manner and information that the practitioner would not be required to disclose in court testimony pursuant to other Code provisions.
Patron - Howell

F SB440

Virginia Targeted Jobs Grant Program; creation. Establishes the Virginia Targeted Jobs Grant Program to provide incentives to employers who hire persons who have been receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families for nine consecutive months. The program will run through taxable year 2008 and will provide employers with grants of up to $1,000 per "qualified employee" who was hired and worked at least 1,000 hours in the preceding taxable year.
Patron - Locke

Carried Over

C HB90

C HB424

Assisted living facilities; special regulations for serving residents with serious mental illness, mental retardation or substance abuse problems. Requires assisted living facilities that choose to serve residents with serious mental illness, mental retardation or substance abuse problems to comply with the State Board of Social Service's regulations governing such placement. The Board's regulations shall require any assisted living facility serving residents with serious mental illness, mental retardation or substance abuse problems to arrange, prior to admission, for the provision of necessary clinical treatment or habilitation by either the assisted living facility or qualified providers such as community services boards or private providers licensed by the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. The regulations shall also require assisted living facilities serving more than a stipulated proportion of individuals with serious mental illness, mental retardation or substance abuse problems to be licensed by the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, using a special module in its licensing regulations, to provide appropriate clinical treatment or habilitation directly or through contracts with other qualified providers, to those individuals. The Board's regulations shall establish the threshold for assisted living facilities serving a stipulated proportion of individuals with serious mental illness, mental retardation or substance abuse problems to be subject to the special module licensing regulation of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.
Patron - Watts

C HB732

Adult protective services; reports made in bad faith. Establishes a circuit court procedure for a person who is alleged to have committed abuse, neglect or exploitation of an adult to access adult protective services records when the allegation against the person is believed to be made in bad faith or with malicious intent. If the circuit court determines that there is a reasonable question of fact as to whether the report was made in bad faith or with malicious intent and that disclosure of the identity of the complainant would not be likely to endanger the life or safety of the complainant, it shall provide to the person a copy of the records of the investigation. The original records shall be subject to discovery in any subsequent civil action regarding the making of a complaint or report in bad faith or with malicious intent.
Patron - Joannou

C HB868

Hearsay by child in sexual abuse or neglect proceeding. Provides that hearsay statements by a child aged seven years or younger, made to a law-enforcement officer, a mental health professional, social worker, physician or nurse or other medical professional, or foster parent, are admissible in civil abuse and neglect proceedings. The statements are to be placed under seal in the case record and are not admissible in any other civil proceeding maintained for purposes other than adjudication of the question of neglect or abuse.
Patron - Byron

C SB616

Parental placement adoptions. Provides that when a licensed child-placing agency or a local board of social services accepts custody of a child for the purpose of placing the child with adoptive parents designated by the birth parents or a person other than a licensed child-placing agency or local board, either the parental placement adoption provisions or the agency adoption provisions will apply to the placement at the election of the birth parent. The agency or local board shall provide information to the birth parents regarding the parental placement adoption and the agency adoption provisions in order to give the birth parents the opportunity to make an informed choice. Current parental placement adoption law requires the simultaneous meeting of the birth and adoptive parents during the home study and the presence of both parties at the consent hearing in juvenile and domestic relations court. This bill will provide for nondisclosed agency adoptions where the birth parent or a person other than a licensed child-placing agency or local board designates the adoptive parents.
Patron - O'Brien

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General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2004>Welfare (Social Services)

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