Welfare (Social Services)
P
Passed
- P HB1628
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Crimes; false reports of child abuse. Increases the penalty for the first offense of knowingly making a false report of child abuse from a Class 4 misdemeanor to a Class 1 misdemeanor and for the second or subsequent offense from a Class 2 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony.
- Patron - Van Yahres
- P HB1866
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Neighborhood Assistance Act. Allows donations of services by licensed contractors for the development, construction, renovation, or repair of (i) homes of impoverished people or (ii) buildings used by neighborhood organizations to qualify for tax credits under the Neighborhood Assistance Act. The value of the contracting services, for purposes of determining the amount of the tax credit is the lesser of the reasonable cost for similar services from other providers or $50 per hour. Currently, professional services are the only type of service eligible for the tax credit.
- Patron - McQuigg
- P HB2205
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Licensure of preschool or nursery school programs. Expands the list of accrediting bodies that permit a preschool or nursery school program operated by a private school to be exempt from licensure in conjunction with additional requirements. The new accrediting bodies are the Association of Christian Schools International, the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation, the National Accreditation Council for Early Childhood Professional Personnel and Programs, the International Academy for Private Education, Standards for the American Montessori Society Accreditation, the International Accreditation and Certification of Childhood Educators, Programs, and Trainers or the National Accreditation Commission.
- Patron - Nixon
- P HB2259
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Child welfare agencies. Provides that when a child welfare agency is granted a variance to a regulation, the Commissioner or his designee shall review each allowable variance annually and address the impact of the allowable variance on persons in care, adherence by the licensee to any conditions attached, and the continuing need for the allowable variance. The bill disallows automatic approval for foster care facilities if the Commissioner fails to take action on an application for a license. The bill also states that, at the conclusion of six months, a provisional license for a child welfare agency shall be denied if it has not substantially met the standards or requirements. There are also technical amendments.
- Patron - Watts
- P HB2290
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Neighborhood Assistance Act; donation of professional services. Expands the list of eligible medical professionals who can receive tax credits for services rendered free of charge at a health clinic providing free or reduced cost medical services to include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, optometrists and pharmacists. Physicians and dentists are already eligible. This is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.
- Patron - Hall
- P HB2394
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Child abuse and neglect; reporting. Adds persons who act as court-appointed special advocates for children to the list of those who are mandated to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect encountered in their official or professional capacity. The list currently includes doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers and a number of others who might encounter such evidence in the course of their professional work.
- Patron - Watts
- P HB2439
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Adult protective services. Clarifies that adult protective services shall be provided to persons who are found to be abused, neglected or exploited and who meet one of the following criteria: (i) the person is 60 years of age or older or (ii) the person by reason of impaired health, or physical or mental disability, cannot take care of himself or his affairs. The bill also requires mandated reporters of adult abuse, neglect and exploitation who maintain a record on a person who is the subject of such a report to cooperate with the investigating adult protective services worker and make available information, records or reports which are relevant to the investigation to the extent permitted by state and federal law.
- Patron - Tate
- P SB767
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Public assistance. Provides that local departments of social services may place a VIEW participant, subject to his consent, in a vocational educational program targeted to skills required for local employment if the participant is in need of job skills and would benefit from immediate job skills training. The participant would be exempt from the job search requirement if he has two of the following criteria: (i) less than a high school education, (ii) reading or math skills at or below the eighth grade level, (iii) not retained a job for six months in the prior two-year period, or (iv) is undergoing treatment for substance abuse or family violence. The program shall be for a minimum of 30 hours per week and the participant shall be required to work an average of eight hours per week during the program. Prior to placing the VIEW participant in the vocational educational program, the local department shall have a memorandum of understanding with an employer that the participant may be placed, if qualified and the employer has an opening, in a job with the employer. This bill is identical to HB 2597.
- Patron - Edwards
- P SB907
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Adoption; custody. Provides that a birth father's consent to adoption is not necessary when the birth father was convicted of carnal knowledge of a child between 13 and 15 years of age and the child to be adopted was conceived as a result of the violation. The bill also bars the person convicted from having a legitimate interest in the custody and visitation, etc., of a child conceived as a result of the violation.
- Patron - Barry
- P SB910
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Virginia Caregivers Grant Program. Provides a $500 grant to individuals whose Virginia adjusted gross income does not exceed $50,000 and who provide unreimbursed care to a physically or mentally impaired relative who required assistance with two or more activities of daily living during more than half the year. Eligible caregivers shall submit grant applications to the local area agency on aging by March 31 of the year following the year the care is provided, and payment of grants will be made from such funds as are appropriated by the General Assembly. The grants will be available for care provided in years 2000 through 2005. The program will be administered by the Department of Social Services. This bill is identical to HB 2193.
- Patron - Stosch
- P SB1021
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Neighborhood Assistance Act. Allows donations of services by licensed contractors for the development, construction, renovation, or repair of (i) homes of impoverished people or (ii) buildings used by neighborhood organizations to qualify for tax credits under the Neighborhood Assistance Act. The value of the contracting services, for purposes of determining the amount of the tax credit, is the lesser of the reasonable cost for similar services from other providers or $50 per hour. Currently, professional services are the only type of service eligible for the tax credit.
- Patron - Colgan
- P SB1153
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Neighborhood Assistance Act; donation of professional services. Expands the list of eligible medical professionals who can receive tax credits for services rendered free of charge at an eligible clinic or medical facility to include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, optometrists, dental hygienists and pharmacists. Physicians and dentists are already eligible. This is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.
- Patron - Lambert
- P SB1168
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Board of Social Services; employment standards. Requires that any person hired by the Department of Social Service and its local units may not hire a person for any social work position that provides direct client services unless that person holds at least a baccalaureate degree. Persons employed prior to January 1, 1999, are grandfathered.
- Patron - Ticer
- P SB1173
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Social services; adult care residences. Authorizes the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services to issue licenses to adult care residences for periods based on the judgment of the Commissioner regarding the compliance history of the facility and the extent to which the adult care residence meets or exceeds state licensing standards. Based on this judgment, the Commissioner may issue licenses or renewals for periods of six months, one year, two years or three years. The bill also requires the Joint Commission on Health Care to study (i) options for making adult care residence regulations more outcome oriented, (ii) means for making such regulations more focused on obtaining resident and family input, and (iii) the advisability of deemed status for nationally accredited adult care residences.
- Patron - Woods
- P SB1190
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Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Program. Eliminates the deprivation requirement as an eligibility criterion for TANF assistance. The "deprivation requirement" meant that a child would be eligible under this program if deprived of the support of one of the parents due to death or absence. Originally, this meant that two-parent families were not eligible. Over the years, two-parent families became eligible for assistance, but inequities remained. Virginia's welfare reform law states that TANF shall be provided to needy two-parent families on the same terms and conditions that TANF is provided to single-parent families. In 1997, the TANF Advisory Committee recommended the elimination of the determination of deprivation because it results in additional administrative procedures and is largely irrelevant to the child's financial circumstances.
- Patron - Edwards
F
Failed
- F HB2059
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Closed-circuit TV testimony. Provides that testimony of a child in a case involving a child victim in a civil case may be taken by closed-circuit television if the child witness, including the alleged victim, was under 15 years of age on the date of the alleged offense and is under 18 years of age on the date of the trial. This bill has been incorporated into HB 2058.
- Patron - Watts
- F HB2328
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Child support; dissemination of information. Requires the Division of Child Support Enforcement to conduct quarterly public information workshops across the Commonwealth to provide procedural and substantive information regarding child support. The workshops shall be held at central, public locations at no cost to the participants. The workshops shall be informational in nature and shall not replace individual legal counsel, but shall provide access to information for those who cannot otherwise obtain such counsel. The bill also requires the Division of Child Support Enforcement to provide information regarding child support to every child or family who seeks assistance in the form of written material or oral communication, or through notice of an informational workshop. In order to carry out the provisions of this section, the Division of Child Support Enforcement shall enlist the aid of local governments, local departments of social services, courts, lawyers and other officers of the courts. There are technical amendments.
- Patron - McClure
- F HB2349
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Recovery of assistance fraudulently or mistakenly paid. Clarifies and strengthens the ability of the Board of Social Services to recover assistance that was fraudulently or mistakenly paid to a recipient by creating a lien instead of a debt.
- Patron - Griffith
- F HB2449
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Adult protective services registry. Establishes the adult protective services registry, which shall contain a listing of any person employed by a facility or program licensed or funded by the Departments of Health, Social Services, or Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services who has abused, neglected or exploited a person 60 years of age and older, when that abuse, neglect or exploitation resulted in a local department of social services' determination that such person had or has need of protective services. Applicants for employment at nursing homes, adult care residences, mental health, mental retardation, and substance abuse programs and facilities are required to obtain a search of the adult protective services registry for a record of any investigation of adult abuse, neglect or exploitation undertaken on the applicant. The adult protective services registry is to be maintained by the Adult Protective Services Unit of the Department of Social Services. There is a technical amendment.
- Patron - Rollison
- F HB2464
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Adoption. Creates a presumption that withholding parental consent to adoption is contrary to the best interests of the child when the parent has been convicted of murder or voluntary manslaughter, or a felony attempt, conspiracy or solicitation to commit any such offense, if the victim of the offense was a child of the offender, a child with whom the offender resided at the time of the offense or the other parent of the child, or of felony assault resulting in serious bodily injury or felony bodily wounding resulting in serious bodily injury or felony sexual assault, if the victim of the offense was a child of the offender or a child with whom the offender resided at the time of the offense. "Serious bodily injury" is defined. The bill also requires the court to consider the birth parents' efforts to maintain contact with the child and whether they have fulfilled child support obligations.
- Patron - Sherwood
- F HB2597
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Public assistance. Provides that local departments of social services may place a VIEW participant, subject to his consent, in a vocational educational program targeted to skills required for local employment if the participant is in need of job skills and would benefit from immediate job skills training. The participant would be exempt from the job search requirement if he has two of the following criteria: (i) less than a high school education, (ii) reading or math skills at or below the eighth grade level, (iii) not retained a job for six months in the prior two-year period, or (iv) is undergoing treatment for substance abuse or family violence. The program shall be for a minimum of 30 hours per week and the participant shall be required to work an average of eight hours per week during the program. Prior to placing the VIEW participant in the vocational educational program, the local department shall have a memorandum of understanding with an employer that the participant may be placed, if qualified and the employer has an opening, in a job with the employer. This bill is identical to SB 767.
- Patron - Jones, D.C.
- F HB2740
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Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Program. Changes the TANF family cap provision to bar families from receiving an increase in benefits due to the birth of a child if the child is born more than 10 months after the commencement of the family's current TANF eligibility, and to bar families who return to TANF eligibility after a period of less than eight months from receiving an increase due to the birth of a child. The bill also changes the exemption from the employment provisions of the VIP-VIEW Program for a parent or caretaker-relative with a child of 18 months to a parent or caretaker-relative with a child of 12 months, and allows local agencies to place VIEW participants into a work activity before their 90th day in the program. The bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, in conjunction with the Board of Social Services, to study (i) whether TANF recipients are circumventing the provisions of the programs to obtain benefits for a child born more than ten months after the mother begins to receive TANF benefits and (ii) whether the family cap provisions are related to the birth and abortion rates in the TANF population. The results of this study shall be reported to the 2000 Session of the General Assembly. The bill contains a provision for emergency regulations, as well as technical amendments.
- Patron - McDonnell
- F SB898
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Disclosure of adoption records. Authorizes licensed child-placing agencies to directly release nonidentifying information from closed adoption records in the same manner as the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services according to criteria set forth in the Code and guidelines established by the Department on the preparation and release of nonidentifying case material from closed adoption records.
- Patron - Gartlan
- F SB1006
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Public assistance; day care. Requires the Department of Social Services to provide, if a Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipient is unable to obtain necessary and appropriate child care at no cost, the full state/federal share of funding for day care for the children of TANF recipients, participants in the Virginia Initiative for Employment Not Welfare (VIEW), and former VIEW participants for 12 months after termination of TANF financial assistance if the individual is employed; participating in a job placement; enrolled in, and making satisfactory progress toward completion of, job training or educational programs designed to result in self-sufficiency approved by the local department; or otherwise eligible for day care pursuant to Board of Social Services regulations.
- Patron - Miller, Y.B.
- F SB1152
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Social services; adult care residences. Requires the Joint Commission on Health Care to study (i) whether current licensure regulations for adult care residences have had a discriminatory impact on minority applicants, (ii) options for making adult care residence regulations more outcome oriented, (iii) means for making such regulations more focused on obtaining resident and family input, and (iv) the advisability of deemed status for nationally accredited adult care residences.
- Patron - Lambert
- F SB1290
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Child Day-Care Council. Abolishes the Child Day-Care Council, which was created by the 1987 General Assembly to promulgate regulations for child day programs (primarily child care centers). The responsibility for promulgating regulations for child day programs will revert to the State Board of Social Services, which promulgated such regulations prior to the establishment of the Child Day-Care Council. This bill does not affect family day homes, which will continue to be regulated by the State Board of Social Services. This bill was recommended by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission in its 1997 Follow-Up Review of Child Day Care in Virginia. The bill contains technical amendments.
- Patron - Walker
- F SB1315
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Social services; adult care residences. Increases the number from three to four of aged or incapacitated persons who can be cared for in a private home without licensure. Current law requires licensure for homes which care for four or more.
- Patron - Potts
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