Senate Bill No. 566
(By Senators Wooton, Jackson, Mitchell,
Prezioso, Walker, McKenzie, Kessler, Unger, Ross, Ball, Snyder
and Bowman)
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[Introduced February 21, 2000; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article two, chapter
forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to subsidized
adoption and legal guardianship; and expanding authority of
the department of health and human resources to subsidize
legal guardianship of a child without regard to the status of
the parents' rights.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article two, chapter forty-nine of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE PROTECTION AND CARE OF
CHILDREN.
§49-2-17. Subsidized adoption and legal guardianship.
From funds appropriated to the department of health and human
resources, the secretary shall establish a system of assistance for
facilitating the adoption or legal guardianship of children. who
are dependents of the department or a child welfare agency licensed
to place children for adoption, legally free for adoption and An
adoption subsidy shall be available for children who are dependents
of the department or a child welfare agency licensed to place
children for adoption and legally free for adoption. Subsidized
legal guardianship shall be available for children in the
department's legal custody: Provided, That subsidized legal
guardianship does not require the surrender or termination of
parental rights. In both instances, the child must be in special
circumstances either because they:
(a) Have established emotional ties with prospective adoptive
parents or prospective legal guardians while in their care; or
(b) Are not likely to be adopted or become a ward of a legal
guardian by reason of one or more of the following conditions:
(1) They have a physical or mental disability;
(2) They are emotionally disturbed; or
(3) They are older children; or
(4) They are a part of a sibling group; or
(5) They are a member of a racial or ethnic minority; or
(6) They have any combination of these conditions.
The department shall provide assistance in the form of
subsidies or other services to parents who are found and approved
for adoption or legal guardianship of a child certified as eligible
for subsidy by the department, but before the final decree of
adoption or order of legal guardianship is entered, there must be
a written agreement between the family entering into the subsidized
adoption or legal guardianship and the department. Adoption or
legal guardianship subsidies in individual cases may commence with
the adoption or legal guardianship placement, and will vary with
the needs of the child as well as the availability of other
resources to meet the child's needs. The subsidy may be for
special services only, or for money payments, and either for a
limited period, or for a long term, or for any combination of the
foregoing. The specific financial terms of the subsidy shall be
included in the agreement between the department and the adoptive
parents or legal guardians. The amount of the time-limited or long-term subsidy may in no case exceed that which would be
allowable from time to time for such child under foster family
care, or, in the case of a special service, the reasonable fee for
the service rendered. In addition, the department shall provide
either medicaid or other health insurance coverage for any special
needs child for whom there is an adoption or legal guardianship
assistance agreement between the department and the adoptive parent
or legal guardian and who the department determines cannot be
placed with an adoptive parent or legal guardian without medical
assistance because the child has special needs for medical, mental
health or rehabilitative care.
Whenever significant emotional ties have been established
between a child and his foster parents, and the foster parents seek
to adopt the child or to become legal guardians, the child shall be
certified as eligible for a subsidy conditioned upon his adoption
or his becoming a ward of a legal guardian under applicable
procedures by the foster parents.
In all other cases, after reasonable efforts have been made
without the use of subsidy and no appropriate adoptive family or
legal guardian has been found for the child, the department shall
certify the child as eligible for a subsidy in the event of adoption or a legal guardianship.
If the child is the dependent of a voluntary licensed
child-placing agency, that agency shall present to the department
evidence of significant emotional ties between the child and his
foster parents or evidence of inability to place the child for
adoption. In no event shall the value of the services and
assistance provided by the department under an agreement pursuant
to this section exceed the value of assistance available to
foster families in similar circumstances. All records regarding
subsidized adoptions or legal guardianships shall be held in
confidence, however, records regarding the payment of public funds
for subsidized adoptions or legal guardianships shall be available
for public inspection provided they do not directly or indirectly
identify any child or persons receiving funds for such child.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to facilitate adoption or
legal guardianship of children. This bill is recommended for
passage in the 2000 Regular Session of the Legislature by the
Legislative Task Force on Juvenile Foster Care, Detention and
Placement.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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