HB4092 S JUD AMT #1 2-29

Dellinger  7965

The Committee on Judiciary moved to amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting therefor a new title, to read as follows:

Eng. House Bill 4092-H. B. 4092 -- A BILL to repeal §49-2-102 and §49-2-104 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §49-1-206 of said code; to amend and reenact §49-2-108, §49-2-110, §49-2-111, §49-2-111a, §49-2-112, §49-2-118, §49-2-121, §49-2-124, and §49-2-126 of said code; to amend said code by adding thereto five new sections, designated §49-2-111c, §49-2-127, §49-2-127a §49-2-128, and §49-2-129; to amend said code by adding thereto two new sections, designated §49-4-601a and §49-4-601b; and to amend and reenact §49-4-604, of said code; all relating to foster care; defining terms; increasing the number children allowed in a foster family home; requiring certain information to be included in child placing agency data reports; setting a minimum amount that the Department of Health and Human Resources must pay child placing agencies per child adopted; requiring the department to review the rate of payment to foster parents at certain time intervals; establishing priorities for the spending of department funds to achieve certain objectives for child placement and services; requiring the department to spend a certain amount of appropriated funds in fiscal year 2021; providing rulemaking authority; establishing certain rights of foster children; establishing certain rights of foster parents; providing that violations of the rights provided for foster children and parents may be reported to and investigated by the foster care ombudsman; establishing certain duties of foster parents; establishing required provisions to be included in contracts between the foster parent and the child placing agency and the department entered into after a certain date; providing that violations of the agreement may be reported to and investigated by the foster care ombudsman; setting forth the reasonable and prudent foster parent standard; providing that children in out of home care are entitled to participate in certain activities and requiring caregivers to use the reasonable and prudent foster parent standard to determine which activities are appropriate; requiring the department to establish minimum standards for transitional living services by legislative rule; establishing eligibility criteria for children and transitioning adults to participate in transitional living services; providing requirements for substantiation by the department of abuse and neglect allegations; requiring guardians ad litem to adhere to certain policies and meet certification and education requirements; clarifying when the department, in an abuse and neglect case, is not required to make efforts to preserve the family; establishing the criteria for supervised group settings; establishing requirements for agencies providing transitional living services; establishing preference that children removed from the home be placed with relatives and fictive kin; establishing a process by which the department and others may assist the court in identifying family members and fictive kin; requiring the department promulgate emergency rules; setting forth reporting requirements of a guardian ad litem; making technical corrections; and eliminating obsolete language from the code.

Adopted

Rejected