# Virginia SB125: Children's Ombudsman, Office of the; powers and duties, report. Virginia SB125, Children's Ombudsman, Office of the; powers and duties, report., is a 2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Barbara A. Favola (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-22 (House concurred in Governor's recommendation (97-Y 0-N 0-A)) (as of 2026-11-06). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB125-2026 - As of: 2026-11-06 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Virginia SB125 - State: Virginia - Session: 2026 Regular Session - Title: Children's Ombudsman, Office of the; powers and duties, report. - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-01-05 - Last action: 2026-04-22, House concurred in Governor's recommendation (97-Y 0-N 0-A) - Sponsor: Barbara A. Favola (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 0 - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 13 (386 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 5 ## Summary Office of the Children's Ombudsman; powers and duties; report; recommendations. Makes a number of changes to the Office of the Children's Ombudsman (the Office). The bill expands the Office's access to certain records and reports and allows the Office to report certain complaints to the Office of the Inspector General. Under the bill, the Office is required to report findings and recommendations related to failures by state agencies to protect children to the Governor or General Assembly upon request. Under current law, such reports are made to the General Assembly. The bill makes certain changes to the Office's reporting and recommendation requirements. Finally, the bill adds and amends several definitions related to the Office. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Broader foster care coverage and rights review: benefit, low. The foster care definition includes some children receiving 24-hour substitute care while remaining in their parents' custody. They must live away from parents or guardians under a noncustodial agreement giving the local board placement and care responsibility. It also includes children committed t… - Deadline for reviewing qualifying child deaths: benefit, low. The Ombudsman must complete a qualifying child-death investigation within 12 months after opening it. This deadline is subject to state appropriations. - Families get clearer complaint decisions and findings: benefit, low. Complaint submitters and relevant departments, residential facilities, or child-placing agencies must receive notice of investigation decisions. Notices declining or ending an investigation must explain why. The Ombudsman must tell complainants about recommendations and agency responses. Findings c… - New oversight office protects Virginia children: benefit, low. Virginia creates a Children's Ombudsman office to review child-serving agencies and recommend changes. The Governor appoints its leader for four years, with General Assembly confirmation; removal requires cause. Office funding depends on annual appropriations. For children in active or open child p… - Tighter limits on child death investigations: cost, low. The Ombudsman may investigate a child's death only when abuse or neglect caused it, or is alleged or suspected. The case must also meet a listed condition. Qualifying cases include a recent child protective services case or complaint, or death in foster care, with exceptions for certain natural-cau… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Barbara A. Favola (Democratic), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-04-22 | House | House concurred in Governor's recommendation | pass | 97 | 0 | | | 2026-04-22 | Senate | Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation | pass | 39 | 0 | | | 2026-03-06 | House | Passed House Block Vote | pass | 97 | 0 | | | 2026-03-03 | House | Reported from General Laws | pass | 21 | 0 | | | 2026-02-26 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 8 | 0 | | | 2026-02-13 | Senate | Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 39 | 0 | | | 2026-02-12 | Senate | Rehabilitation and Social Services Amendments agreed to | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-12 | Senate | Finance and Appropriations Amendment agreed to | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-11 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2026-02-11 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-10 | Senate | Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment | pass | 15 | 0 | | | 2026-01-30 | Senate | Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations | pass | 15 | 0 | | | 2026-01-21 | Senate | Rereferred from General Laws and Technology to Rehabilitation and Social Services | pass | 15 | 0 | | ## Actions (42) - 2026-04-22: House concurred in Governor's recommendation (97-Y 0-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-04-22: Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (39-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-04-22: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0989) (Governor) - 2026-04-22: Reenrolled bill text (SB125ER2) (Senate) - 2026-04-22: Reenrolled (Senate) - 2026-04-22: Approved by Governor-Chapter 989 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor) - 2026-04-22: Signed by President (Senate) - 2026-04-22: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2026-04-22: Governor's recommendation adopted (Governor) - 2026-04-11: Governor's recommendation received by Senate (Governor) - 2026-03-14: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor) - 2026-03-14: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB125) (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB125ER) (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Enrolled (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Signed by President (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2026-03-06: Passed House Block Vote (97-Y 0-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-03-06: Read third time (House) - 2026-03-05: Read second time (House) - 2026-03-03: Reported from General Laws (21-Y 0-N) (House) - 2026-02-26: Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) (House) - 2026-02-23: Assigned HGL sub: Professions/Occupations and Administrative Process (House) - 2026-02-18: Referred to Committee on General Laws (House) - 2026-02-18: Read first time (House) - 2026-02-18: Placed on Calendar (House) - 2026-02-13: Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (39-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB125) (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Finance and Appropriations Amendment agreed to (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Rehabilitation and Social Services Amendments agreed to (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Engrossed by Senate as amended Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Read second time (Senate) - 2026-02-11: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-02-11: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-11: Rules suspended (Senate) - 2026-02-10: Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (15-Y 0-N) (Senate) - 2026-01-30: Senate committee amendments offered (Senate) - 2026-01-30: Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) (Senate) - 2026-01-21: Rereferred from General Laws and Technology to Rehabilitation and Social Services (15-Y 0-N) (Senate) - 2026-01-19: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB125) (Senate) - 2026-01-05: Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology (Senate) - 2026-01-05: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102462D (Senate) ## Bill text - Chaptered, 2026-04-22: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1225043.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1225042.PDF) - Reenrolled, 2026-04-22: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1220790.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1220789.PDF) - Gov Recommendation, 2026-04-11: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1219247.HTML) - Enrolled, 2026-03-12: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1202434.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1202433.PDF) - Engrossed, 2026-02-12: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143531.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143530.PDF) - Amendment, 2026-02-11: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139662.HTML) - Amendment, 2026-01-30: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1104042.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1104923.HTML) - Introduced, 2026-01-05: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082940.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082939.PDF) ## Related bills - HB20: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers. (signed) - SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed) - HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed) - SB128: Covenants not to compete; includes health care professionals, civil penalty. (signed) - HB1444: Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank; created, report, membership. (signed) - HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed) ## Sources - [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1225043.HTML) - [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1225042.PDF) - [Reenrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1220790.HTML) - [Reenrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1220789.PDF) - [Gov Recommendation (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1219247.HTML) - [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1202434.HTML) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1202433.PDF) - [Engrossed (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143531.HTML) - [Engrossed (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1143530.PDF) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139662.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1104042.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1104923.HTML) - [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082940.HTML) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082939.PDF) ## Related - [HB20: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB20-2026) - [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026) - [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026) - [SB128: Covenants not to compete; includes health care professionals, civil penalty.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB128-2026) - [HB1444: Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank; created, report, membership.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1444-2026) - [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026) - [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills) - [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB125-2026 (as of 2026-11-06).