Chapter 49, Chapter 49

(a) When a foster child is in the process of residential placement, the foster child shall continue to receive his or her education through virtual learning while the foster child is awaiting placement with a foster family. (b) Virtual learning shall be done through the county wh…

(a) Foster children and children in a kinship placement are active and participating members of the child welfare system and have the following rights: (1) The right to live in a safe and healthy environment, and the least restrictive environment possible; (2) The right to be fre…

(a) Foster parents and kinship parents play an integral, indispensable, and vital role in the state’s effort to care for children displaced from their homes, and such parents and persons have the following rights: (1) The right to be treated professionally and ethically as the pr…

(a) The West Virginia Legislature finds that foster and kinship parents providing care for children who are in the legal custody of the department have duties and contractual rights. The duties and contractual rights shall be set forth in an agreement between the department and t…

(a) Temporary increase in payment amount. — Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, a kinship parent shall be eligible for a temporary increase in the payment paid by the Department equal to that paid to a foster parent if at the time of initial placement, the follow…

(a) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings: “Age-appropriate” means activities or items that are generally accepted as suitable for children of the same chronological age or level of maturity. Age-appropriateness is based on the development of co…

(a) The department shall establish minimum standards, by legislative rule, for transitional living services, such as scattered-site living arrangements and supervised group settings, to which all child placing agencies or child welfare agencies who provide this service must confo…

(a) Every child welfare agency shall obtain a policy of insurance in an amount not less than $1 million per incident insuring the person or entity and every employee, against loss from the liability imposed by law for damages arising from any error or omission in the provision of…

(a) (1) The Department of Human Services shall, within 90 days of the effective date of this section, establish a pilot program through which it shall enter into a contract with one or more qualified private entities to provide caseworker aide services to supplement existing depa…

The Legislature finds that there exists a need in this state to assist dysfunctional families by providing nurture and care to those families' children as an alternative to removing children from the families. The Legislature also finds that the family is the primary social insti…

Home-based family preservation services are required in all cases where the removal of a child or children is seriously being considered, whether from a natural home or a surrogate home, wherein a child or children have lived for a substantial period of time. However, those servi…

For purposes of this article, no contractor employee of the department may exceed three families during any period of time when that contractor employee is engaged in providing intensive, short term home-based family preservation intervention. In addition, no caseload may exceed …

The services required by this article shall be made available to any dysfunctional family in which there exists an imminent risk of placement of at least one child outside the home as the result of abuse, neglect, dependency or delinquency or any emotional and behavioral problems…

The services required by this article which are not practically deliverable directly from the department may be subcontracted to professionally qualified private individuals, associations, agencies, corporations, partnerships or groups. The service provider shall be required to s…

The costs of providing special services to families receiving regular services in accordance with this article are allowable to the extent those goods and services are justified pursuant to carrying out the purposes of this article. Those special services may include, but are not…

The department is authorized to use appropriate state, federal, and/or private funds within its budget for the provision of family preservation and reunification services. Appropriated state funding made available through capture of additional federal funds shall be utilized to p…

(a) The Legislature finds that: (1) High quality early childhood development substantially improves the intellectual and social potential of children and reduces societal costs; (2) A child care program quality rating and improvement system provides incentives and resources to im…

(a) The Secretary of the Department of Human Services shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement a quality rating and improvement system. The quality rating and improvement syste…

Attached to the proposed rules required in section three hundred two of this article, the Secretary of the Department of Human Services shall submit a financial plan to support the implementation of a statewide quality rating and improvement system and help promote quality improv…

The secretary shall report annually to the Legislature on the progress on development and implementation of a child care quality rating and improvement system and its impact on improving the quality of child care in the state. The secretary may propose amendments to the rules and…

(a) The Children's Fund, created for the sole purpose of awarding grants, loans and loan guarantees for child abuse and neglect prevention activities by enactment of chapter twenty-seven, Acts of the Legislature, 1984, as last amended and reenacted by chapter one hundred fifty-ni…

It is the intention of this article that services for children with special health care needs shall be extended only to those children for whom adequate care, treatment and rehabilitation are not available from other than public sources.

In the care and treatment of children with special health care needs the Secretary of the Department of Human Services shall, so far as funds are available for the following purposes: (1) Locate children with special health care needs requiring medical, surgical or other correcti…

Within thirty days after the birth of a child with a congenital deformity, the physician, midwife or other person attending the birth shall report to the Department of Human Services, on forms prescribed by them, the birth of the child. The report shall be solely for the use of t…

So far as practicable, the services and facilities of the State Department of Education, The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Division of Corrections or their successor organizations shall be available to the Department of Human Services for the purposes of this…

All payments from any corporation, association, program or fund providing insurance coverage or other payment for medicine, medical, surgical and hospital treatment, crutches, artificial limbs and those other and additional approved mechanical appliances and devices as may be rea…

(a) The West Virginia Legislature finds that families are the greatest resource available to individuals with developmental disabilities, and they must be supported in their role as primary caregivers. It further finds that supporting families in their effort to care for their fa…

(a) The regional family support agency, designated under article two of this chapter, shall direct and be responsible for the individual assessment of each developmentally disabled person which it has designated and shall prepare a service plan with the developmentally disabled p…

(a) To be eligible for the family support program, a family must have at least one family member who has a developmental disability, as defined in this article, living with the family. (b) The primary focus of the family support program is supporting: (1) Developmentally disabled…

(a) The administering agency for the family support program is the Department of Human Services. (b) The Department of Human Services shall initially implement the family support program through contracts with an agency within four of the state’s behavioral health regions, with t…

(a) Each regional family support agency shall establish a regional family support council comprised of at least seven members, of whom at least a majority shall be persons with developmental disabilities or their parents or primary caregivers. Each regional family support council…

(a) Except for minor children placed under the custody of the Department of Human Services pursuant to proceedings established by this chapter, a caregiver who possesses and presents a notarized affidavit pursuant to section seven hundred three of this article may consent on beha…

The decision of a caregiver who possesses and presents a notarized affidavit of caregiver consent for a minor's health care pursuant to section seven hundred three of this article shall be honored by a health care facility or practitioner unless the health care facility or practi…

An affidavit of caregiver consent for a minor's health care shall include the following: (1) The caregiver's name and current home address; (2) The caregiver's birth date; (3) The relationship of the caregiver to the minor; (4) The minor's name; (5) The minor's birth date; (6) Th…

(a) The affidavit of caregiver consent for a minor's health care is superseded by written notification from the minor's parent, guardian or legal custodian to the health care professionals providing services to the minor that the affidavit has been rescinded. (b) The affidavit of…

(a) Any person who relies in good faith on the affidavit of caregiver consent for a minor's health care: (1) Has no obligation to conduct any further inquiry or investigation; and (2) Is not subject to civil or criminal liability or to professional disciplinary action because of …

The consent authorized by this section is not applicable for purposes of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq., or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §701.

A person who knowingly makes a false statement in an affidavit under this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $1,000.

(a) The Secretary of the Department of Human Services is authorized to propose rules for legislative approval necessary to implement this article in accordance with §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code. (b) The rules: (1) Shall create a three year certification period for a foster home,…

It is the purpose of this article through the complete reporting of child abuse and neglect: (1) To protect the best interests of the child; (2) To offer protective services in order to prevent any further harm to the child or any other children living in the home; (3) To stabili…

(a) The department shall establish or designate in every county a local child protective services office to perform the duties and functions set forth in this article. (b) The local child protective services office shall investigate all reports of child abuse or neglect. Under no…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, immediately upon initiating an investigation of a parent or other person having legal custody of a child, the department shall, upon first contact with the individual, provide the individual with a copy of A Parent’s Guide …

(a) Any medical, dental, or mental health professional, Christian Science practitioner, religious healer, school teacher or other school personnel, social service worker, child care or foster care worker, emergency medical services personnel, peace officer or law-enforcement offi…

The Department of Human Services shall continue to develop, update and implement a procedure to notify any person mandated to report suspected child abuse and neglect pursuant to section eight hundred three of this article, of whether an investigation into the reported suspected …

Subject to appropriation in the budget, the department shall conduct educational and training programs for persons required to report suspected abuse or neglect, and the general public, as well as implement evidence-based programs that reduce incidents of child maltreatment inclu…

In the event a child protective service worker, in response to a report mandated by section eight hundred two and eight hundred three of this article, forms a reasonable suspicion that an animal is the victim of cruel or inhumane treatment, he or she shall report the suspicion an…

Any person or official who is required pursuant to section eight hundred three of this article to report cases of suspected child abuse or neglect and who has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has died as a result of child abuse or neglect, shall report that fact to the ap…

Any person required to report cases of children suspected of being abused and neglected may take or cause to be taken, at public expense, photographs of the areas of trauma visible on a child and, if medically indicated, cause to be performed radiological examinations of the chil…

(a) Reports of child abuse and neglect pursuant to this article shall be made immediately to the Bureau for Social Services. Reports of child abuse and neglect shall be made to the Bureau of Social Services via a 24-hour, seven-day-a week hotline (centralized intake) that shall b…

Any person, official, or institution participating in good faith in any act permitted or required by this article is immune from any civil or criminal liability that otherwise might result by reason of those actions, including individuals making good faith reports of suspected or…