Del. Sam Rasoul

Child care; background checks. Allows applicants for employment and applicants to serve as volunteers to work in certain child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems pending the results of a full background check, provided that (i) the applicant has received qualifying results on a fingerprint-based background check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and (ii) the applicant is supervised at all times by a person who received a qualifying result on a full background check within the past five years.

Electronic communication systems within statecorrectional facilities; free telephone calls and communication services.Requires the Department of Corrections to provide telephone systemsand web-based or electronic communications systems free of chargeto any person, whether such person is initiating or receiving thecommunication. The bill also requires that a minimum ratio of onetelephone per every 10 inmates be available within each housing unitat each correctional facility and that a maximum number of telephonenumbers permitted on an approved call list must be no fewer than20. This bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety;school safety audit; requirements. Requires the Virginia Centerfor School and Campus Safety to include in the list of items to bereviewed and evaluated in school safety audits and each school boardto require all schools under its supervision to review and evaluatein their annual school safety audits information relating to thetype of school security technology utilized in each public schoolbuilding in the applicable school division, including informationrelating to the specific types of technology systems and the age of such systems.

Standards for attorneys appointed to represent parents or guardians; child dependency cases; compensation; multidisciplinary law offices or programs; report. Requires the Judicial Council of Virginia, in conjunction with the Virginia State Bar, beginning July 1, 2026, to adopt standards for the qualification and performance of attorneys appointed to represent a parent or guardian of a child when such child is the subject of a child dependency case, as defined in the bill. The bill also requires the Judicial Council of Virginia, beginning July 1, 2026, to maintain a list of attorneys admitted to practice law in Virginia who are qualified to be appointed to represent indigent parents involved in a child dependency case. Prior to July 1, 2026, counsel must be appointed from the list of attorneys qualified to serve as guardians ad litem. The bill provides that beginning January 1, 2025, court-appointed counsel for a parent, guardian, or other adult in a child dependency case will be compensated in an amount no greater than $330, or in a case for the termination of residual parental rights, $680.The bill authorizes the establishment of up to two multidisciplinary law offices or programs in localities, jurisdictions, or judicial districts that affirm they have met specified criteria for the purpose of representing parents in a child dependency court proceeding or in a child protective services assessment or investigation prior to such proceeding. During any calendar year that such an office or program is in effect for at least six months, the office or program must submit a report on program outcomes, expenses, recommendations, and other pertinent information to the Office of the Children's Ombudsman and the Chairmen of the House Committees for Courts of Justice and on Health and Human Services and Appropriations and the Senate Committees for Courts of Justice and on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations by November 1.

Department of Education; establishment of Farm to School Program Task Force. Requires the Department of Education to establish and appoint such members as it deems necessary or appropriate to the Farm to School Program Task Force for the purpose of increasing student access throughout the Commonwealth to high-quality farm to school programs, defined in the bill as programs (i) whereby public schools purchase and feature prominently in school meals locally produced food or (ii) that involve experiential student learning opportunities relating to local food and agriculture, including school and community garden programs and local farm visits. The bill requires the Task Force to collaborate with local school boards, community-based organizations, farmers, relevant state and local agencies, and other relevant stakeholders to (a) assess existing farm to school programs within the Commonwealth to identify and disseminate to each local school board best practices for implementing and sustaining such programs, (b) establish and distribute to each local school board a guidance document for the establishment and operation of school garden programs, (c) provide information and resources to each local school board to assist it in leveraging grant funds to support farm to school programs, and (d) collect such data and make such policy recommendations to local school boards, the Board of Education, and the General Assembly as it deems appropriate. This bill is identical to SB 314.

Public schools; instructional time; competency-based education. Requires the Board of Education to provide local school boards maximum flexibility to waive existing instructional clock hour requirements by developing alternative instructional time models in accordance with the Board's regulations and guidelines relating to instructional time waivers. The bill directs the Board, when revising its regulations and adopting Standards of Accreditation, to provide flexibility for school boards to develop programs that provide for acceleration, remediation, and multiple pathways to graduation that permit students to demonstrate competency at different rates. The bill also requires the Board to update, by December 1, 2024, its Guidelines for Graduation Requirements: Local Alternative Paths to Standard Units of Credit (Alternatives to the 140-Clock-Hour Requirement) to include guidance regarding (i) waiver pathway options to allow students time within the school day to complete work-based learning opportunities; (ii) advanced learning opportunities focused on problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, communication, collaboration, and citizenship skills; (iii) content that provides technical knowledge, skills, and competency-based applied learning; (iv) a method for approving alternative programs, including dual enrollment courses as specified in the bill; (v) other instructional time models adopted to meet instructional hour requirements through a variety of learning modalities; and (vi) offering instructional and learning opportunities including innovative, advanced, and enrichment programs for the full school year. Finally, the bill requires the Board to submit to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education by November 1, 2024, a report on its progress in implementing the provisions of the bill. This bill incorporates HB 663 and HB 1081.

Chief Medical Examiner; Maternal Mortality ReviewTeam; work group; expansion plan; report. Directs the Officeof the Chief Medical Examiner and the Maternal Mortality Review Teamto convene a work group to expand the work of the Maternal MortalityReview Team. The bill directs the work group to develop criteriaand procedures related to the collection of maternal morbidity data.The bill specifies that the Maternal Mortality Review Team's expansionplan shall include certain plans for data collection, data review, and development and implementation of policies and recommendations.The work group is required to report its findings and provide itsplan to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations andHealth, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committees on Financeand Appropriations and Education and Health by December 1, 2025.

Board of Medicine; Board of Dentistry; Board of Optometry; Boards of Medicine and Nursing; patient counseling; treatment with opioids. Directs the Board of Medicine, the Board of Dentistry, the Board of Optometry, and the Boards of Medicine and Nursing to amend their regulations to require the provision of certain information to patients being prescribed an opioid for the treatment of acute or chronic pain. The bill requires that the regulations include an exception to the required provision of such information for patients who are (i) in active treatment for cancer, (ii) receiving hospice care from a licensed hospice or palliative care, (iii) residents of a long-term care facility, (iv) being prescribed an opioid in the course of treatment for substance abuse or opioid dependence, or (v) receiving treatment for sickle cell disease. The bill directs the Boards to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

Child labor offenses; civil penalties. Increasesfrom $10,000 to $25,000 the civil penalty for each violation of childlabor laws that results in the employment of a child who is seriouslyinjured or dies in the course of employment. The bill also increasesfrom $1,000 to $2,500 the maximum civil penalty for each other violationof child labor laws and provides that such civil penalty shall notbe less than $500. The bill directs the Department of Labor and Industry to convene a stakeholder work group to develop education and outreach plans to inform young workers and employers about child labor laws.

Department of Education; resource document on supports and services for homeless students. Requires the Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board a resource document containing guidance and best practices for providing the necessary supports and services to homeless students, including guidance and best practices relating to (i) decisions regarding whether and when such a student should remain enrolled in a school in a previous school division of residence, (ii) wrap-around supports and services for such students that include the parents when they are available and specific wrap-around supports and services for such students who may have experienced additional trauma prior to becoming homeless, and (iii) any other means by which such students can be best served and protected, particularly those homeless children and youths who are at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking.