Sen. Barbara Favola

Directs the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to establish a three-year Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Scholarship Pilot Program (the Program) for the purpose of providing access to postsecondary educational opportunities to students living in poverty. The Program would provide scholarships to select community colleges in the amount of $4,000 per year, to be applied toward the costs of tuition and books, to 200 selected students who meet TANF eligibility requirements. The Program would be funded with federal TANF block grant funds. The bill directs VCCS to (i) enter into a memorandum of understanding with the State Department of Social Services establishing the parameters of the Program and the method for selecting students to participate; (ii) monitor, record, and analyze the outcomes of all participants; and (iii) report to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 1 of each year regarding the effectiveness of and other information about the Program. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Extends from 12 months to 24 months the amount of time a VIEW participant whose Temporary Assistance for Needy Families financial assistance has been terminated can receive transitional support services, provided the participant is enrolled in an accredited public institution of higher education or other postsecondary school licensed or certified by the Board of Education or the State Council of Higher Education and is taking courses as part of a curriculum that leads to a postsecondary credential, such as a degree or an industry-recognized credential, certification, or license. The bill provides that such transitional support services shall terminate when the participant completes his curriculum at such institution or school or is otherwise no longer enrolled in such institution or school, or at the end of 24 months, whichever comes first. The bill directs the Board of Social Services to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

Provides that a blind parent's blindness, as defined in the bill, shall not be the sole basis of the denial or restriction of such parent's custody or visitation rights. The bill requires a party who alleges that a parent's blindness should be a factor to be considered to not be in the best interests of the child, or should otherwise be a reason to deny or restrict such a parent's custody or visitation rights, to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the child's best interests would not be met or served due to such parent's blindness. The bill allows a blind parent to demonstrate how supportive parenting services would appropriately address any threats to the child's best interests and further allows that such services be ordered by the court. The bill requires a court to make findings where the court denies or restricts custody or visitation of a blind parent or where supportive parenting services are not ordered, and to provide such findings in an accessible format. The same requirements apply to the denial of approval of a blind prospective foster parent, or removal of a child from a blind foster parent's home, and to the denial of a final order of adoption wherein the prospective adoptive parent is blind.