Foster care; housing services; housing plan; report. Requires local departments of social services to develop housing plans for individuals leaving foster care due to age that includes a description of housing options being pursued. The bill requires the Commissioner of Social Services to provide reports to the Governor and General Assembly on housing services for individuals aging out of foster care on or before October 1 of each year. The bill grants the Department of Social Services the authority to enter into a memorandum of understanding with local public housing authorities or housing programs to facilitate access to grant dollars for the Foster Youth to Independence Initiative under the Family Unification Program Housing Choice Vouchers. The bill directs local departments of social services to collaborate with local housing authorities to secure Family Unification Program Housing Choice Vouchers for certain youth enumerated in the bill. Finally, the bill directs local public housing authorities and local departments of social services to collaborate to administer the Foster Youth to Independence Initiative.
Sponsored bills
Custodial interrogation of a person with autism spectrum disorder or a developmental disability; best practices for conducting interviews or interrogations. Adds best practices for conducting interviews or interrogations, including reading constitutional rights to the list of compulsory minimum and in-service training standards for law-enforcement officers on communicating with individuals with an intellectual disability or a developmental disability.
Chief Information Officer and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency; development of an emergency resource management system for the Commonwealth. Directs the Chief Information Officer and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, in cooperation with the Department of Emergency Management, to develop an emergency resource management system for use by the Commonwealth during a declared state of emergency. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth.
Reproductive health care services; prohibitions on extradition for certain crimes. Provides that no demand for extradition of a person charged with a criminal violation of law of another state shall be recognized by the Governor if such alleged violation involves the receipt or provision of or assistance with reproductive health care services, as defined in the bill, within the Commonwealth unless the alleged criminal violation would also constitute a criminal offense under the laws of the Commonwealth. The bill also provides that such limit on extradition shall not apply when the person who is accused of an alleged offense in the demanding state was physically present in the demanding state at the time of the commission of the alleged offense and thereafter fled from such state.
Incapacitated persons; finding of lack of capacity to understand the act of voting. Provides that no person shall be deemed disqualified to vote due to lack of capacity for the purposes of Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia unless the court makes a specific finding by clear and convincing evidence that such person lacks the capacity to understand the act of voting. The bill allows any person deemed disqualified to vote due to lack of capacity prior to July 1, 2025, to file a petition for a court to review such determination in accordance with the provisions of the bill. The bill also requires the report of a guardian ad litem in a guardianship or conservatorship to include whether the respondent lacks the capacity to understand the act of voting. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Disability Commission.
Discharge plans; copies to public elementary and secondary schools. Provides that, prior to the discharge of any minor admitted to inpatient treatment (i) who is a student at a public elementary or secondary school and (ii) for whom the facility deems (a) such discharge poses a threat of violence or physical harm to himself and others or (b) additional educational services are needed, such facility is required to provide to the school's mental health professional or school counselor the portions of such discharge plan relevant to the threat of violence or harm or the necessary additional educational services. The bill requires such facility to, prior to providing any such portions of any minor's discharge plan, provide to the parent of such minor student reasonable notice of the types of information that would be included in any portions of the discharge plan being provided and of the parent's right to, upon written request, refuse the provision of any such information.
Juvenile and domestic relations district courts; mental health and social assessments. Provides that if a juvenile is found to be delinquent, that a juvenile and domestic relations district court may, before final disposition of the case, direct the appropriate public agency to evaluate such juvenile's service needs using an interdisciplinary approach. The bill permits the juvenile and domestic relations district court, in the alternative, to consider an existing report from an interdisciplinary team if such interdisciplinary team met not more than 90 days prior to the finding that the juvenile is delinquent.
Board of Pharmacy; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; opioid treatment programs; mobile units; report. Directs the Board of Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop and implement a process by which opioid treatment programs can apply for and receive the necessary permissions and waivers to dispense opioid use disorder treatment medications from mobile units. The bill directs the Board to report to the Joint Commission on Health Care by November 1, 2025, on the status of and any barriers to the development and implementation of such process. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Seizure of moneys or other assets of value used in connection with or derived from financial exploitation of vulnerable adults. Permits a law-enforcement officer, an attorney for the Commonwealth, the Office of the Attorney General, or other interested party to seek a seizure warrant from a judge or petition a court for the seizure of moneys or other assets of value where there is suspected probable cause to conclude that a vulnerable adult is being financially exploited. The bill allows a court, upon motion of the complainant and for good cause shown, to order the release of all moneys or other assets of value. Any remaining moneys or other assets of value may also be released to the owner by the court with the consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth.
Department of Emergency Management and the Department of Health to study the makeup and composition of the emergency management regions, state health regions, and local health districts; report. Directs the Department of Emergency Management and the Department of Health to study the makeup and composition of the seven emergency management regions, the five Virginia health regions, and the 35 local health districts to determine the feasibility of mutually beneficial alignment of such regions and districts. The bill directs the Departments to complete their work and report findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than November 30, 2025. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth.