HB2367 would make several changes to West Virginia’s foster care laws, with a focus on improving communication, access to information, and participation for foster parents and kinship parents. The bill directs the Department of Human Services to develop a web-based communication system tied to the existing child welfare information technology system. That system would allow authorized caregivers and other legally responsible parties to exchange information about a foster child’s needs, visitation, appointments, court hearings, MDT meetings, and health records, while also reducing duplicate data entry and archiving communications for reporting purposes.
The bill also creates or expands a detailed list of rights for foster parents and kinship parents. These rights include advance notice of placement issues, access to a child’s background and health information, written treatment plans, notice of hearings and case planning, contact with professionals involved in the child’s care, access to the foster care ombudsman, and the ability to submit concerns to the court. It further requires the department to provide written copies of these rights and related contracts, and to involve foster families in record-keeping through tools such as Journey Placement Notebooks.
In addition, HB2367 calls for an independent advisory board made up of foster parents, former foster youth, service providers, and other stakeholders to help identify and implement foster care reforms. It also requires yearly reviews of foster care subsidies and eligibility, including consideration of financial trends and foster family testimony. The bill changes drug screening procedures by requiring in-state laboratories for foster care service providers’ drug screenings and requiring a parent whose child was removed to complete a random hair follicle drug screen before an improvement period can end.
The bill would amend existing provisions in Chapter 49 governing the Department of Human Services’ responsibilities for children and foster care rights, and it would add new statutory sections establishing the communication system and advisory board. It would also affect foster parents, kinship parents, child placing agencies, child protective services staff, the foster care ombudsman, and courts handling child welfare cases. By adding reporting and oversight requirements, the bill would increase administrative duties for the department and create new expectations for information sharing and responsiveness within the foster care system.
The overall sentiment reflected by the bill text is strongly supportive of foster families and greater transparency in child welfare decision-making. Although no committee transcript or vote record is provided, the bill’s stated purpose and structure suggest an intent to improve coordination, reduce frustration for caregivers, and strengthen accountability in the foster care system. The main points of potential contention are likely to be the added administrative burden, privacy and access concerns around child records, the scope of foster parent participation in case decisions, and the mandatory hair follicle drug testing requirement for parents in improvement periods.
HB2367 would substantially revise West Virginia foster care policy by expanding statutory rights for foster and kinship parents, requiring a new communication platform for child welfare information, and adding oversight and reporting duties for the Department of Human Services. It would also create a new advisory board and require periodic subsidy reviews, while changing drug screening rules for contracted foster care service providers and parents in improvement periods. The bill would affect provisions in §49-2-111c and §49-2-127 and add new sections §49-2-131 and §49-2-132 to the West Virginia Code.
The bill’s tone is generally pro-foster family, pro-transparency, and pro-accountability. Its stated purpose and detailed caregiver rights indicate support for giving foster and kinship parents more information and a larger role in the foster care process. No vote history or committee testimony is available, so there is no recorded opposition or support beyond the bill text itself, but the proposal appears designed to address longstanding frustrations with communication and access in the child welfare system.
Likely points of contention include whether the Department of Human Services can implement the new web-based system on the bill’s timeline, whether the expanded access to child records and participation in case planning could raise confidentiality or case-management concerns, and whether the advisory board and reporting requirements add too much administrative complexity. The mandatory random hair follicle drug screen before the end of an improvement period may also be controversial, especially among parents and advocates concerned about fairness, cost, or the evidentiary use of drug testing. Foster parents and kinship caregivers are the primary beneficiaries of the bill, while child welfare agencies, courts, and parents subject to improvement periods would bear most of the operational impact.