CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill that establishes a bill of rights for foster families while also raising per diem for foster families is headed toward passage in the House of Delegates.
House Bill 4092, relating to foster care was subject to one amendment on Monday and would be up for passage on Tuesday.
The bill enumerates certain rights for foster families. It increases the per diem for foster families while also establishing an equivalent rate for kinship families — those who have taken in a child but who haven’t gone through certification.
And it spells out more clearly what guardians ad litem, the people who officially speak on behalf of children, are required to do prior to the adjudication of the process.
That aspect is meant to provide more assurance to foster families that guardians ad litem are truly speaking with children and hearing them out.
One amendment approved on the House floor enhances the bill a little bit. It just says foster or kinship families may use family child care to watch a child under reasonable circumstances.
“Myself, the cosponsor and others have heard from many that this will improve overall child care,” said Delegate Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, one of the sponsors of the amendment.
Delegate Jeffrey Pack, R-Raleigh, rose and added his support to the amendment.
“I thought it was a wonderful idea and something overlooked in the committee process,” said Pack, vice chairman of the House Health Committee.
The bill was assigned to — and passed — through three committees during its journey through the Legislature. That is sometimes a way to assure a bill doesn’t make it through — but in this case was meant to provide oversight for a complicated bill.
The increased per diem for kinship families was a committee amendment and created a significant price that hadn’t been considered previously.
Under the bill, families fostering through DHHR would be paid at least $900 per month per child placed in their home, or about $30 a day — an increase of about $300 per month. The reimbursement rate for kinship families would be raised to an equivalent amount.
The state’s share of the cost was estimated to be about $16.9 million.
With a flat budget proposed by Gov. Jim Justice, no one has specified yet how the state would come up with this additional amount.
West Virginia’s foster care system has been growing at an alarming rate, related to the state’s struggles with drug addiction.
More than 7,000 children are in state custody. About 450 of those are out of state, mostly in group residential homes or long-term psychiatric facilities.
The House of Delegates on Monday passed another bill related to the foster care system.
House Bill 4101 requires a court to verify certain conditions are met before a child who has been removed from a home may be returned to that home.
Explaining the bill, Judiciary Chairman John Shott, R-Mercer, said that amounts to confirming whether parents in substance abuse treatment have completed the program before the child is returned home. That bill passed 97-0.