Senate 521

WEST virginia legislature

2026 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 521

By Senators Deeds, Grady, M. Maynard, Roberts, and Tarr

[Introduced January 20, 2026; referred
to the Committee on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new section, designated §49-2-802b, relating to statewide prevention plan.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 2. STATE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CHILDREN.

§49-2-802b. Requiring the development and implementation of statewide prevention plan.

(a) On or before January 1, 2027, the Department of Human Services (DoHS) shall develop a statewide prevention plan, to provide prevention services to children under the age of 18 and their families which include kinship and foster parents, that is required to meet following criteria:

(1) Services and programs shall be trauma-informed and shall meet evidence-based criteria;

(2) Services shall be offered to who are at risk, including but not limited to the following: children who have a child protective services or  youth services safety plan, children with an open child welfare or youth service case,  or children otherwise identified as having a family with an economic, concrete, or other preventative services need without an open child protective services or youth services case or safety plan;

(3) Services shall be provided to pregnant and parenting youth;

(4) Services shall be provided to youth aging out of the foster care system for a period of 12 months after the date of their 21^st birthday;

(5) Services shall be provided to youth post-adoption; and

(6) Services shall be provided to youth transitioning from one level of care in the care continuum to the next level of care;

(b) DoHS shall ensure the prevention network of providers is reasonably adequate for convenient access to services within a reasonable distance from a child and families’ home residence and shall not be comprised solely of telehealth providers but shall have a mix of telehealth providers and physical locations in the service area for the child and family to access services;

(c) DoHS shall provide linkage to prevention services directly to youth and their families that need the services;  

(d) DoHS shall track encounter level information and outcomes for such prevention services;

(e) DoHS shall report beginning on December 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability on the outcomes of the prevention services;

(1) The report shall include at a minimum, the total number of families served by prevention services on a county basis, the total state costs for prevention services by program, the total federal costs for prevention services by program, and the outcomes for such programs on a regional basis or county basis.

(2) DoHS shall report outcomes on a de-identified basis and shall assign a synthetic identifier to a provider in order to ensure that only system level reporting of outcomes is maintained.

(f) Services developed pursuant to this plan and other existing prevention plans shall be submitted to the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse for review to see if the program qualifies for federal match;  

(g) On or before July 1, 2028, DoHS shall file an amended state plan to maximize the capture of federal dollars to support prevention services under the Family First Prevention Services Act;

(h) DoHS shall implement that plan no later than February 1, 2027.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Department of Human Services to develop and implement a prevention plan.

This bill was recommended for introduction by the Joint Committee on Children and Families.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.