House 4394

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2026 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 4394

By Delegate Burkhammer

[Introduced January 15, 2026; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources]

A BILL amend and reenact §49-2-123 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requiring the Department of Human Services to publicly release a schedule of subsidy payments for adoption cases.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 2. STATE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CHILDREN.

§49-2-123. Annual reports; directory; licensing reports and recommendations.

(a) The secretary shall submit on or before January 1, of each year a report to the Governor and the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability, concerning the regulation of child welfare agencies, child placing agencies, child care centers, family child care facilities, family child care homes, informal family child care homes, relative family child care homes and child care facilities during the year. The report shall include at a minimum, data on the number of children and staff at each facility (except family child care, informal family child care homes and relative family child care); applications received; types of licenses, approvals, and registrations granted, denied, made provisional, or revoked and any injunctions obtained or facility closures ordered.

(b) The secretary also shall compile annually a directory of licensed, certified and approved child care providers including a brief description of their program and facilities, the program's capacity and a general profile of children served. A listing of family child care homes shall also be compiled annually.

(c) Licensing reports and recommendations for licensure which are a part of the yearly review of each licensed facility shall be sent to the facility director. Copies shall be available to the public upon written request to the secretary.

(d) By January 1 of each year the secretary shall publicly release a schedule of the adoption subsidy payments for the upcoming year.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Department of Human Services to publicly release a schedule of all adoption subsidy payments to be made in the next year.  

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