COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2174
(By Delegates Spencer, Perdue and Amores)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 28, 2005]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §49-6A-2a, relating
to requiring the Department of Health and Human Resources to
develop a procedure to notify persons mandated to report child
abuse and neglect of whether an investigation of the report
has occurred.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §49-6A-2a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 6A. REPORTS OF CHILDREN SUSPECTED TO BE ABUSED OR
NEGLECTED.
§49-6A-2a. Notification of disposition of reports.
(a) The Department of Health and Human Resources shall develop
and implement a procedure to notify any person mandated to report
suspected child abuse and neglect under the provisions of section
two of this article, of whether an investigation into the reported suspected abuse or neglect has been initiated and when the
investigation is completed.
(b) The Department of Health and Human Resources shall develop
and implement the above described procedure on or before the first
day of January, two thousand six.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Department
of Health and Human Resources to develop a procedure to notify
licensed professionals who are mandated to report child abuse and
neglect of the disposition of the investigation into the report by
January 1, 2006.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.