Senate Bill No. 416
(By Senators Wooton, Craigo, Jackson, Mitchell,
Prezioso, Walker, McKenzie, Hunter, Unger, Bowman, Kessler,
Sharpe, Ross, Ball and Dawson)
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[Introduced February 7, 2000; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article six-a, chapter
forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to child abuse and
neglect; authorizing the division of child protective services
to issue administrative subpoenas in order to locate certain
children; and invoking judicial aid to compel compliance with
the subpoena.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article six-a, chapter forty-nine of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. REPORTS OF CHILDREN SUSPECTED TO BE ABUSED OR
NEGLECTED.
§49-6A-9. Establishment of child protective services; general
duties and powers; cooperation of other state
agencies.
(a) The state department shall establish or designate in every
county a local child protective services office to perform the
duties and functions set forth in this article.
(b) The local child protective service shall investigate all
reports of child abuse or neglect: Provided, That under no
circumstances shall investigating personnel be relatives of the
accused, the child or the families involved. In accordance with
the local plan for child protective services, it shall provide
protective services to prevent further abuse or neglect of children
and provide for or arrange for and coordinate and monitor the
provision of those services necessary to ensure the safety of
children. The local child protective service shall be organized to
maximize the continuity of responsibility, care and service of
individual workers for individual children and families:
Provided, however, That under no circumstances may the secretary or
his or her designee promulgate rules or establish any policy which
restricts the scope or types of alleged abuse or neglect of minor
children which are to be investigated or the provision of
appropriate and available services.
Each local child protective service office shall:
(1) Receive or arrange for the receipt of all reports of
children known or suspected to be abused or neglected on a
twenty-four hour, seven-day-a-week basis and cross-file all such
reports under the names of the children, the family, any person
substantiated as being an abuser or neglected by investigation of
the department of health and human, services resources, with use of
such the cross-filing of such the person's name limited to the
internal use of the department;
(2) Provide or arrange for emergency children's services to be
available at all times;
(3) Upon notification of suspected child abuse or neglect,
commence or cause to be commenced a thorough investigation of the
report and the child's environment. As a part of this response,
within fourteen days, there shall be: A face-to-face interview
with the child or children, and the development of a protection
plan, if necessary for the safety or health of the child, which may
involve law-enforcement officers or the court; and
(4) Respond immediately to all allegations of imminent danger
to the physical well-being of the child or of serious physical
abuse. As a part of this response, within seventy-two hours, there
shall be: A face-to-face interview with the child or children; and the development of a protection plan which may involve
law-enforcement officers or the court; and
(5) (c) In addition to any other requirements imposed by this
section, when any matter regarding child custody is pending, the
circuit court or family law master may refer allegations of child
abuse and neglect to the local child protective service for
investigation of the allegations as defined by this chapter and
require the local child protective service to submit a written
report of the investigation to the referring circuit court or
family law master within the time frames set forth by the circuit
court or family law master.
(c) (d) In those cases in which the local child protective
service determines that the best interests of the child require
court action, the local child protective service shall initiate the
appropriate legal proceeding.
(d) (e) The local child protective service shall be is
responsible for providing, directing or coordinating the
appropriate and timely delivery of services to any child suspected
or known to be abused or neglected, including services to the
child's family and those responsible for the child's care.
(e) (f) To carry out the purposes of this article, all
departments, boards, bureaus and other agencies of the state or any of its political subdivisions and all agencies providing services
under the local child protective service plan shall, upon request,
provide to the local child protective service such any assistance
and information as will enable it the service requires to fulfill
its responsibilities.
In order to obtain information regarding the location of a
child who is the subject of an allegation of abuse or neglect, the
secretary of the department of health and human resources may
serve, by certified mail, personal service or facsimile, an
administrative subpoena on any person, corporation, partnership,
business or organization, for an appearance or for the production
of information leading to the location of the child. In case of
disobedience to the subpoena, the secretary may invoke the aid of
any circuit court in compelling the personal appearance of any
person served by the subpoena or the production of documents and
things.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to facilitate locating
children who are suspected to be abused or neglected. This bill is
recommended for passage in the 2000 Regular Session of the
Legislature by the Legislative Task Force on Juvenile Foster Care,
Detention and Placement.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.