Pro-Family Legislation in Virginia in 2018

State legislatures around the country met this winter to consider various legislation, and because most family statutory law is state code, much of that legislation can focus on families.  Here is a brief summary from the Virginia Family Foundation of the pro-family legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly this year which will largely become effective as law on July 1, 2018.

 

Adoption
Making it easier for foster children to stay with their relatives – SB 636 (R-Dunnavant) and HB 1333 (R-Brewer). This bill created the “Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program” to facilitate child placements with relatives to ensure permanency for children for whom adoption or returning home are not viable options. For years, there tended to be a stigma towards foster families who were also relatives of the child, with a perception that they were only really concerned with drawing money from the state to help support the child. But in reality, it’s a very good idea for children in need of a home to have the opportunity live with relatives when possible.
Expanding opportunities for more people to adopt – SB 920 (D-Ebbin) and HB 427 (D-Herring). Under the current law, if a person has had their civil rights restored by the Governor, they are eligible to adopt a child, but only after waiting 10 years from the time of their conviction. These bills lower that wait period to eight years if they have met certain criteria such as completing a substance abuse treatment program, shown themselves to be drug free, and have complied with all court imposed obligations.
Speeding up the adoption process for close relatives – HB 241 (R-Brewer). In the cases where children are living as foster children with close relatives, the foster parents must wait three years before being able to begin the process to adopt the child. This bill lowered that time to two years.
Speeding up the adoption process for foster families – HB 418 (D-Carroll Foy). Under the current law, a court is required to grant an adoption after a child has lived with the foster parents continuously for 18 months and the child-placing agency responsible for the child consents. This bill lowered that time frame to 6 months.

Life
Helping victims of Human Trafficking – SB 725 (R-Dunnavant). This bill provides for signs to be placed at rest areas and certain health care facilities with information about the national Human Trafficking hotline to alert possible witnesses or victims of human trafficking to the availability of a means to report crimes or gain assistance. One welcome effect of this law is that abortion facilities will now post information about human trafficking. Given the pervasive connections between sex trafficking and abortion facilities, this could be a real help to victims in need.  
Providing protections for patients in end-of-life situations – SB 222 (D-Edwards) and HB 226 (R-Stolle). This bill was hammered out over a two-year study group of which The Family Foundation was apart. It establishes a more defined and robust process for situations in which a patient and/or family and the hospital disagree about the appropriate treatment for patients in end-of-lifer situations. It provides greater protections for all parties involved. For patients, it ensures that any required life-sustaining care includes hydration, nutrition, maintenance medication, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It also protects the rights of conscience of medical professionals. 
Helping babies affected by the opioid crisis – SB 389 (R-Chafin) and HB 1157 (R-Pillion). These bills task the Department of Heath with developing, coordinating, and implementing a plan for services for substance-exposed infants in the Commonwealth. Among other things, the plan includes improving the screening and identification of substance-using pregnant women, and the use of multidisciplinary approaches to intervention and service delivery during the prenatal period and following the birth of the substance-exposed child. With this plan, many mothers will feel better equipped to choose life for their unborn child.

Constitutional Government
Greater free speech protections for students on Virginia’s college campuses – HB 344 (R-Landes). This bill prohibits any public institution of higher education from abridging the constitutional freedom of speech on its campus of any enrolled student, faculty, employees, or invited guests. It also requires each public institution of higher education to establish and include in its student handbook, on its website, and in its student orientation programs policies regarding speech that is constitutionally protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the process to report incidents of disruption of such constitutionally protected speech.
Prompt payment for property taken through eminent domain – SB 278 (D-Petersen) This bill requires money judgments for the government’s taking of land to be paid to the effected person within 30 days of a final determination.
Expanding the definition of “lost profits” in the calculation for just compensation in eminent domain cases – SB 809 (D-Petersen). This bill ensures that property owners who have their farms or businesses taken through eminent domain receive the full value of their lost profits from the land they would have otherwise used for up to three years.  

Parental Rights
Providing more opportunities to restore parental rights – HB 1219 (D-Reid). This bill requires a court, at a foster care review hearing, to inquire from the child’s guardian ad litem and the local board of social services whether the foster child has expressed a preference for finding out whether the parental rights of his parents can be restored. If so, the court must order an investigation to see if that is a viable option. Following the investigation, if the local board of social services or the child's guardian ad litem deems it appropriate to do so, either may file a petition for the restoration of parental rights.
Emphasizing the value of shared parenting in custody determinations – HB 1351 (R-Davis). This bill requires courts to more closely consider whether joint custody arrangements are feasible when awarding child custody. While divorce is a terrible tragedy to be avoided if possible, in the event that it does happen, children are generally better off when they have the opportunity to be raised by both their mom and their dad, and parents are still parents even after a divorce.
Protecting parents who homeschool – HB 1370 (R-Pogge). This bill clarified a point of confusion in the law, and now makes sure that parents only need to provide their child with a program of study or curriculum, but do not need to provide such curriculum to the state or locality.    

Helping victims of Human Trafficking – SB 725 (R-Dunnavant). This bill provides for signs to be placed at rest areas and certain health care facilities with information about the national Human Trafficking hotline to alert possible witnesses or victims of human trafficking to the availability of a means to report crimes or gain assistance. One welcome effect of this law is that abortion facilities will now post information about human trafficking. Given the pervasive connections between sex trafficking and abortion facilities, this could be a real help to victims in need. 

 

State legislatures can accomplish a great deal to promote and protect family restoration.