This bill amends the Code of West Virginia to enhance child welfare reporting procedures, particularly regarding child abuse and neglect. It mandates immediate reporting to the Bureau for Social Services via a 24-hour hotline or web-based system, ensuring that mandatory reporters are not screened out. Reports of serious abuse must be forwarded to law enforcement, and the Bureau is required to maintain records of these reports for at least 12 months. A new Critical Incident Review Team is established to review child fatalities and near fatalities within the child welfare system, aiming to improve prevention and intervention strategies.

The legislation also improves transparency in child welfare data by updating the existing data dashboard to include information on child fatalities, near fatalities, and workforce data related to child protective services. This dashboard will be updated monthly and will allow public access to search data by year and county. The bill clarifies the confidentiality of records while permitting the Foster Care Ombudsman access to information related to child abuse or neglect proceedings. The Critical Incident Review Team, consisting of various stakeholders, is tasked with assessing child fatalities and near fatalities, meeting quarterly, and submitting reports to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability. The team's proceedings and records are confidential, although aggregated data may be shared for research purposes.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 49-2-809, 49-5-101, 49-11-101, 61-12B-1, 61-12B-2, 61-12B-3, 61-12B-4, 61-12B-5, 61-12B-6, 61-12B-7