The proposed bill aims to establish the Sustainable Child-Serving Workforce & Foster Care Modernization Act in West Virginia by adding a new article to the state's code. This legislation focuses on modernizing foster care rates and stabilizing the workforce within the foster care system. It mandates the Department of Human Services, Bureau for Social Services, to rebase foster care rates—basic, special, and therapeutic—using current cost data and to implement an automatic annual adjustment based on recognized indices such as the Employment Cost Index for Health Care & Social Assistance or the CPI-Medical index.

Additionally, the bill stipulates that therapeutic foster care and child-placing agency administrative rates will be adjusted to reflect current costs and will include incentive payments aimed at promoting retention and placement stability. This comprehensive approach seeks to enhance the financial framework supporting foster care services and ensure a more sustainable workforce dedicated to child welfare.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 49-13-1