HB 775

Removal hearings; foster care; termination of parental rights; status as an Indian child; reasonable efforts; definition; services to families. Adds a definition of reasonable efforts for the purposes of hearings relating to the foster care of and petitions for the termination of parental rights over those children who are not determined to be a member of a Virginia-recognized or federally recognized tribe. The bill further requires that, at a preliminary removal hearing, or as soon as possible thereafter, and prior to any adjudicatory hearing, the court shall make a finding as to whether diligent efforts have been made to determine whether the child is an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act or a member of, or eligible for membership in, a tribe recognized by the Commonwealth. Under the bill, any such children would receive the protections of the Indian Child Welfare Act, including the federal standard of active efforts. The bill further directs the Department of Social Services to promulgate new regulations defining types of abuse and neglect, specifying that in situations where neglect is the result of family poverty and there are no outside resources available to the family, the parent or caretaker shall not be determined to have neglected the child, but the local department of social services shall provide appropriate and timely services to the family.