Children's Ombudsman, Office of the; foster youth's right to receive information.
Summary
Office of the Children's Ombudsman; foster youth's right to receive information. Requires the Department of Social Services or a local department of social services, a children's residential facility, or any child-placing agency to provide certain information along with the contact information for the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to a biological parent, prospective adoptive parent, or foster parent, as well as to any child in foster care age 12 or older upon the opening of a foster care case for such child. The bill also provides that, in relation to complaints made to the Ombudsman, if such child is the complainant, the Ombudsman need not gain the consent of the Department or local department of social services, the children's residential facility, the child-placing agency, or the foster parent or guardian of the child or other person having custody or care of the child to receive information from or communicate with the child. This bill is identical to SB 1406.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Jan 6, 2025
Signed Mar 21, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
3 edits
MINOR
This bill changed from an enrolled legislative draft to a chaptered version, meaning it has been officially approved and enacted into law. The substantive policy content remains the same, with no changes to the actual provisions governing the Office of the Children's Ombudsman, complaint procedures, or confidentiality rules. The main differences are formatting and layout adjustments to match the official published format of Virginia statutes.
TECHNICAL
Formatting and layout changes to convert the bill from draft format to official chaptered format, including page number adjustments and spacing modifications.
Added chapter number (Chapter 200) and approval date (March 21, 2025) to indicate official enactment.
Removed draft session headers and formatting markers that were used in the legislative process but are not part of the final law.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 18, 2025 · House of Delegates Feb 3, 2025
How they voted
40–0
Passed
Total votes 40
Feb 18, 2025
D
Democratic21
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
30
Key actions
11
Committee
8
Mar 21, 2025
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 200 (Effective 07/01/25)
executive
Mar 10, 2025
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1777ER)
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 17, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Feb 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services (11-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Committee
Rereferred from General Laws and Technology to Rehabilitation and Social Services (10-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 4, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (99-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Health and Human Services (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 15, 2025
Committee
Assigned sub: Social Services
lower
Jan 14, 2025
Committee
Referred from General Laws and referred to Health and Human Services (Voice Vote)
lower
Jan 6, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on General Laws
lower
1 primary · 6 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Ask Maddy
·
AI policy assistant
Ask Maddy about HB 1777
Scope: VA
Hi! I can help you understand HB 1777. What would you like to know?
Try one of these
i
Maddy answers using official bill text and legislative records. Always verify before sharing.
Sources cited inline