Relating to child welfare
HB 2377 updates West Virginia's child welfare laws to improve reporting and oversight of child abuse and neglect cases. It requires immediate reporting via a 24-hour hotline or web system with a case identifier, mandates a backup reporting system by July 1, 2023, and creates a Critical Incident Review Team to analyze serious cases. The bill also permits the Foster Care Ombudsman access to case details (including reporter identity) and changes public access to abuse reports to align with the team's reporting guidelines. Additionally, it adds new requirements for the child welfare dashboard and ensures confidentiality for reporters.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 14, 2025
Last action Mar 29, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Committee Substitute
→
Engrossed Committee Substitute
·
4 edits
·
Mar 27, 2025
MODERATE
The bill was updated to its final 'Engrossed' version, incorporating minor text corrections and clarifications to the definition of 'Epidemiological analysis' and the list of Critical Incident Review Team members. These changes refine how demographic data is analyzed for child fatalities and ensure the Prosecuting Attorney's Institute is explicitly included as a team member, strengthening the oversight structure without altering the bill's core purpose.
Scope change
The scope of the bill remains focused on child welfare, abuse reporting, and the creation of a Critical Incident Review Team, with no changes to the entities or populations covered.
DEFINITION
The definition of 'Epidemiological analysis' was slightly modified by adding a semicolon after 'the type of maltreatment' to improve the grammatical flow of the list of factors.
REQUIREMENT
A semicolon was added to the list of Critical Incident Review Team members to ensure the entry for the Prosecuting Attorney's Institute is grammatically consistent with other entries.
A period was added to the end of the sentence regarding information requested from government agencies to correct a punctuation error.
TECHNICAL
The document header was updated to reflect the 'Engrossed' version status, and a note explaining the bill's purpose was removed from the text.
Floor votes · House of Delegates Mar 27, 2025
How they voted
94–0
Passed · 6 other
Total votes 100
Mar 27, 2025
D
Democratic9
100% Yea
R
Republican91
93% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
21
Key actions
2
Committee
7
Mar 29, 2025
Committee
To Health and Human Resources
upper
Mar 29, 2025
Committee
To Health and Human Resources then Judiciary
upper
Mar 29, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Mar 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed House (Roll No. 209)
lower
Mar 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
By substitute, do pass
lower
Mar 13, 2025
Committee
To House Health and Human Resources
lower
Feb 14, 2025
Committee
To House Human Services
lower
Feb 14, 2025
Committee
To House Health and Human Resources
lower
Feb 14, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
Feb 14, 2025
Committee
To Health and Human Resources then Judiciary
lower
1 primary · 9 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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