Increasing circumstances where the Department of Human Services is required to seek termination of parental rights

HB 4378 expands when West Virginia's Department of Human Services (DHS) must seek termination of parental rights. It requires DHS to pursue termination if a child has been in foster, kinship, or residential care for 15 of the last 22 months; if a court finds severe abuse (abandonment, torture, sexual abuse, chronic abuse); if a parent committed murder/manslaughter against children or serious crimes (e.g., sexual assault, malicious wounding); or if a parent voluntarily stopped contact for 18 months (excluding incarceration, treatment, or military duty). Exceptions allow DHS to delay termination if a child is placed with relatives, if case plans show termination isn't in the child's best interest, or if DHS failed to provide necessary services for family reunification. The bill directly affects parents in child welfare cases and DHS's legal obligations to pursue parental rights termination.