2017 Virginia General Assembly
Legislative Highlights
January 25, 2017
The General Assembly will consider several bills that address the need to have systemic oversight of allegations of abuse and neglect of people with disabilities.
HB 1508 (Hope) and SB 894 (Favola) require the Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to provide to the disAbility Law Center of Virginia all reports of critical incidents in community providers licensed by the Department. This will bring community providers on the same level with state operated institutions. SB 894 was approved by the full Senate. The House version will be heard by a subcommittee Thursday morning.
HJ 675 (Landes) calls for the Joint Commission on Health Care to study whether the Commonwealth should have a registry of cases of abuse or neglect of individuals being served under a Medicaid waiver.
HB 2061 (Watts, Marshall) requires the Department of Social Services to produce an annual report of findings of abuse or neglect, including the names of individuals who were subject to criminal charges as a result of the alleged abuse or neglect.
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation.
The disAbility law Center of Virginia monitors activities in the legislature that may be of interest to people with disabilities. We are available to educate policy makers about the potential impact of legislative proposals. Please let us know of any legislative proposals or budget issues that you think we should be following. Contact us at info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 804-225-2042.