Members of the Virginia General Assembly were able to pre-file many pieces of proposed legislation prior to the opening of the 2020 legislative session and are able to continue filing proposed bills even as the session is underway. At the disAbility Law Center of Virginia (dLCV), we do our best to stay on top of the most important issues for people with disabilities, but clearly we cannot know everything! If you know of something going on in the legislature that you think we should know about, please let us know. Contact us at info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 804-225-2042.
There are several bills under consideration that will change Virginia’s guardianship processes.
Delegate Kay Kory is offering a bill to recognize the legality of “supported decision making” in lieu of guardianships. HB 1321 is a recommendation from the Joint Commission on Health Care and allows a person with intellectual or developmental disabilities to appoint a “supporter” to assist with decision-making. The bill also requires consideration of less restrictive alternatives before the most restrictive tool, guardianship, is imposed. We expect this bill to be assigned to the House Committee on Courts of Justice and to be assigned to the Civil Laws subcommittee (committee assignments were pending as this report went live). dLCV strongly supports this bill.
SB 352 (Lucas) also recognizes “supported decision making.” The bill has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Courts of Justice.
Delegate Levine is proposing a complex process intended to protect the right of a person who has a guardian to be able to have visitors of their choosing. HB 862 is the result of the Delegate’s attempts to protect visitation rights over the last two years and is the product of extensive negotiations since the end of the 2019 session. dLCV believes the bill is thorough and balanced. We expect it to be assigned to the House Committee on Courts of Justice and to be assigned to the Civil Laws subcommittee (committee assignments were pending as this report went live).
HB 308 (Hope) requires a petition for guardianship to list certain identifying characteristics of the person for whom guardianship is sought.
SB 214 (Sutterlien) requires a guardian ad litem to review an IEP when the person in the guardianship proceeding is between the ages of 17 and 21.
HB 841 (Murphy) requires the appointment of counsel for the person in the guardianship proceeding.
The mission of dLCV 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.