Summary: Department of Behavioral Health and DevelopmentalServices; licensed professionals; licensed behavior analysts; definition.Directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Servicesto amend in its regulations the definition of "licensed professional"to include licensed behavior analysts.

Summary: Board of directors of Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University; membership; meetings; removal. Adjusts the membership and terms of the standing committee of the Old Dominion Board of Visitors that is established to serve as the board of directors of the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University by (i) adding the president of the University and the executive vice president for health sciences at the University to serve as ex officio nonvoting members, (ii) removing the nonlegislative citizen member to be appointed by the primary teaching hospital affiliated with the University, (iii) increasing from one to two the number of nonlegislative citizen members to be appointed by the Governor, (iv) decreasing from nine to seven the number of nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Eastern Virginia Medical School Foundation or any successor foundation and establishing certain qualifications for such members, and (v) staggering the initial appointments of members. The bill permits the primary teaching hospital affiliated with the University to submit to the Governor a list of at least three nominees with certain qualifications for any vacancy on the standing committee that is to be filled by the Governor. The bill requires the standing committee to meet four times per year and at such other times as it determines. The effective date of the establishment of the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University and its board of directors, and by extension the effective date of the foregoing provisions of this bill, is delayed until the date on which the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations provide written approval for Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical School to complete a merger to create the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University. The bill finally requires, by January 1, 2029, the Old Dominion University Board of Visitors, the standing committee of the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University, the Governor, and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations to provide written input to one another on whether the standing committee governance provisions contained in the bill should be revised.

Summary: Hospital price transparency; private right of action; patient payment disputes; noncompliance; prohibition of debt collection. Allows patients, if a hospital is not in compliance with hospital price transparency laws on the date that an elective procedure, test, or service is provided to a patient by the hospital, and the noncompliance is related to such elective procedure, test, or service, to bring an action, individually or jointly, against the hospital to recover payment of the price of the elective procedure, test, or service. Under the bill, if a hospital is found not in compliance with hospital price transparency laws under such circumstances, the hospital is liable for the price of the elective procedure, test, or service provided; an additional equal amount as liquidated damages; interest accruing from the date the elective procedure, test, or service was provided; and reasonable attorney fees and costs. If a hospital is found not in compliance with hospital price transparency laws under such circumstances, the hospital is liable for an amount equal to triple the amount of the price of the elective procedure, test, or service and reasonable attorney fees and costs.

Summary: Nursing homes; application requirements. Requiresall applicants for a nursing home license to complete and submitan application on a form approved by the Department of Health. Underthe bill, the applicant is required to provide certain informationin the application form, including information on (i) ownership interestsin nursing homes, (ii) pending litigation, (iii) real property relatedto the nursing home, (iv) secured notes, (v) the financial historyof persons mentioned in the application, and (v) contact informationfor certain persons. The bill requires the Department of Health to publish written notice of all applications for nursing home licensureon its website, including a copy of the application form completedby the applicant and information about the public input and comment process. Under the bill, all applications for nursing home licensureare subject to a 30-day public comment period. The bill allows individuals to request a public hearing on an applicant's suitability for nursinghome licensure. The bill sets forth the factors that the Departmentof Health is required to consider in determining whether to approveor deny an application to operate a nursing home.

Summary: Loan repayment programs; mental health professionals. Creates a loan repayment program for persons who have worked as mentalhealth professionals in the Commonwealth for at least five years.

Summary: Physicians; informed consent; disclosure of certain information prior to hysterectomy or oophorectomy. Requires physicians to obtain informed consent from a patient prior to performing a hysterectomy or oophorectomy. Prior to obtaining informed consent, physicians must inform the patient of the patient's freedom to withhold or withdraw consent, refer the patient to the Hysterectomy Educational Resources and Services (HERS) Foundation, and provide the patient with anatomical diagrams relevant to the procedure. The bill allows physicians to forgo obtaining informed consent when a hysterectomy or oophorectomy is performed in a life-threatening emergency situation.

Summary: Board of Counseling; licensure by endorsementfor marriage and family therapists. Directs the Board of Counselingto amend its regulations related to the process for licensure byendorsement for marriage and family therapists. The bill removesrequirements that applicants for licensure by endorsement provideevidence that they meet certain educational and experience requirements.

Summary: Advanced registered medication aides; certified nursing facilities; work group; report. Requires advanced registered medication aides who administer drugs that would otherwise be self-administered to residents in a certified nursing facility licensed by the Department of Health to register with the Board of Nursing. Under the bill, an advanced registered medication aide who is registered to administer drugs to residents in a certified nursing facility shall also be eligible to administer drugs that would otherwise be self-administered to residents in an assisted living facility. The foregoing provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. The bill also requires the Board of Nursing to convene a work group to develop recommendations to enable such medication aides to administer drugs to residents in a certified nursing facility and to report such recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health and Human Services by November 1, 2024. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Health to promulgate regulations to authorize such medication aides to administer prescription drugs to residents in certified nursing facilities. The bill directs the Board of Nursing to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill to be effective as of July 1, 2025.

Summary: Physical examination of prisoner; licensed nurse practitioner; licensed physician assistant. Provides that each person received by the Department of Corrections shall be examined by a licensed physician, licensed nurse practitioner, or licensed physician assistant upon his arrival, within 30 days prior to any work assignment in food services, medical services, or cosmetological services or a change in work assignment, and at such other times thereafter as may be deemed necessary. Under current law, such examination may be performed only by a licensed physician.

Summary: Simon's Law; health care; life-sustaining treatmentfor minors; exceptions. Requires a physician to obtain the written permission from at least one parent or legal guardian of a minor,defined in the bill as an unemancipated individual who is youngerthan 18 years of age and not under juvenile court supervision or on active duty with the Armed Forces of the United States, before instituting a Do Not Resuscitate order or similar physician's order.The bill creates an exception for when a physician is unable tocontact a parent or legal guardian of such minor within 72 hoursof the initial contact attempt. The bill also prevents a physicianfrom interfering with such parent's or legal guardian's efforts toobtain other medical opinions, hindering or delaying the necessarymeasures to facilitate a transfer of such minor to another medicalfacility, or refusing to continue providing life-sustaining treatmentto such minor when such a transfer is imminent. Under the bill, suchparent or legal guardian maintains all rights to determine whetherlife-sustaining treatment and cardiopulmonary resuscitation are used on such minor unless a court of law or equity determines that thereis destruction of the circulatory system, respiratory system, andthe entire brain. A parent or legal guardian may also request disclosureof the physician's policies involving cardiopulmonary resuscitationand life-sustaining treatment.

Summary: Kinship foster care; alternative living arrangements; Parental Child Safety Placement Program established. Establishes the Parental Child Safety Placement Program to promote and support placements of children with relatives by local boards of social services in order to avoid foster care. The bill establishes the requirements for a parental child safety placement agreement, the procedure for assessing a proposed caregiver, and the process for terminating the placement. This bill is identical to SB 39.

Summary: State Board of Social Services; regulations;application for and use of foster care benefits. Directs theState Board of Social Services to amend its regulations by January1, 2025, to (i) require local departments of social services to applyfor federal benefits on behalf of children in foster care that they may be eligible for, (ii) prohibit the use of federal benefits topay for the care and support of children in foster care that theCommonwealth is otherwise obligated to pay for, and (iii) requirelocal departments of social services that are representative payeesfor children in foster care to conserve such federal benefits in an appropriate trust instrument or protected account that is exemptfrom federal asset and resource limits.

Summary: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; applications. Prohibits the Board of Social Services from requiring persons applying to participate or renewing their participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to appear in person. The bill also codifies the Department of Health's authority to implement a Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program), which is currently authorized by regulation.

Summary: Dissemination of criminal history record information; Department of Social Services. Authorizes the Department of Social Services to obtain criminal history record information for the purpose of screening individuals as a condition of licensure, employment, volunteering, or providing services on a regular basis in a licensed child welfare agency or foster or adoptive home approved by a child-placing agency.

Summary: TANF; child care services; reporting; repeal.Repeals the requirement that the Department of Social Services (i)identify strategies for Virginia to obtain the maximum amount offederal funds available for child care services for Temporary Assistancefor Needy Families Program recipients and families whose incomesare at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level and (ii)provide an annual report on these strategies to the Chairmen of theHouse Committees on Appropriations and on Health, Welfare and Institutionsand the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and on Rehabilitationand Social Services.

Summary: Home Visiting Program established; report. Establishes the Home Visiting Program within the Department of Social Services to support pregnant people and parents with young children who face greater risks and barriers to achieving positive maternal and child health outcomes. The bill directs the Department to operate in accordance with the Virginia Plan for Home Visiting established by Early Impact Virginia, a consortium of government and private entities. The purpose of the Program is to (i) promote the health and well-being of pregnant people and parents, (ii) improve infant and child health and development, (iii) strengthen family functioning, (iv) promote school readiness, (v) reduce child maltreatment, (vi) promote economic mobility, and (vii) cultivate strong communities. The bill requires the Department to report biennially to the Governor and the General Assembly on outcomes for Program participants.

Summary: Adult adoptee access to original birth certificate. Grants any adoptee 18 years of age or older access to his original birth certificate.

Summary: Advisory Council on Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections and Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome; sunset. Extends from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2028, the sunset of the Advisory Council on Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections and Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome.

Summary: Department of Human Resource Management; employee designation and payment policies; nursing staff at state psychiatric hospitals. Directs the Department of Human Resource Management to amend its policies to authorize the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and state psychiatric hospitals to designate as full-time employees nursing staff and psychiatric technicians who work at least 36 hours per week to permit state hospitals to use 12-hour shifts for such staff. The bill prohibits the Department from requiring reductions in pay or other benefits for such employees based solely on the fact that the employee works 36 hours per week. The bill also directs the Department to examine whether the policy change should be extended to comparable direct care positions in other executive branch agencies to improve recruitment and retention. As introduced, this bill is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission and the Behavioral Health Commission and is identical to SB 177.

Summary: State psychiatric hospitals; temporary detentionorders; delayed admission to determine medical needs. Allowsstate psychiatric hospitals to delay admission of an individual undera temporary detention order until the state psychiatric hospitalhas determined that the individual does not have potentially life-threateningmedical needs that require immediate evaluation and treatment thatthe state psychiatric hospital is incapable of providing. This billis a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commissionand the Behavioral Health Commission.

Summary: State plan for medical assistance services;adult hearing screenings; audiological examinations; hearing aids.Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the stateplan for medical assistance services to include a provision for paymentof medical assistance for all medically necessary (i) adult hearingscreenings; (ii) audiological examinations; (iii) initial purchasesor replacements of hearing aids, up to $1,500 per year; and (iv)hearing aid batteries, up to 60 batteries per year.

Summary: Places of public accommodation; possessionand administration of epinephrine. Permits every place of publicaccommodation, defined in relevant law as all places or businessesoffering or holding out to the general public goods, services, privileges,facilities, advantages, or accommodations, to make epinephrine availablefor administration and permits any employee of such place of publicaccommodation who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in theadministration of epinephrine to possess and administer epinephrineto a person present in such place of public accommodation believedin good faith to be having an anaphylactic reaction. Current law limitssuch permission to every public place, defined in relevant law asany enclosed, indoor area used by the general public, and any employeeof such public place.