Summary: Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; Virginia Health Care Career and Technical Training and Education Fund created; psychological practitioner defined; educational requirements for nursing faculty. Modifies the enabling legislation for the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority by adding four additional ex officio members to the Authority's Board of Directors, adding setting priorities for and managing graduate medical education programs to the duties of the Authority, specifying additional recipients of the Board's biennial report, and authorizing the Authority to partner with other agencies and institutions to obtain and manage health workforce data. The bill establishes the Virginia Health Care Career and Technical Training and Education Fund. The bill directs the Board of Nursing to add or remove certain educational requirements for members of the nursing faculty in specified nursing education programs and establishes a licensing procedure by the Board of Psychology for a psychological practitioner, as defined by the bill. The bill directs the Board of Nursing and the Board of Psychology to adopt regulations to implement relevant provisions of the bill to be effective no later than January 1, 2025. This bill is identical to HB 1499.

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 HB 806.

Summary: Behavioral health technicians; behavioral health technician assistants; qualified mental health professionals; qualified mental health professional-trainees; scope of practice, supervision, and qualifications. Adds behavioral health technicians and behavioral health technician assistants to the professions governed by the Board of Counseling. The bill also establishes qualification, scope of practice, and supervision requirements for qualified mental health professionals and qualified mental health professional-trainees. The bill directs the Board of Counseling to adopt regulations governing the behavioral health technician, behavioral health technician assistant, qualified mental health professional, and qualified mental health professional-trainee professions by November 1, 2024, and for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Medical Assistance Services to promulgate regulations that align with the regulations adopted by the Board of Counseling in accordance with the bill.

Summary: Department of Social Services; task force; application for and use of foster care benefits; report. Directs the Department of Social Services to establish a task force with relevant stakeholders to assess the feasibility of (i) requiring local departments of social services to apply for benefits administered by the U.S. Social Security Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of children in foster care, (ii) prohibiting the use of federal benefits to pay for the care and support of children in foster care that the Commonwealth is otherwise obligated to pay for, and (iii) requiring local departments of social services that are representative payees for children in foster care to conserve such federal benefits in an appropriate trust instrument or protected account that is exempt from federal asset and resource limits. The bill requires the Department of Social Services to report its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Rehabilitation and Social Services and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Health and Human Services by November 1, 2024.

Summary: SNAP; employment and training. Requires all local departments of social services to offer a voluntary employment and training program for SNAP benefits program participants from funds so appropriated.

Summary: Comprehensive children's health care coverage program. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to establish a program to provide state-funded comprehensive health care coverage for individuals in the Commonwealth who (i) are under 19 years of age, (ii) are not covered under a group health plan or health insurance coverage, and (iii) but for their immigration status would be eligible for medical assistance services through the Commonwealth's program of medical assistance services established pursuant to Title XIX or XXI of the Social Security Act. The bill also requires the Department to ensure that all program information is made available in a manner that is accessible to individuals with limited English proficiency and individuals with disabilities through the provision of language access services, including oral interpretation and written translations, free of charge and to ensure that information obtained by the program remains confidential and is not disclosed for any purpose not related to the administration of the program or any purpose related to civil immigration enforcement unless the subject of the information consents to such disclosure or the requesting agency presents a valid judicial order, subpoena, or warrant.The bill also requires the Department to (a) consult with individuals with direct and lived experience with the program eligibility criteria established by the bill and individuals with experience conducting outreach to individuals who are eligible for the program established by the bill to advise and assist the Department in carrying out marketing and outreach activities required by the bill and (b) seek all federal waivers and other approvals necessary to maximize federal financial participation in the cost of carrying out the program established by the bill. The provisions of the first, second, and third enactments of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026.

Summary: Department of Medical Assistance Services; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers; state plan amendments; program rule modifications. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to seek federal authority through the necessary state plan amendments under Titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to modify the program rules for certain 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers to (i) modify the 40-hour-per-week work limit to allow legally responsible individuals with more than one waiver-receiving child to receive reimbursement for 40 hours of work per week per child receiving a waiver; (ii) eliminate the requirement that, in order for a legally responsible individual to receive reimbursement for personal care services, no one else be available to provide services to the member; and (iii) modify the program rules to allow a legally responsible individual or stepparent to be the employer of record. The bill directs DMAS to evaluate the possibility of allowing for respite services under certain 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services Medicaid Waivers and submit its recommendations, cost estimate, and methodology used for obtaining the cost estimate to the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2024. This bill incorporates SB 149 and is identical to HB 909.

Summary: Department of Medical Assistance Services; community health worker services benefit; work group; report. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to convene a work group of stakeholders to design a community health worker services benefit for Medicaid-enrolled and CHIP-enrolled beneficiaries. The bill requires the work group to complete its work and submit a report to the Chairs of the House Committees on Appropriations and Health and Human Services and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health by December 1, 2024.

Summary: Department of Medical Assistances Services; financial eligibility standards for certain waivers providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to amend the financial eligibility standards for individuals receiving services under the Family and Individual Support Waiver, Community Living Waiver, and Building Independence Waiver (the DD Waivers). The bill requires the Department, when determining financial eligibility for the DD Waivers, to disregard any Social Security Disability Insurance income above the maximum monthly Supplemental Security Income as determined by the U.S. Social Security Administration; however, such Social Security Disability Insurance income shall not be disregarded for purposes of determining an individual's patient pay obligation. The bill also requires the Department to (i) analyze the implications of such amendments to the financial eligibility standards for individuals under the DD waivers, which shall include a determination of the costs and the number of individuals who would benefit from such amendments and (ii) report its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations and the House Committees on Health and Human Services and Appropriations no later than November 1, 2024. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 908.

Summary: Family and Children's Trust Fund; membership; powers and duties; counsel. Modifies the membership provisions of the Board of Trustees of the Family and Children's Trust Fund by (i) changing the ratio of appointed members such that the Governor appoints six, the Speaker of the House appoints five, and the Senate Committee on Rules appoints four; (ii) designating the Commissioner of Social Services or his designee as an ex officio member with nonvoting privileges; (iii) allowing Board members to be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties; and (iv) providing that the remainder of any term to which a member is appointed to fill a vacancy other than by expiration of term shall not constitute a term in determining the member's eligibility for reappointment with respect to the prohibition on members serving more than two successive terms. Under current law, the Commissioner is designated as a permanent member of the Board. The bill authorizes the Board to establish a nonprofit organization to assist in the details of administering its affairs and in raising funds and provides that legal services for the Board shall be provided by the Attorney General.

Summary: Drug manufacturers; permitting and registration;certain conditions related to 340B-covered drugs. Requires adrug manufacturer, as a condition of obtaining a permit or as a conditionof registration or renewal of registration, to certify that it doesnot limit the number of contract pharmacies or covered entities,as defined in relevant law, to which it ships 340B-covered drugsand that it does not impose requirements, exclusions, reimbursementterms, or other conditions on a contract pharmacy or covered entitythat differ from those applied to pharmacies or entities that arenot contract pharmacies or covered entities on the basis that thepharmacy or entity is a contract pharmacy or covered entity or thatthe pharmacy or entity dispenses 340B-covered drugs.

Summary: Board of Pharmacy; regulations related to pharmacy outsourcing and pharmacy technician remote database access. Directs the Board of Pharmacy to promulgate regulations related to pharmacy outsourcing and pharmacy technician remote database access. The bill directs the Board to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill.

Summary: Temporary detention; certified evaluators; report. Authorizes hospitals with a psychiatric emergency department located in the City of Hampton to employ certain trained individuals to perform evaluations to determine whether a person meets the criteria for temporary detention for behavioral health treatment. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments in the City of Hampton to annually report the length of time between when a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order arrives at the psychiatric emergency department of a participating hospital and when the temporary detention order evaluation is completed and (ii) the number of (a) admissions, (b) psychiatric emergency department visits, (c) temporary detention order evaluations completed, (d) temporary detention orders executed, (e) individuals under temporary detention admitted to the participating hospital, and (f) individuals transferred from the psychiatric emergency department of the participating hospital to a state facility to the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Health and Human Services, and the Behavioral Health Commission. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments in the City of Hampton to report monthly to the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services the number of (a) crisis evaluations conducted each month; (b) temporary detention orders executed as a result of such evaluations and the percentage of evaluations such temporary detention orders represent; (c) reportable events associated with such temporary detention orders and the percentage of temporary detention orders that such reportable events represent; (d) certain reportable events; and (e) other events. The bill requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to submit by October 1, 2026, to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health and Human Services an evaluation of the overall effectiveness of certified evaluators conducting temporary detention order evaluations pursuant to the bill. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2026.

Summary: Civil commitments and temporary detention orders; definition of mental illness; neurocognitive disorders and neurodevelopmental disabilities; Secretary of Health and Human Resources to evaluate placements for certain individuals; report. Specifies that for the purpose of civil commitments and temporary detention orders, behaviors and symptoms that manifest from a neurocognitive disorder or neurodevelopmental disability are excluded from the definition of mental illness and are, therefore, not a basis for placing an individual under a temporary detention order or committing an individual involuntarily to an inpatient psychiatric hospital. The bill provides that if a state facility has reason to believe that an individual's behaviors or symptoms are solely a manifestation of a neurocognitive disorder or neurodevelopmental disability, the state facility may require that a licensed psychiatrist or other licensed mental health professional reevaluate the individual's eligibility for a temporary detention order before the individual is admitted and shall promptly authorize the release of an individual held under a temporary detention order if the licensed psychiatrist or other licensed mental health professional determines the individual's behaviors or symptoms are solely a manifestation of a neurocognitive disorder or neurodevelopmental disability. The foregoing provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly. The bill also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work group to evaluate, identify, and develop placements for individuals with neurocognitive disorders and neurodevelopmental disabilities, as well as any statutory or funding changes needed to prevent inappropriate placements for such individuals, and to report his findings and recommendations by November 1, 2024. As introduced, this bill is a recommendation of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission and the Behavioral Health Commission. This bill is identical to HB 888.