SB 399 — Creating Bring Them Home Fund

CS for SB 399 WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION IntroducedCommittee Substitute for Senate Bill 399 FISCAL NOTE By Senators smith (Mr.

President) and Woelfel [By Request of the Executive] [Introduced[Reported JanuaryFebruary 15,24, 2026;2026, from the Committee on the Judiciary] CS for SB 399 A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new article, designated §49-13-101, §49-13-102, §49-13-103, and §49-13-104, relating to creating the Bring Them Home Fund;

referredproviding tolegislative thefindings Committee on Health and Humanpurpose; Resources;

andestablishing thencriteria tofor Finance]receipt Intr SB 399 2026R2804S 2026R2805H A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new article, designated §49-13-101, §49-13-102, §49-13-103, and §49-13-104,disbursement relating to the creation of themoneys; Bring Them Home Fund;

guidelinesrequiring tocertain disbursecoordination moneysand fromcooperation theamong fund for the purpose of renovating existing state propertiesagencies; to facilitate the expansion of West Virginia’s child welfare provider network;

andauthorizing authoritycertain agreements to promulgatefulfill legislativethe rules.purpose of the fund;

and granting authority to promulgate legislative, procedural, and emergency rules.

BRING THEM HOME FUNDFUND. §49-13-101.

Legislative§49-13-101. Findings.

WhenLegislative afindings childand ispurpose. in need of in-patient placement for acute psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, or trauma services, that child should be able to receive adequate services within their home state.

Not(a) onlyThe doesLegislature anfinds out-of-stateas placementfollows: in a residential childcare and treatment facility bear a significantly higher cost than a similar in-state placement, but the distance may make it more difficult for the department to have meaningful engagement with the child and their treatment team.

Most(1) importantly,When ana out-of-statechild is in need of in-patient placement meansfor thatacute apsychiatric, childneurodevelopmental, alreadyor intrauma aservices, crisisthat maychild loseshould anybe familyable supportto theyreceive mayadequate have.services within their home state;

Therefore,(2) itPlacement isin thean findingout-of-state theresidential Legislaturechildcare thatand theretreatment isfacility anot valuableonly publicbears needa tosignificantly createhigher morecost qualitythan a similar in-state placementplacement, facilitiesbut ablethe todistance providecan necessarymake residentialit treatmentmore difficult for the department to have meaningful engagement with the childrenchild whoand needhis itor most.her treatment team;

and (3) Most importantly, an out-of-state placement means that a child who is already in a crisis situation may lose any family support he or she might have.

(b) The purpose of this article is to address a valuable public need to create more quality, in-state placement facilities that are able to provide necessary residential treatment to the children who need it most.

Creation of the Bring Them Home Fund.Fund created.

(a) ThereA is hereby created a special trustrevenue fund whichis shallcreated beand designated and known as the "Bring Them Home Fund,"Fund" to be administered by the Secretary of the Department of Human Services.

TheAs fundused shallin consistthis ofarticle, “fund” means the following:Bring Them Home Fund.

(1)The Anyfund appropriationsconsists madeof by the Legislature;following:

(2)1 AnyCS grants,for gifts,SB donations,399 contributions(1) orAny revenues,appropriations receivedmade fromby anythe source,Legislature; and received in any form, including cash, property, or other resources;

(2) Any grants, gifts, donations, contributions, or revenues, received from any source and in any form, including cash, property, or other resources;

and Intr SB 399 2026R2804S 2026R2805H (4) Any fundsmoneys generated through a revolving funding structure.structure;

Theand Secretary(5) shallAny reinvestmoneys savingsreinvested frompursuant decreasedto numberssubsection of(b) out-of-state placements directly into the fund for continued expansion of high-qualitythis childsection. welfare treatment facilities and services.

(b) AnyThe fundssecretary receivedshall byreinvest thesavings Secretaryfrom ofdecreased thenumbers Department of Humanout-of-state Servicesplacements fordirectly theinto purpose of the Bringfund Themfor Homecontinued shallexpansion beof paidhigh-quality intochild thewelfare Bringtreatment Themfacilities Home Fund, and shallservices. be disbursed and otherwise managed in the manner set forth in this article, unless such a transfer is not allowable by law.

(c) TheAny Bringmoneys Themreceived Homeby Fundthe secretary for the purpose of the fund shall be treatedpaid byinto the Auditorfund and Treasurermanaged asand adisbursed specialas revenueset fundforth andin notthis asarticle, partunless ofsuch thea generaltransfer revenuesis ofnot theallowable state.by law.

(d) Any fundsmoneys remaining in the Bringfund Them Home Fund at the end of thea fiscal year shalldo not revert to the General Revenue Fund.Fund but remain in the fund to be expended pursuant to this article.

DisbursementsDisbursement. from the Bring Them Home Fund.

(a) The Secretary of the Department of Human Services ismay authorized to disburse fundsmoneys from the Bring Them Home Fund, at his or her discretion, for any of the following purposes:

(1) To renovate existing state properties tofor expandthe purpose of expanding high-acuity psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, andor trauma services for children residing in West Virginia;

(2) To develop treatment programs, including in-patient programs and aftercare programs, that match clinical profiles of youthchildren historically placed out-of-state;

(3) To expand the child welfare provider network in West Virginia and build a foundation for highhigh-quality, quality, specialty care;

or (4) To operate, or cause to be operated, ana in-statestate-owned, in-patientin-state, in-patient, childcare facilityfacility. that is owned by the state.

(b)2 TheCS Secretaryfor ofSB the399 Department(b) ofThe Humansecretary Services is not limited to using state properties which are already within the possession of the Department of Human Services.

Instead,The thesecretary Secretarymay is authorized to coordinate with other state agencies and the State Board of Education to determine whatany existing state properties that could be used for a childcare facility.

Recognizing the social and economic value of placing children at in-statein- state facilities, other state Intr SB 399 2026R2804S 2026R2805H agencies shouldshall act collaboratively with the Department of Human Services to identify whatany state properties that can better serve a better public need through repurposing in accordance with this article.

(c) The Secretarysecretary of the Department of Human Services may enter into operating or management agreements with private entities to effectuatefulfill the purposes of this section,section and may disburse funds to do so.

(1) An operating or management agreement may includeinclude, without limitation, a lease agreement for thereal property.

(2) A third party contractually authorized to operate or manage an in-state facility at a property owned by the state may not accept the placement of out-of-state children, unless the Departmentdepartment affirms, in writing, that the placement needs for in-state children isare presently satisfied.

The Departmentdepartment may require thea private operator or manager to leave one or more beds unassigned in the event that the need for placement of an in-state childrenchild arises.

LegislativeRules; Rulemaking.