[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6381496,"mediaKeyId","2128328-0fa51e5e551faa6b5e8e1989908282bd","parentId",2128328,"title","Virginia Social Services commissioner urges investments in child‑protective staffing, kinship and technology","audioSeconds",1535,"startMs",2639000,"endMs",4174000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2128328-0fa51e5e551faa6b5e8e1989908282bd&start=2639&end=4174","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2128328-0fa51e5e551faa6b5e8e1989908282bd/thumbnail_2639000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6381496/Virginia/Virginia-Social-Services-commissioner-urges-investments-in-childprotective-staffing-kinship-and-technology","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6381496-7f1b297ea3386194b9c069cfe494aad4/orig.mp4?Expires=1771127069&Signature=drRv6jrRG5phjHVlO9VgpFlBDxaeD9jFWjJgcDGQ3DrHerbl8ocWvVtPIDqzVGtIw790xlVbeirObajeqFHjUkGPEMFM7qLGPo-bqEQQZGAfR5bEThuoirtj~yYA13PQ6zIplq4hDkUW-P-opTRX5UeDXVBTx8OZhFqfCzBjtW-cU5DktzXvJYK3oDlkioVvpvZFyJZI0sjORntCL1AFelcuwOPzLPKT20iZltk-onXoeGHP9Ppn7MWDLjVQV1~ZfjLGG7BPbsZqXnrbuyQbA4BTWF49yct5B~nsDJE7Ms0hsbsIMjdd456LNzFa9lybzbwc9ZhPq1ElCpJH3KGFlQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Virginia Legislature","date","2025-01-17T00:00:00Z","article","James Williams, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services, briefed the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the department’s budget priorities Friday, focused on child welfare staffing, modernizing intake technology and expanding programs to move clients toward employment.

Williams said the department’s total spending in fiscal 2024 was about $2.9 billion, roughly half federal funds and about 20% state general funds, and described a multi‑part package aimed at child protective services (CPS) and local service capacity. “This is a front door to all of our benefits delivery and all the services that we offer, obviously,” Williams said, describing the local departments of social services as the “front door.”

The governor’s amendment includes an initial $7,900,000 investment to begin addressing CPS workload and technology shortcomings, Williams said. That package would allocate $500,000 to overhaul the CPS hotline technology and fund an eventual staffing increase (the proposal envisions 60 additional local CPS workers, 12 local supervisors and five state regional consultants in a later phase). Williams described the hotline update as a way to route reports more efficiently so staff spend less time triaging misdirected complaints.

Williams also outlined child welfare and foster/adoption priorities. The department credited recent kinship‑care legislation and updated State Board of Social Services regulations that took effect the week of the hearing for boosting preventive kinship services; Williams said that preventive kinship program has already served families since the July 1 effective date. He and Deputy Commissioner Carl Ayers told the committee that the state no longer posts public photo listings of children for adoption because of human‑trafficking risks; Ayers said the agency has preserved referral processes but removed public photo listings as an administrative safety decision.

On benefits administration, Williams said Medicaid enrollment has fallen roughly 8% since the unwinding of the public‑health emergency but remains around 2,000,000 enrollees, which sustains an elevated eligibility workload for local departments. The department also highlighted the Virginia Sunbucks program, which served more than 700,000 families after a rapid summer launch, and noted a $101,000,000 federal LIHEAP appropriation that will feed through local services.

Workforce and program integrity proposals in the budget include expanding the Full Employment program (which can subsidize employer wages and training), enhancing electronic identity verification for benefits applications, adding procurement staff to handle an increased number of high‑risk contracts and preserving income‑verification services used to curb fraud. Williams said the department has moved to modernize the CommonHelp portal and plans to integrate 211 as an up‑to‑date referral network.

Committee members pressed the department about adoption waitlists and the absence of online photo listings; Deputy Commissioner Carl Ayers said the agency removed the public listings to reduce trafficking risk but acknowledged the change has made it harder for some prospective adoptive families to view profiles. Delegate Kriesak asked whether the department has a hotline or assistance number for prospective adoptive parents; staff said much adoption referral work occurs at the local level and offered to follow up with committee members on individual constituent cases.

Ending: Williams asked legislators for time to continue implementation work with local departments and said several proposals would be phased in to reduce disruption to local operations. The committee asked for additional briefings and follow up on specific adoption and CPS logistic questions.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Health And Human Resources Subcommittee Friday, Jan 17, 2025 2:45 PM - 3:56 PM","oneSentenceSummary","The commissioner of the Department of Social Services told the House subcommittee the agency seeks targeted funds for child‑protective services staffing and hotline modernization, steps to restore program capacity, and initiatives to expand employment pathways and 211 referrals.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature VA, Virginia","taxId",77687,"location","Virginia","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6381501,"Virginia proposal funds trained ‘special conservators of the peace’ to ease crisis holds and jail-to-hospital transfers",2083,399000,2482000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2128328-0fa51e5e551faa6b5e8e1989908282bd&start=399&end=2482","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2128328-0fa51e5e551faa6b5e8e1989908282bd/thumbnail_399000.jpg","/articles/6381501/Virginia/Virginia-proposal-funds-trained-special-conservators-of-the-peace-to-ease-crisis-holds-and-jail-to-hospital-transfers","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6381501-47246bcf2235ee32eec766b3f5357f62/orig.mp4?Expires=1771127069&Signature=XGH~~Z46VcJo48plNoYdwB~KFz1B57kMRinf6Eh6uIcy8Cfvx0UoAghoqM8RXNYSbaFtsgMP2HnmAV~Fi-nDAeJnIsptaJNrSxIyFPFarskAlCKENR8uSSh1UCqxjEm-6aZ8tCfFLAKZ-neeFvKBKeJCDGLMF8XKeMd20leTzY3B-XU5zM~mKgRdNBEz667J6Cm~WwuQaruQoXpUPWhRobs6nlAibkRQ2mNMmye9rZZvicaRLfQCnkik-RWhR8ffd32p1FxrYi74GlNnOrariu2mykw6zSTQ~mr-IF3DDsPRUqefMjMNg2tuHwDfw9ipsAB~x~ZJGQYxDp8lnTLwKw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Commissioner Nelson Smith, head of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Resources on Friday that the agency’s FY‑25 and FY‑26 budget requests include new spending to reduce criminalization of mental illness and shorten long custody waits.

Smith said the governor’s biennial package would add $53,500,000 in fiscal 2025 and $56,400,000 in fiscal 2026 to advance the administration’s Right Help Right Now plan, including a proposal to fund specially trained “special conservators of the peace,” or S‑COPS, who would maintain custody and support patients while they await inpatient beds. “People in crisis are still being criminalized for their mental illness. In many cases, as you know, they’re handcuffed to beds for many hours,” Smith said.

The nut of the proposal is to place trauma‑informed, crisis‑intervention trained S‑COPS in emergency settings and on transport so custody transfers do not rely solely on uniformed law enforcement. Smith told the committee a $35,200,000 item in the governor’s budget would let the state expand the S‑COPS model to regions 1, 2, 4 and 5 and support demonstration sites at selected private hospitals. “Unlike law enforcement, whose presence alone can unintentionally increase some of these individuals’ anxiety … these S‑COPS will not wear those uniforms,” Smith said.

Why it matters: Smith said the state hospital system remains full despite reopening beds and adding 56 new beds, and that forensic admissions and court‑ordered restorations to competency have driven census growth. “Since 2014, forensic patients in the state hospitals have increased by 93%,” he said. The department also flagged rising pharmacy costs — up roughly 164% over the past decade — and said long stays and a high forensic census increase per‑day costs to the Commonwealth.

Committee members asked for data to support the economic case for S‑COPS — specifically whether the program would save overtime or other local costs now incurred by police and sheriffs. Delegate Krizak requested cost comparisons; Smith said he has overtime reports from chiefs and would provide financial data to the committee. Delegate Koerner asked whether the S‑COPS role requires a law‑enforcement background; Smith said S‑COPS are sanctioned through courts via the criminal justice system and that the planned model adds crisis‑intervention (CIT) and trauma‑informed training, but he deferred specific hiring qualifications to follow up.

The commissioner described pilot work in Southwest Virginia using a private vendor and said early results show fewer dangerous “drop‑offs” at hospitals and that 78% of patients taken into custody by S‑COPS were subsequently placed in private beds. He also said the department is rewriting alternative‑transportation contracts and expects to award the contract within the month.

Other budget items Smith described include $1,500,000 for the Adult Psychiatric Access Line (APEL) to sustain two regional pilots and expand consultative support for primary care and emergency clinicians, $1,200,000 for crisis co‑responder programs pairing clinicians with specially trained officers, and a $1,400,000 non‑general fund allocation for problem‑gambling treatment drawn from gaming receipts. Smith also noted language amendments to allow DBHDS to set up contracts with private hospitals for demonstration sites.

Agency capacity and operations: Smith said the department has reduced licensing backlog times dramatically (from 18–24 months to roughly 30 days) and has driven down some vacancy rates from about 36% to the “teens,” though some hiring needs remain. The governor’s package would add evaluator positions at hospitals with the largest forensic populations, funding for service‑authorization staff to meet regulatory timeframes (the department reported 126,310 service‑authorization submissions in 2023), and information‑security staff after a cybersecurity exercise with Oracle Health.

What the subcommittee directed or requested: Delegates asked for the permanent injunction and related Department of Justice settlement documents; Smith said those have been sent and he would provide copies. Members also sought the pilot evaluation data for Southwest Virginia; Smith said the department would share the numbers. Several members emphasized the need for tracked data on whether the S‑COPS proposal reduces local overtime, forensic admissions, or other downstream costs.

Ending: Smith closed by saying the administration is pursuing a multi‑pronged approach — building crisis services, adding clinical capacity and testing custody alternatives — and invited follow up meetings with the subcommittee for additional details and documentation.","The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services told the House subcommittee it seeks multi‑year funding to expand crisis services, launch specially trained custody officers (S‑COPS) and speed evaluations for forensic patients amid high hospital census and long custody waits.","actionData","errors"]

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Virginia Social Services commissioner urges investments in child‑protective staffing, kinship and technology

Virginia proposal funds trained ‘special conservators of the peace’ to ease crisis holds and jail-to-hospital transfers