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Committee adopts changes to bill allowing courts to order parental drug tests in reunification cases
Summary
The committee advanced House Bill 5214, which authorizes courts in abuse-and-neglect proceedings to order drug testing of parents before reunification and requires immediate notification to the court of initial positive results pending laboratory confirmation; committee adopted an amendment replacing a department 'shall not permit' mandate with an immediate-notice requirement and reported the bill to the full Senate.
House Bill 5214, which would give courts a mechanism to order drug testing of parents before child reunification in abuse-and-neglect matters, was amended and advanced by the committee.
Counsel told the committee the strike‑and‑insert removes a fixed list of substances and instead allows courts to order testing for "any illegal substance, any substance for which the court has ordered the parent to be tested, or any substance the parent previously tested positive for." Counsel said the revised language also directs the Department of Human Services to pay for testing "at the reasonable and necessary rates" regardless of whether tests are confirmatory or medical in nature. Counsel said there is no fiscal note and that the Department of Human Services would be the affected agency.
Shannon Kravonyak, deputy cabinet secretary and general counsel for the West Virginia Department of Human Services, testified under oath that she is concerned the bill’s payment language could conflict with last year’s law limiting payments above Medicaid rates and that a provision saying the department "shall not permit" a child to return home could encroach on judicial authority. "We'll get drug tests for, like, dollars 1,000," Kravonyak said, arguing that providers’ bills can vary widely and the department needs safeguards against uncontrolled costs. She recommended replacing the flat prohibition with an obligation to notify the court so the judge — who oversees reunification — can decide.
Sponsor Delegate Hacker said the measure aims to allow judges to test for substances not covered in standard panels, including kratom. "This will just give a mechanism for the judge to test for more than just as on the normal panel," Hacker said.
After discussion, Senator from Marion offered a strike‑and‑insert amendment that would remove the department’s blanket prohibition on reunification pending a positive initial test and instead require the department to immediately notify the court, guardian ad litem and parties of initial test results pending laboratory confirmation. Counsel read the amendment for the record. The committee adopted the amendment on a voice vote. The vice chair then moved that the committee report HB 5214 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it "do pass as amended" (and that it be referred first to the committee on judiciary); the motion carried on a voice vote.
Next steps: HB 5214 was reported to the full Senate as amended; the committee record notes the bill will be effective in 90 days and secondarily referenced to the judiciary committee.
