A. There is established a Court-Appointed Special Advocate Program (the Program) that shall be administered by the Department. The Program shall provide services in accordance with this article to children who are subjects of judicial proceedings (i) involving allegations that the child is abused, neglected, in need of services, or in need of supervision or (ii) for the restoration of parental rights pursuant to § 16.1-283.2 and for whom the juvenile and domestic relations district court judge determines such services are appropriate. Court-Appointed Special Advocate volunteer appointments may continue for youth 18 years of age and older who are in foster care if the court has retained jurisdiction pursuant to subsection Z of § 16.1-241 or § 16.1-242 and the juvenile and domestic relations district court judge determines such services are appropriate. The Department shall adopt regulations necessary and appropriate for the administration of the Program.

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Terms Used In Virginia Code 9.1-151

  • Board: means the Criminal Justice Services Board. See Virginia Code 9.1-101
  • Department: means the Department of Criminal Justice Services. See Virginia Code 9.1-101
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245

B. The Board shall appoint an Advisory Committee to the Court-Appointed Special Advocate Program, consisting of 15 members, one of whom shall be a judge of the juvenile and domestic relations district court or circuit court, knowledgeable of court matters, child welfare, and juvenile justice issues and representative of both state and local interests. The duties of the Advisory Committee shall be to advise the Board on all matters relating to the Program and the needs of the clients served by the Program, and to make such recommendations as it may deem desirable.

1990, c. 752, § 9-173.6; 1994, c. 24; 2001, c. 844; 2013, cc. 338, 685; 2014, c. 636; 2016, c. 202; 2020, cc. 95, 732.