West Virginia Code 49-2-116 – Investigative authority; evaluation; complaint
(a) The secretary shall enforce this article.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 49-2-116
- Approval: means a finding by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources that a facility operated by the state has met the requirements of legislative rules promulgated for operation of that facility and that a certificate of approval or a certificate of operation has been issued. See West Virginia Code 49-1-203
- child: means an individual who meets one of the following conditions:
(A) Is under thirteen years of age. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
- Child care: means responsibilities assumed and services performed in relation to a child's physical, emotional, psychological, social, and personal needs and the consideration of the child's rights and entitlements, but does not include secure detention or incarceration under the jurisdiction of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation pursuant to §. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Facility: means a place or residence, including personnel, structures, grounds, and equipment used for the care of a child or children on a residential or other basis for any number of hours a day in any shelter or structure maintained for that purpose. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
- Informal family child care: means a home that is used to provide nonresidential child care services for compensation for three or fewer children, including children who are living in the household who are under six years of age. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
- Law-enforcement officer: means a law-enforcement officer of the State Police, a municipality or county sheriff'. See West Virginia Code 49-1-208
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Registration: means the grant of official permission to a family child care home, informal family child care home, or a relative family child care home determined to be in compliance with the legislative rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter. See West Virginia Code 49-1-203
- Relative family child care: means a home that provides nonresidential child care services only to children related to the caregiver. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
- Secretary: means the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. See West Virginia Code 49-1-208
(b) An on-site evaluation of every facility regulated pursuant to this chapter, except registered family child care homes, informal family child care and relative family child care homes shall be conducted no less than once per year by announced or unannounced visits.
(c) A random sample of not less than five percent of the total number of registered family child care homes, informal family child care homes and relative family child care homes shall be monitored annually through on-site evaluations.
(d) The secretary shall have access to the premises, personnel, children in care and records of each facility subject to inspection, including at a minimum, case records, corporate and financial records and board minutes. Applicants for licenses, approvals, and certificates of registration shall consent to reasonable on-site administrative inspections, made with or without prior notice, as a condition of licensing, approval, or registration.
(e) When a complaint is received by the secretary alleging violations of licensure, approval, or registration requirements, the secretary shall investigate the allegations. The secretary may notify the facility's director before or after a complaint is investigated and shall cause a written report of the results of the investigation to be made.
(f) The secretary may enter any unlicensed, unregistered or unapproved child care facility or personal residence for which there is probable cause to believe that the facility or residence is operating in violation of this article. Those entries shall be made with a law-enforcement officer present. The secretary may enter upon the premises of any unregistered residence only after two attempts by the secretary to bring this facility into compliance.