West Virginia Code 9-5-31 – Commissioner to conduct study
(a) The Commissioner of the Bureau for Behavioral Health shall engage the following stakeholders: Behavioral health providers, substance use disorder providers, municipal leaders, and county government leaders to study a breakdown of homeless demographic information throughout West Virginia. The study shall be responsible for:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 9-5-31
- Commissioner: means the commissioner of human services: Provided, That beginning January 1 2024, "commissioner" means the secretary of the Department of Human Services. See West Virginia Code 9-1-2
- Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
- 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 and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(1) Presenting a breakdown of homeless demographic information throughout West Virginia and regionally;
(2) Quantifying and inventorying of homelessness resources by region;
(3) Conducting an epidemiological analysis of homeless populations in West Virginia;
(4) Identifying key metrics to measure homelessness across West Virginia in a more consistent manner;
(5) Conducting analysis of whether West Virginia’s homeless populations concentrate in certain counties or municipalities and any reasons for such population concentrations;
(6) Determining if state policies cause the state’s homeless population to relocate to certain counties or municipalities;
(7) Determining the percentage of homeless individuals that lived in another state or jurisdiction in the past three years or are from another state or jurisdiction; and
(8) Conducting an analysis of whether any health and human service benefits offered in West Virginia attract populations that are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
(b) On or before July 1, 2024, the commissioner shall submit a report of the findings of the study to the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Delegates, and the Joint Committee on Government and Finance for consideration of legislation that may be appropriate relating to the homeless in West Virginia.