Community College and Foster Care Management Debated in the Statehouse

Lawmakers argued over an idea to create a grant program to pay off tuition for community college students, and community members voiced concerns supporting and opposing a bill to alter medical care management for foster children in the state.

S.B. 1, which deals with community college tuition, ultimately progressed in the Senate. A similar bill passed the upper chamber unanimously last year, but was never taken up by the House. This year, new House Speaker Roger Hanshaw has championed the workforce development cause. But he’s questioned whether focusing on community college is the right path towards that goal.

H. B. 2010 would significantly restructure the state’s foster care system. It passed out of the House Health and Human Resources Committee Tuesday afternoon following a public hearing earlier that morning.

The bill would shift the health care of foster children in West Virginia to a managed care system, or MCOs. It also seeks to make it easier to recruit foster parents.