                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PETITION TO TERMINATE PARENTAL RIGHTS (§ 63.2-910.2)

A. If a child has been in foster care under the responsibility of a local board
for 15 of the most recent 22 months or if the parent of a child in foster care
has been convicted of an offense under the laws of the Commonwealth or a
substantially similar law of any other state, the United States, or any foreign
jurisdiction that constitutes (i) murder or voluntary manslaughter, or a felony
attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any such offense, if the victim
of the offense was a child of the parent, a child with whom the parent resided
at the time such offense occurred, or the other parent of the child; or (ii)
felony assault resulting in serious bodily injury or felony bodily wounding
resulting in serious bodily injury or felony sexual assault, if the victim of
the offense was a child of the parent or a child with whom the parent resided at
the time of such offense, the local board shall file a petition to terminate the
parental rights of the child&#8217;s parents and concurrently identify, recruit,
process, and approve a qualified family for adoption of the child, unless:

   1. At the option of the local board, the child is being cared for by a
   relative;

   2. The local board has determined that the filing of such a petition would not
   be in the best interests of the child and has documented a compelling reason
   for such determination in the child&#8217;s foster care plan, such as (i) a
   relative has shown the will and ability to care for the child or (ii) the
   parent&#8217;s incarceration or participation in a court-ordered residential
   substance abuse treatment program constitutes the primary factor in the
   child&#8217;s placement in foster care, and termination of parental rights is
   not in the child&#8217;s best interests; or

   3. The local board has not provided to the family of the child, within the
   time period established in the child&#8217;s foster care plan, services deemed
   necessary for the child&#8217;s safe return home or has not otherwise made
   reasonable efforts to return the child home, if required under &#xA7;
   473(a)(15)(B)(ii) of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. &#xA7;
   673).

B. As used in this section, &#8220;serious bodily injury&#8221; means bodily
injury that involves substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain,
protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the
function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.

HISTORY: 2017, c. 190; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 535.