Unaccompanied homeless youth

This bill changes and updates a section of the Code of Virginia about homeless youth who don’t have a parent or guardian with them, and agreeing to medical or surgical care.

• Code of Virginia: Collection of all the laws and rules in the state of Virginia. It organizes these laws by topic, like education, transportation, or health, so people can easily find and understand the rules that affect them. It’s like the official rulebook for how things are done in Virginia.

• Says who can give consent for people under 18 who don’t have a parent or guardian with them:

  • Judges for those cared for by their courts.

  • Local directors of social services for those taken somewhere safe or put in the care of a local group without asking the parents right away.

  • Directors of the Department of Corrections or Department of Juvenile Justice for minors in their custody.

    • These departments are where young people go who have been said to have committed a crime.

  • Leaders of state institutions, like nursing homes run by the state, for those in their care.

  • Leaders of any institution or agency caring for people under 18 who aren't with their parents.

  • Anyone acting as a conservator

    • Conservator: A person who is appointed to help someone manage their finances or property if they have difficulty doing it on their own. The goal is to provide support while respecting the person’s independence and abilities as much as possible.

  • If a parent or guardian can't be reached because they live elsewhere, are missing, or can’t be contacted, court judges that deal specifically with issues of children and families can give consent.

• No one, including health and emergency professionals, will be responsible for giving medical treatment to a person under 18 without permission if waiting could hurt the person later, as long as the person is 14 or older and can agree first.

• Emergency professionals also won’t be responsible for not getting permission to move the person if it’s not available in time, again if the minor is 14 or older and capable of agreeing first.

• If this bill passes, a person under 18 is considered an adult for agreeing to:

  • Medical care for sicknesses that spread through sex, or infectious diseases.

  • Birth control, pregnancy, or family planning services (except for sexual sterilization).

    • Sexual Sterilization: A medical procedure that permanently prevents a person from having children.

  • Care for using drugs that a person comes in from outside the hospital to get. 

  • Care for mental health or emotional support that someone comes in from outside the hospital to get.

  • People under 18 who are or have been married are seen as adults for permission to medical treatment, including sergury.

  • Pregnant people under 18 are treated as adults for making decisions about their child’s delivery.

• People 16 and up can agree to blood donation if they have a parent’s permission; those 17 and older can donate without a parents permission if they aren’t being paid.

• Those in charge of a child’s care need to make efforts to let the child’s parent or guardian know about the permission for treatment.

• Two parts of this bill don’t allow people under 18 to agree to abortion without following specific rules.

  • Abortion: a medical procedure to end a pregnancy.

• Another part of this bill allows parents and guardians to get certain health records of a child unless sharing them would hurt the child.

• Homeless people under 18 who are not with a parent or guardian, are considered adults for agreeing to medical exams or treatments without needing a parents permission. 

• Health professionals won’t be responsible for their actions with homeless people under 18 who don’t have a parent or guardian with them, but can still get in trouble for ignoring or not caring for the person.