---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child welfare agencies; licensure for agencies operated by the Commonwealth."
description: "Provides for licensure of child welfare agencies operated by agencies of the Commonwealth."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 2156"
citation: "Virginia HB 2156 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Welfare (Social Services)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Sam Rasoul"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 18
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2017-01-11"
last_action: "2017-02-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/df744db4-49a5-43e3-abf7-892423f0e24c"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB2156"
source_hash: "39233bf4d93cf689f254952295c4bd82d0852760e06aeb8f98729d92ea2e6a15"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 2156 (2017) — Child welfare agencies; licensure for agencies operated by the Commonwealth.

Provides for licensure of child welfare agencies operated by agencies of the Commonwealth.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0196)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0196)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2156ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2156ER)
3. **House: Committee substitute printed 17104851D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2156H1)
4. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17100632D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB2156)

## Votes

- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **97–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **10–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services — **14–1** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Sam Rasoul — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17100632D `introduction`
- **2017-01-11** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-24** Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-01** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-02** Passed by for the day
- **2017-02-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-03** Committee substitute agreed to 17104851D-H1
- **2017-02-03** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2156H1
- **2017-02-06** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-02-07** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2017-02-07** Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-14** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-16** Enrolled
- **2017-02-16** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-17** Signed by President
- **2017-02-17** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/17/17
- **2017-02-17** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 24, 2017
- **2017-02-23** Approved by Governor-Chapter 196 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/df744db4-49a5-43e3-abf7-892423f0e24c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).