republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2025/hb-1733.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Children; petitions for relief of care & custody, investigation by local dept. of social services.	Petitions for relief of care and custody of a child; investigation by local department of social services; Office of the Children's Ombudsman work group; report. Requires a local department of social services, as a part of its investigation after the referral of a request for a petition for relief of the care and custody of a child, to (i) refer the parent to the local family assessment and planning team and (ii) create a written report. The bill directs the Department of Social Services, in coordination with the Virginia League of Social Services Executives, to create a template for and provide guidance on what should be included in such written report. The bill also directs the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to convene a work group composed of relevant stakeholders to (a) determine the factors a court should consider when determining whether there is good cause shown for a petitioner's desire to be relieved of the care and custody of a child and (b) explore the potential benefits and considerations of raising the standard of evidence for granting temporary relief of custody from the current standard of preponderance of the evidence to clear and convincing evidence. The bill directs the work group to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice and the Virginia Commission on Youth by November 1, 2025. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth. This bill is identical to SB 1372.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2025	HB 1733	Virginia HB 1733 (2025)	bill		enacted	Joshua G. Cole	4	31	6	2025-01-04	2025-03-19	openstates	ocd-bill/c7262c91-f52c-4972-a4fc-0d36dc73952c	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB1733	b789811a624fcb5cb012fec3cc478fd4dacfc71f86eadd5280a5c3bfa087ec98	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 1733 (2025) — Children; petitions for relief of care & custody, investigation by local dept. of social services.

Petitions for relief of care and custody of a child; investigation by local department of social services; Office of the Children's Ombudsman work group; report. Requires a local department of social services, as a part of its investigation after the referral of a request for a petition for relief of the care and custody of a child, to (i) refer the parent to the local family assessment and planning team and (ii) create a written report. The bill directs the Department of Social Services, in coordination with the Virginia League of Social Services Executives, to create a template for and provide guidance on what should be included in such written report. The bill also directs the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to convene a work group composed of relevant stakeholders to (a) determine the factors a court should consider when determining whether there is good cause shown for a petitioner's desire to be relieved of the care and custody of a child and (b) explore the potential benefits and considerations of raising the standard of evidence for granting temporary relief of custody from the current standard of preponderance of the evidence to clear and convincing evidence. The bill directs the work group to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice and the Virginia Commission on Youth by November 1, 2025. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth. This bill is identical to SB 1372.

Version chain

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

1. Introduced (filed) — source
2. Chaptered (committee substitute) — source
3. Courts of Justice Substitute (committee substitute) — source
4. Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — 8–0 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — 22–0 (pass) · lower
• Read third time and passed House (96-Y 0-N) — 96–0 (pass) · lower
• Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Courts of Justice (12-Y 0-N) — 12–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Joshua G. Cole — primary (person)
• Barbara A. Favola — cosponsor (person)
• Holly M. Seibold — cosponsor (person)
• Irene Shin — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2025-01-04 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-08-2025 25103979D filing, introduction
• 2025-01-04 Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services referral-committee
• 2025-01-14 Referred from Health and Human Services and referred to Courts of Justice (Voice Vote) referral-committee
• 2025-01-15 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1733)
• 2025-01-17 Assigned Courts sub: Civil referral-committee
• 2025-01-20 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) substitution
• 2025-01-21 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1733)
• 2025-01-24 Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2025-01-24 Committee substitute printed 25105494D-H1 substitution
• 2025-01-28 Read first time reading-1
• 2025-01-29 Read second time reading-2
• 2025-01-29 Courts of Justice Substitute agreed to
• 2025-01-29 Engrossed by House - committee substitute substitution
• 2025-01-30 Read third time and passed House (96-Y 0-N) passage, reading-3
• 2025-01-31 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
• 2025-01-31 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2025-02-10 Reported from Courts of Justice (12-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2025-02-11 Rules suspended
• 2025-02-11 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N)
• 2025-02-11 Passed by for the day
• 2025-02-12 Read third time reading-3
• 2025-02-12 Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) passage
• 2025-02-17 Enrolled enrolled
• 2025-02-17 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1733ER) passage
• 2025-02-17 Signed by Speaker passage
• 2025-02-18 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1733)
• 2025-02-20 Signed by President passage
• 2025-03-03 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 3, 2025 enrolled, executive-receipt
• 2025-03-03 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 24, 2025 executive-receipt
• 2025-03-19 Approved by Governor-Chapter 138 (Effective 01/01/26) executive-signature
• 2025-03-19 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0138)

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/c7262c91-f52c-4972-a4fc-0d36dc73952c. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).