2005 West Virginia Code - §5-26-2a. — Citizen\'s advisory council.

§5-26-2a. Citizen's advisory council.
(a) The governor shall appoint a citizens' advisory council to assist the cabinet with the implementation of its mission and policy objectives.
(b) The council shall be comprised of not fewer than twelve nor more than thirty citizens who will serve terms of one, two or three years as assigned at the time of appointment. The council members will have knowledge and experience in serving children and families in such areas as housing: Health promotion and disease prevention; education; transportation; reading and literacy; food and nutrition; clothing; utilities; job training and employment; child care; child protection; early intervention and crisis intervention; assessment and diagnosis; home-based family development; preservation and reunification; financial planning; mental health and counseling; substance abuse prevention counseling and treatment; addiction awareness training; pregnancy prevention; and information, referral and placement.
(c) The purpose of the council is to:
(1) Provide a forum for discussion of issues that affect the state's children and families;
(2) Identify and promote best practices in the provision of services to children and families;
(3) Review information and research that can inform state policy;
(4) Make recommendations to the cabinet in areas of policy and allocation of resources;
(5) Focus attention on accountability and results;
(6) Assist the cabinet in developing a cross-agency multi-year state plan for improving the well being of children and families;
(7) Connect government officials who make decisions with the families affected by their decisions;
(8) Engage local communities through family resource networks to work on local issues and statewide priorities;
(9) Assure that community and family voices are heard by the cabinet; and
(10) Promote family support practices by all publicly funded agencies.
(d) The governor shall select three members of the council to serve on the cabinet, two of whom are family representatives from families who have received or are receiving services funded, in whole or in part, by federal, state or local governments, and one of whom is a community representative who is not employed in a managerial or decision-making position of a provider of services funded in whole or in part by federal, state or local governments.
(e) The community representative initially appointed shall serve for a term of one year and the family representatives initially appointed shall serve for terms of two years and three years respectively. If a member's term on the cabinet exceeds his or her term on the council, his or her term on the council will be extended automatically to coincide with his or her term on the cabinet. Members appointed subsequent to the initial appointments shall serve for terms of three years, and may serve up to three consecutive full terms: Provided, That members appointed under this section shall continue to serve until their successors are appointed. An appointment to fill a vacancy will be for the unexpired term.
(f) Citizen members may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties in a manner consistent with guidelines of the travel management office of the department of administration.
(g) The governor may remove any citizen member from the council or the cabinet for neglect of duty, incompetency or official misconduct.