Richmond – Del. R. Steven Landes, R-Weyers Cave, was recently appointed by S. Chris Jones (R-Suffolk), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, to the newly formed Virginia Preschool Initiative Joint Subcommittee and reappointed to the Special Joint Subcommittee to Consult on the Plan to Close State Training Centers.
“I am honored to receive these appointments,” Landes said. “The Joint Subcommittee on the Virginia Preschool Initiative has been established to examine and provide recommendations on reforming that program. I am also happy to be reappointed to the Joint Subcommittee to continue our work on closure plans for the three remaining training centers as well as the redesign of Intellectual Disability, Developmental Disability and Day Support waiver programs. The important work on these joint subcommittees will go hand-in-hand with my work as Chairman of the House Education Committee and Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and as a Budget Conferee. ”
The goals and objectives of the Virginia Preschool Initiative Joint Subcommittee will be to consider increasing accountability, flexibility, innovation, clarification of Virginia’s role and policy relating to providing a preschool for economically disadvantaged children, and to further develop the facilitation of partnerships between school divisions and private providers.
As part of the review process being made by the Joint Subcommittee to Consult on the Plan to Close State Training Centers, we will evaluate options for those individuals in training centers with the most intensive medical and behavioral needs to determine the appropriate types of facility or residential settings necessary to ensure the care and safety of those residents is factored into the overall plan to transition to a more community-based system. This subcommittee will be working in collaboration with the Secretary of Health and Human Resources and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
Landes represents the 25th House District, which includes portions of Albemarle, Augusta and Rockingham Counties. He was first elected in 1995 and is currently serving his tenth term in the House.