(a. There is hereby established a fund, to be known as the Virginia Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Scholarship Fund, which shall consist of funds appropriated to it from time to time by the General Assembly and which shall be administered by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, for the purpose of providing scholarships for study in various professions and skills that deal with the treatment, training and care of individuals with mental illness and intellectual disability.
(b. The State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services shall adopt the necessary rules and regulations, not inconsistent with other laws, for the implementation of this section. Such rules and regulations shall provide:
(1. That scholarships be awarded for a period no longer than one year, but that certain scholarships may be reawarded not more than two times;
(2. That persons who receive such scholarships agree to serve in state employment upon completion of training for a period at least as long as the length of training provided by the scholarship, and that if they do not fulfill this agreement they shall repay to the Commonwealth the amount of the scholarship with interest;
(3. That priorities be given for training in professions and skills where shortages exist and are anticipated in state hospitals and training centers; and
(4. That priorities be given to citizens of the Commonwealth.
(c. The Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services is hereby authorized to receive gifts, donations, bequests, and federal grants to the Virginia Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Scholarship Fund.
History
1970, c. 384; 1987, c. 413; 2009, cc. 813, 840; 2012, cc. 476, 507.
