Visiting a Juvenile in WV Facilities: Background Checks, One-Year Rule, and Rules for Children

When you apply to visit a juvenile, pay close attention to the certification section on the visiting request form. You'll need to sign and date a statement confirming your answers are true and that the information can be used to run a background check. Skip the signature or the date, and your request can stall before it even gets reviewed.

Your signature is not just a formality. You're signing and dating a certification that reads: "I HEREBY AFFIRM THAT ALL ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS ARE TRUE AND CORRECT TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY MAY BE UTILIZED FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONDUCTING A BACKGROIUND CHECK." Review your answers carefully before signing. The form treats everything you wrote as information that can be used for the background check.

1. Contact the facility where the juvenile is located - Ask about background check approval and how to schedule the visit.
2. Confirm before you travel - Even with an approved background check, the Superintendent can still deny the visit, so it is worth verifying you are cleared to come in.

There's a one-year rule for repeat paperwork. If you've already completed the juvenile visiting form for the same offender at another juvenile facility, don't fill it out again unless the original is more than 1 year old. Not sure whether your previous form is still within that one-year window? Contact the facility where the offender is currently located and ask how they want you to proceed.

Bringing Children

• ✓ A child (under 18) may only be brought if the child’s parent or legal guardian is on the offender’s approved visiting list.

• ✓ If anyone other than the parent or legal guardian is bringing the child, they must have a notarized permission slip from the parent or legal guardian.

Planning to bring a minor with you? First, make sure the child's parent or legal guardian is already on the offender's approved visiting list. If you're not the parent or legal guardian, you'll need a notarized permission slip from whoever is. This is the most common reason families get turned away: the paperwork is missing, or the wrong person is trying to bring the child.

1. Complete the visiting request form carefully - Before you submit it, re-check your answers.
2. Sign and date the certification - Your signature confirms the answers are true and acknowledges the information may be used to conduct a background check.

1. Call the facility where the offender is located - Confirm background check approval and ask how to schedule the visit.
2. Ask if there are any restrictions on your visit - The Superintendent can deny a visit even after a background check is approved, so do not assume approval automatically means you can come in.

1. Confirm the parent or legal guardian is on the approved visiting list - This has to be in place before anyone else may bring in a child.
2. Get notarized permission if you are not the parent/guardian - Anyone other than the parent or legal guardian must have a notarized permission slip from the parent or legal guardian to bring the child into the complex.