West Virginia's foster care mess spills over into court system; House will try to address it
West Virginia House of Delegates Judiciary Committee Chairman Del. J.B. Akers said members must make it a priority to help the court systems deal with an overwhelming number of child abuse and neglect cases in the state. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography)
West Virginia's foster care system is in crisis, and it has spilled over into the state's court system.
As the House of Delegates Judiciary Committee gaveled in for the first time this year, new chairman Del. J.B. Akers set a priority for members: helping the court systems deal with an overwhelming number of child abuse and neglect cases.
There aren't enough attorneys or child protective services workers to help the cases move along, and judges believe kids are falling through the cracks.
'It is the most pressing matter in the judicial system in the state of West Virginia,' said Akers, R-Kanawha, a lawyer whose wife serves as circuit judge in his county.
'This was a huge challenge for the state of West Virginia, but I thought it was important symbolically to make this a day one issue,' he continued. 'I'm not going to promise folks that we're going to solve this, because it's probably too big of a problem … to solve them in one legislative session. But I want folks to know that it is a focus of the work we're doing.'
Tackling the problem will take money, Akers said. It could be a challenge as Gov. Patrick Morrisey and the Republican-led Legislature are trying to figure out the reality of the governor's projected $400 million deficit and how it could impact spending.
Last year, 5,449 children entered the abuse and neglect system — a 2.6% increase from 2023, according to Cindy Largent-Hill, director of the state Supreme Court of Appeals Division of Children's Services. Many of the cases involved adult substance abuse; allegations of child abuse involving drug endangerment are four times higher in West Virginia than the national average.
There were 5,286 child abuse and neglect cases filed in circuit courts in 2023, about 13% of the total case filings that year. At the Supreme Court, there were 251 abuse and neglect appeals filed in 2023, around 43% of the total filings.
Largent-Hill told lawmakers that there aren't near enough attorneys for child abuse cases, and availbale ones are assigned to a child's case as a guardian ad litem for at least one year. They deserve 'the one constant' in a child's life during that time, she noted.
'On any given day we have under 200 attorneys who have agreed to do this kind of work,' said Largent-Hill, adding that most guardian ad litems cover 12 counties.'Compensation is an issue. Currently, they make $60 an hour for out of court work and $80 for in court. That's much less than attorneys can make doing other work.'
Stacey Fragile, chief public defender in Raleigh County, explained to lawmakers how difficult the work as a guardian ad litem can be.
'I was at a [West Virginia University] football game, and I got a call that one of the children I was representing had been kidnapped. Burnout is real,' she said.
Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, a foster parent, has introduced a bill that would establish a three-year 'guardian ad litem pilot program' in three judicial circuits to provide needed legal counsel. The program could employ full-time attorneys, part-time attorneys or 'whatever combination that the public guardian ad litem corporation deems most cost effective.'
Akers noted that the bill would have a fiscal note, which isn't yet available, meaning that he couldn't make any promises on its passage but said his committee would at least consider the measure.
'I know that the governor's office has been extremely conservative with the budget, and I agree that we should be careful with taxpayer dollars. But I also want to make sure that there's some things that are more important than money,' Akers said. 'I think we need to this year, you don't wait until you have the money.'
The state's shortage of CPS workers continues despite the Department of Human Services' work to address the problem, and the problem has contributed to cases being held up in the judicial system.
The worker shortage prompted Third Circuit Court Judge Timothy Sweeney last week to order several DoHS officials to report to the Ritchie County Courthouse Feb. 20 to serve as CPS workers.
Judge Anita Harold Ashley, who serves the Fifth Judicial Circuit, also questioned how CPS was screening child abuse and neglect referalls as she has seen a notbale drop of in the number of cases in her district. DoHS last year changed how it screens referrals and manages cases involving child abuse and neglect following questions of how DoHS handled the high-profile case of the apparent starvation death of 14-year-old Kyneddi Miller.
Ashley said that so far this year, CPS had filed only four cases in Roane County, and the number had continued to drop from 136 cases filed in 2016.
'There's something wrong,' she said.
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