Senator pauses bill mandating independent review of WV foster care after DoHS promises changes
Department of Human Services Secretary Alex Mayer speaks to the Senate Judiciary Committee March 10, 2025. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography)
The new leader of the state's Department of Human Services, standing in front of state Senators Monday, vowed changes to West Virginia's troubled foster care system while children continue to live in hotels and on campgrounds.
'I inherited a system that's very broken, a system that needs a lot of systematic change,' said DoHS Secretary Alex Mayer, who has been in the role for a little more than a month. 'I don't need a study to do it. … We're trying to look at places of need as quickly as possible.'
Mayer's promise to improve the foster care system prompted Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, to pause action on a bill that would have mandated an independent party conduct a study of how DoHS is operating its child welfare system.
He said the accountability with fixing the system now falls on Mayer.
'If this system is not fixed, I don't mean tweaks … if this system is not overhauled when this help is being offered to you, you bear and this administration bears sole responsibility for the failures of that to happen,' Stuart said. 'No excuses two years from now or three years from now … when you realize that the challenges are so complex, so weighty, so hard, so resistant but you're not able to to fix it.'
West Virginia far outpaces the nation in children coming into foster care, largely due to the state's substance abuse crisis. The state's foster care system is overburdened, and there's a shortage of foster homes and child protective services (CPS) workers.
Under previous Gov. Jim Justice's administration, lawmakers and reporters struggled to get answers from the Department of Human Services about various parts of the system, including whether children are promptly checked on and where they are housed.
Stewart's measure, Senate Bill 727, would mandate that DoHS participate in a comprehensive study, conducted by an outside group, to identify problems and recommendations for improvements. The study would evaluate the performance of judges, attorneys for children, CPS workers and DoHS administrators.
We have no accountability because we weren't given the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I just caution you, sometimes with the bureaucracy of your agency, it's hard for you to get the truth.
– Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier
There are more than 6,000 children in state foster care, and the study would also examine the permanent and temporary child placement system. DoHS would be required to turn over any information requested for the study. The study's findings would be presented to lawmakers September 2026 if lawmakers were to reconsider and advance the measure.
Sen. Vince Deeds, who has spearheaded several foster care-related bills, said the bureaucratic nature of DoHS made it difficult to maintain accountability. Deeds said he would feel confident with a third party agency reviewing the agency.
'We have no accountability because we weren't given the whole truth and nothing but the truth,' said Deeds, R-Greenbrier. 'I just caution you, sometimes with the bureaucracy of your agency, it's hard for you to get the truth. So, I challenge you, really, to go to the front line.'
'Because until we have an ownership and drill down and say, 'Hey, this is a problem here. Let's fix it so it doesn't continue to happen,' we're just not going to make any progress,' he continued. 'Allow us to help you.'
In 2023, Stuart called for an outside investigation into how DoHS handled a case where child protective services failed to check on two teens who were living in a shed. Law enforcement discovered the children in the shed more than a month later. An outside investigation was not conducted.
Stuart's request for a study, follows a federal judge dismissing a 2019 lawsuit brought by children against DoHS for alleged mistreatment while in foster care. 'West Virginia's foster care system has cycled through inaction, bureaucratic indifference, shocking neglect and temporary fixes for years. The blame squarely lies with West Virginia state government,' U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin wrote Feb. 28 in an opinion dismissing the suit.
Federal judge dismisses lawsuit meant to improve WV's troubled foster care system, problems persist
DoHs leaders said they've attempted to fill critical CPS positions and changed the child abuse and neglect referral process in hopes of better supporting families who may need assistance but not an investigation.
But, problems persist, and Mayer said he is currently working to assess the foster care system and implement improvements.
'I would hope to be able to provide some steps forward in the next six months,' he said. 'We're talking about a lot of the issues that you're talking about. I think right now, I'm just trying to get a handle on what exactly is going on at the agency level.'
State judges have recently raised concerns about the lack of child protective services workers, which could potentially leave children in dangerous situations, and the number of children living in hotels. Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Maryclaire Akers ordered a monitor be put in place to oversee CPS placements in hotels and camps after a child in an abuse and neglect case attempted suicide after being placed in a hotel by state CPS.
Mayer told lawmakers there are roughly 12 foster children currently living in hotels.
'Right now, my team is having weekly two-hour meetings with all providers in the state, so working through all the kids that are in hotels … to then work on how can we systematically move them through the system,' Mayer explained.
Sen. Scott Fuller, R-Wayne, urged Mayer to make foster care reform an agency priority.
'I pray, honestly, pray that you have the guts and the courage to look at whoever it is you need to look at and tell them, 'This is a priority,' ' Fuller said.
'If we don't fix this we have failed completely as an administration. We're talking about our children.'
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In 2017, state lawmakers pledged to increase funding by $350 million annually for ten years to fund schools adequately. This year's budget is $43 million below that target. And the city will face its own challenges this budget season, with President Donald Trump threatening to cut billions in funding. Without additional cash, layoffs of as many as 1,700 district employees could be on the horizon, a suggestion floated to board members in mid-April. To get through the last fiscal school year and meet its growing pension obligations, city officials proposed several borrowing scenarios for the district. CPS CEO Martinez called them a short-term fix that wouldn't help the ongoing financial crisis. The financial disagreement in part cost him his job last December. His last day with the district is June 18. Martinez argued for months that while large debt issuances are a fairly routine practice for the large school district, a budget that relies on borrowed revenue for regular expenses wouldn't be sustainable and could hurt CPS' credit rating. The incoming interim pick will face the same questions and challenges.
