Latest news with #DoHS
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Morrisey announces foster care reforms, promises transparency as struggling system moves forward
Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, announced a series of reforms that he said will end 'years of bureaucratic stonewalling' from within the state's troubled foster care agency and begin a 'new era of transparency.' (West Virginia Office of Gov. Patrick Morrisey video screenshot) Following years of issues within the state's foster care system, Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Wednesday announced a series of reforms that he said will end 'years of bureaucratic stonewalling' from within the agency and begin a 'new era of transparency.' The proposed changes are partially the result of a statewide listening tour, where Morrisey and other officials — including the new Department of Human Services Secretary Alex Mayer — heard from residents on challenges they've faced from the state agency in charge of child welfare. At those listening sessions, West Virginians shared stories lamenting lack of communication from the state's Child protective Services workers and other issues that have occurred due to the system being inconsistent, short on staff and offering limited support for many traumatized children. The reforms announced by Morrisey on Wednesday include: Having DoHS fully comply with the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and follow federal guidelines requiring the public disclosure of key information in child abuse or neglect cases resulting in fatalities or near fatalities Overhauling the state's Child Welfare Dashboard to make it easier to interpret and more user friendly Requiring supervisors to conduct monthly reviews with their child welfare cases and work with the governor's office to identify opportunities for improvement. The state will also launch a department-wide 'Leadership Education and Development' (LEAD) initiative to train DoHS supervisors. Creating a Critical Incident Review Team that will conduct a 'deeper dive' into any critical incident that occurs Introducing a Comprehensive Practice Model to provide a framework that can be standardized across the state Allowing caseworkers to gather more comprehensive information on cases rather than relying solely on the referral process There are currently more than 6,100 children in West Virginia's foster care system. That number has skyrocketed during the state's drug crisis. The state's high poverty rate has contributed to the number, as well. The new reforms as well as the recent statewide listening sessions were initiated after several high-profile incidents of child abuse and mistreatment occured in West Virginia in recent years. Reporters investigating the incidents were often stonewalled by the state government, unable to get information about the events or the circumstances that led up to them. 'In previous years, the state stonewalled about the status of children in its care — and that changes now,' Morrisey said on Wednesday. 'We are rolling up our sleeves and getting to work. West Virginians deserve a child welfare system that is transparent, accountable and always puts the safety of children first.' Morrisey appointed Mayer to oversee DoHS in January. The 37-year-old came to the Mountain State from South Dakota, where he worked for the state government on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the child welfare system. Before getting involved in state government, Mayer was adopted. He spent time in the military before working at a residential facility serving people with severe mental illnesses. In an interview with West Virginia Watch earlier this month, Mayer said he was focusing his first few months on learning where and how the state could increase specialized care for children who need additional services, increase consistency in the state agency's processes and recruiting foster families to help care for children already in the system. This legislative session, lawmakers — who have struggled in recent years to get a handle on DoHS spending — allocated more than $300 million to foster care. The 2026 budget bill mandated that the agency spend some money on designated line items to prevent it from shifting money around to pay bills. But Morrisey vetoed that idea, saying it was too restrictive for DoHS. Morrisey — who made reigning in state spending a key tenet of his first legislative session as governor — also vetoed line item funding for programs that support foster children as well as babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. Mayer said he doesn't believe that more funding will solve the issues clearly present in West Virginia's child welfare system. Instead, he said, the state will likely rely on partnerships with the faith-based community, businesses and others that provide services to help children and families. On Wednesday, Mayer said he realized that change is long overdue for both the state's children and the adults who attempt to care for them. 'For far too long, we've asked families and frontline professionals to navigate a system that has not kept pace with the complexities our families and children face today. That must change,' Mayer said. 'We are listening — intentionally — and using that feedback to shape a more responsive, accountable and transparent system built on trust.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Human Services secretary inherited a broken WV foster care system. He promises improvements.
Alex Mayer, speaking to the West Virginia Senate Judiciary on March 10, 2025, was appointed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey to serve as secretary of the West Virginia Department of Human Services. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography) On a Thursday evening in Parkersburg, a group of local residents gathered to discuss West Virginia foster care — a system that is struggling from top to bottom with thousands of kids in care. A moderator asked foster and biological parents, child welfare workers, judges and others to describe their experience with the system. Their responses: 'Challenging.' 'Overwhelming.' 'Traumatizing.' 'Broken.' 'Nobody would listen. Nobody would talk to me,' said Lisa Easter, who had more than 50 foster children in her home in 25 years. Julie Jones stopped fostering after Child Protective Services went months without checking on a newborn baby in her care. She was mailed a blank birth certificate and worried if the state was aware of the child's whereabouts. 'I couldn't do it any longer,' she said. In the corner of the room, new Department of Human Services Secretary Alex Mayer listened as people described a frustrating system riddled with inconsistencies, staffing shortages, an overwhelmed judicial system, limited support and children who have been victims of it all. Mayer, who came from South Dakota, believes it can be fixed. It's going to take time, he says, but work is underway. He is focused on accountability, transparency and putting in processes that aren't in place for consistency. He wants more in-state programs that can help kids with behavioral health struggles. 'It's going to be incremental over time,' Mayer said. 'I think it's going to be a long road until we have everything addressed confidently … You'll be seeing here shortly some really positive steps.' A federal judge recently said West Virginia's foster care system has suffered from 'shocking neglect' and 'bureaucratic indifference.' There's a shortage of social workers, support services and safe homes for children in a state that is fastest to remove children from homes and terminate parental rights. Too many children have ended up living in hotel rooms, and the state spent $70 million last year sending foster kids to out-of-state group homes. 'The thing that was shocking to me was the number of kids in care,' Mayer said. There are more than 6,100 children in West Virginia foster care, and the number has skyrocketed during the state's drug crisis. The state's high poverty rate has contributed to the number, too. Gov. Patrick Morrisey appointed 37–year-old Mayer to oversee DoHS. Mayer will have to grapple with pervasive foster care problems as the Trump administration proposes cuts to programs that serve families in poverty and help vulnerable kids. The state could see a decline in federal funding, impacting programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that are intertwined with child welfare. DoHS also oversees Medicaid, SNAP and more. 'Child welfare is a very intricate, complex system, and there's a lot of different players, which … obviously increases the level of complexity,' Mayer said. 'I've been really intentional and just trying to get out to learn the system.' Residents of Wood County attend a child welfare community listening session at the Wood County Resilience Center in Parkersburg, on May 15, 2025. The meeting was facilitated by the West Virginia Department of Human Services. (Amelia Ferrell Knisely | West Virginia Watch) Mayer, who was adopted, spent time in the military before working at a residential facility that served people with severe mental illnesses He later worked in South Dakota's state government, dealing with SNAP and child welfare. 'Different steps in my life have led me down this path,' he said. 'Over time, I think I've just developed this passion for solving problems, which I think has inherently then created this desire to support families and kids … I just have a passion for helping.' He has spent the last few months traveling the state meeting with his staff, touring residential facilities and trying to understand how the system works. The federal government is continuing its oversight of West Virginia's foster care system after it was flagged for sending too many children with disabilities to group homes. The state still sends children with disabilities to group homes and treatment centers at a rate three times the national average. Two-hundred and seventy children are in out-of-state facilities around the county — some miles away from their biological families — because the state doesn't have enough in-state beds that can serve children's complex needs. The state's CPS workers are required to visit kids once a month. Mayer said he's examining where the state could increase specialized care, like being able to serve children with aggressive or sexualized behaviors who aren't able to be served in a traditional foster home. 'We don't have placements for these kids. Well, that's not an option anymore,' he said. 'And, if those placements aren't here … then we have to find a way to make that happen, because we want to keep kids as close as possible to their support network for a variety of reasons.' There's a shortage of foster families, and Mayer hopes to bolster recruitment and support services. He noted that a glaring shortage of after school and summer programs for teens, which could be useful in helping working parents take in teenagers in foster care. Teens ages 13 to 17 are the most common age group in state foster care. There's also a need for creating agency processes that will breed consistently in decision making across the state, Mayer said. Child welfare cases involve a number of stakeholders — judges, attorneys, CPS workers and others — who all have an opinion and sometimes decision making about a child's future. 'I think our practice model is one of those pieces that needs some real work,' he said. Earlier this year, Mayer pushed back on a Republican-sponsored bill, which ultimately failed, that would have mandated an outside audit of the foster care system. Mayer vowed changes to lawmakers without a study. West Virginia's foster care system relies on federal and state funding, and there's some unpredictability in spending due to kids fluctuating in and out of care and the rising price of out-of-state facilities. Lawmakers, who have struggled in recent years to get a handle on the agency's spending, allocated more than $300 million to foster care in their recently-passed budget. Their 2026 budget bill mandated that DoHS spend some money on designated line items to prevent the agency from shifting money around to pay bills. But Morrisey vetoed that idea, saying it was too restrictive for DoHS. The Republican governor, who wants to reign in state spending, also vetoed line item funding for programs that support babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and foster children. Mayer said that right now, he doesn't think the department needs additional funding to tackle the crisis. It will likely rely on partnerships with the faith-based community, businesses and others that provide services to help children and families, he said. 'I think we just need to get more attention on what is it going to take?' he said. 'I don't know what that funding would be, or if it needs to be anything.' The state's federal funding could change since Republicans in Washington have proposed cuts to SNAP and Medicaid — a program that provides health insurance to West Virginia foster children and half of all children in the state. 'We've been watching that really intently,' Mayer said regarding the potential federal changes. This month, he has traveled around the state for additional foster care listening sessions in towns including Beckley, Burlington and Wheeling to hear from families, CPS workers and others. It's important, he said. The outside firm leading the sessions will compile a report detailing problems and potential solutions. 'I'm kind of excited to see, you know, what we're able to accomplish here,' he said. A Better Childhood, a group representing children suing the state over its troubled foster care system, wants the lawsuit revived after a judge tossed the case in February. In an email, a DoHS spokesperson said, 'We recognize that the only way to facilitate and bring about real change is to bring all of the key players together to openly and honestly discuss problems and develop real solutions. 'The first steps we are taking, through listening tours and meaningful conversations, are designed to build bridges among the necessary parties who must work together to find sustainable, long-term solutions for the children in our care.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lifesaving naloxone target of proposed Trump budget cuts
FAIRMONT — While the West Virginia Department of Human Services reported a major decrease in drug overdose deaths statewide, the Trump administration may take one life saving tool away. 'One of our core tenants or strategies, is just trying to saturate our county and neighborhoods with naloxone,' Joseph Klass, chief of operations for the Threat Preparedness Program at the Monongalia County Health Department, said. 'So when we do community type events, we always try to have naloxone there. We're trying to get naloxone into the hands of people who are potentially active in substance use and also those who may be around it or encounter someone who's overdosing.' A leaked draft budget from April 10 verified by the New York Times and Washington Post shows the Trump administration is looking at eliminating three substance abuse treatment programs — 'Improving Access to Overdose Treatment,' 'Overdose Prevention (naloxone)' and 'First Responder Training (naloxone).' From January to October 2024, W. Va. DoHS reported a 40% decrease in overdose deaths compared to the same period in 2024. Year over year, overdose deaths statewide decreased by 37.7% for the 12 months ending in November 2024. West Virginia outpaced the nationwide rate of average decline, which is 26.5%. The 2024 decline means 468 state residents are here who otherwise might not have been, DoHS said. Klass said while it's difficult to pinpoint an exact reason for the decline, because there are a lot of variables at play, he said he was confident the saturation of naloxone into the community was part of cause. 'Naloxone reverses the fatal effects of an opiate overdose, which is someone not breathing,' Klass said. 'The strategy there is basically a person cannot potentially get into recovery if they're dead. So the thought process is, we know naloxone works very well at keeping people alive after they've suffered an opioid overdose. Our goal is to keep as many people alive as possible so they can hopefully get to recovery.' Wes Thomas, an alcohol and drug health educator at West Virginia University, said the naloxone training programs provided by his program is funded by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Behavioral Science Business reports the Trump administration suggests defunding one billion dollars from SAMHSA, on top of absorbing it into a new entity dubbed the Administration for a Healthy America. The budget recommends SAMHSA retain $5.7 billion for research and activities. 'The document specifically demonizes how funding was used by the agency under the previous administration, criticizing that it's grants 'were used to fund dangerous activities billed as harm reduction,' which included funding 'safe smoking kits and supplies' and 'syringes' for drug users,' Behavioral Science Business wrote. Klass said there is science that shows addiction is a chronic disease, like diabetes or hypertension. While there is an argument that the first time someone did a substance, yes that was a choice, once the process of addiction starts it's a disease. He said from a public health standpoint, addiction has to be treated like a disease. Tiesha Prim, a peer recovery support specialist at West Virginia Sober Living Solutions, said educating the public on that aspect is important. Prim is also part of a quick response team, which partners with the Mon County Health Department. 'Harm reduction, it's not enabling. If people are using clean needles and not transferring HIV and Hep C, stuff like that, because the treatment for Hep C is super expensive, so really they're saving money in the long run not having to treat people for those,' she said. Prim added with naloxone, responders can't really stop people from using, but at least they can provide some Naloxone to stop someone from dying. Prim has first hand experience with addiction. She's been clean for a little over six years. 'Some people, it takes a lot to, you know, sometimes experiencing that overdose, like dying and coming back, being brought back to life, can be the spark that some people need,' she said. 'We can't help people or connect them to all the other resources that are available if they're dead.' Thomas said if recovery organizations lose access to naloxone, there may be a sharp increase in overdoses again. Narcan nasal sprays, like the ones provided to his organization through a SAMHSA grant, are expensive. Retail price ranges anywhere from $20 to $60. 'We are still in the middle of what's considered to be an opioid crisis where many people are dying needlessly,' Thomas said. 'That could be prevented through the availability of narcan and various forms of naloxone.' Prim emphasized the human dimension of overdose deaths. 'We don't want people to die, because everyone has or is a mother or father, brother, sister, etc.,' she said. 'And losing people isn't what it's about. In our fight in the opioid epidemic, less people dead is the goal. And I think the amount of narcan that we get out in the community has played a huge effect on our overall death rate in West Virginia. So I think it would definitely be detrimental if that was taken away.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WV House passes bill to stop ‘unnecessary moves' of foster kids; child welfare experts critical
Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, speaks in the House of Delegates chamber Wednesday, March 26, 2025 in Charleston, (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography) Grappling with a troubled foster care system, the House of Delegates passed a bill on Wednesday some lawmakers say will minimize children bouncing from home to home. As part of the measure, the state could more quickly terminate parental rights, allowing a child to hopefully find permanency in a suitable foster home. 'Outside of safety, those children deserve permanency. We are physically damaging their brains and slowing their development by traumatizing them time and time again unnecessarily,' said Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, who is a foster parent. 'We're trying to shorten the unnecessary moves.' The bill would also change how the Department of Human Services handles reunifying foster children with their biological siblings. Reunification is still a priority, bill sponsors say, and the measure shortens the timeframe for DoHS to find siblings. It would loosen the requirement that children be reunited with siblings if it's against the child's best interest. The bill has received pushback from child welfare groups, who say its requirements could harm children. It conflicts with federal child welfare laws that prioritize biological family and sibling reunification, they say. 'West Virginia should be taking actions to keep brothers and sisters together — not make it easier to separate them,' said Jim McKay, state coordinator for Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia. 'Noncompliance with this federal legislation puts West Virginia at risk of losing essential [federal] funding that supports services for children and families statewide.' Bill sponsors maintain that the bill will still meet federal regulations. Del. Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason, said, 'We are pushing the envelope because we're serious about trying to improve our foster care system in West Virginia.' The bill passed the House on a vote of 97-2. The state's foster care system is overwhelmed and has the nation's highest rate of children coming into foster care. There are more than 5,800 children in foster care. A 2019 class-action lawsuit brought by West Virginia foster children said that the state left kids to linger in its system without any plans for permanency. A federal judge recently tossed the lawsuit, but said the problems in foster care persist and gave a scathing review of how state leaders had neglected the system. The measure, House Bill 2027, says that if a child has been in an appropriate and safe foster care arrangement, including a foster family, for 15 months or 50% of the child's life, then the department cannot terminate that placement unless it's in the best interest of a child. Current state law sets the window at 18 months. West Virginia terminates parental rights at twice the rate of any other state. Pinson said foster children regularly cycle from placement to placement, which could be foster homes or residential facilities. As a foster parent, he has experienced a foster child, who was a baby, being taken from his home only to return later. 'What you have in front of you today is one opportunity to address one specific problem of addressing children who are being bounced around from foster home to foster home oftentimes for no fault of their own and at no fault of the foster parent,' Pinson said. 'We have watching today foster parents who have had their hearts ripped out because a child was moved from their home who they've connected with … but moved from their home simply because it was more convenient for the other stakeholders in the case.' Del. Jim Butler, R-Mason, said, 'We need to allow the kids to move onto a better life.' Molly Arbogast, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers West Virginia chapter, said the change would allow termination of parental rights far earlier than the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act standard. 'ASFA sets a uniform timeline — 15 out of the last 22 months in care — before a termination petition is required, ensuring parents have a fair opportunity to work toward reunification,' she said. 'The bill's 50% rule would create a harsher, arbitrary standard that could result in unnecessary family separations, particularly for very young children, without federal authorization.' The bill also would also mandate that DoHS find a child's biological siblings and families of siblings within 90 days, and the department must inform foster or adoptive parents of eligible siblings for placement or adoption. 'Those decisions were being delayed out for quite some time,' Burkhammer said. Current state law says the department 'shall' prioritize sibling reunification; the bill would change 'shall' to 'may.' Burkhammer said that the measure still prioritizes sibling reunification, but there are instances — including cases where sibling abuse is happening — that aren't best for reunification. Children are also sometimes reunified with half-siblings and their family whom they've never met, he said. 'There was no flexibility with folks to truly determine the best interest of the child,' Burkhammer said. 'What we're doing too often is cookie-cuttering too many of these cases. It's a preference, and it should be considered, but we really want you to consider the best interest of the child first and foremost.' McKay hopes the bill will be amended in the Senate should they take it up for consideration. 'For many children, those [sibling] relationships are their only remaining connection to family — and a critical source of comfort and stability. Separating them adds to the trauma they've already endured,' he said, adding that federal law requires states to take actions to place siblings together. The American Bar Association has stressed the importance of prioritizing sibling connections. The House also passed House Bill 2880, which assigns an individual through the Court Improvement Program or Public Defender Services to assist parents through the requirements to be unified or reunified with their children. Del. Patrick Lucas, R-Putnam, told members that they've faced criticism this session about passing 'red meat bills.' 'It's about time we did something to improve the lives of foster children and foster parents,' he said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
