23-04-2025
Foster care crisis won't ever improve if West Virginia lawmakers don't address the issues
A Necco foster care in Milton, (Leann Ray | West Virginia Watch)
West Virginia has a foster care problem, and despite lawmakers introducing several bills to try to address the issues, only one of those passed both chambers. The governor has yet to sign it into law.
That one bill — House Bill 2880 — passed on the final night of the legislative session. Sponsored by Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis — who is a foster parent — the bill will create a 'Parent Resource Navigator' to help reunite a parent and child.
That's the main goal of foster care — to reunite children with their parents once they are safely able to care for them. But we have to be realistic and understand that unfortunately many of these children will be in the foster care system until they age out.
There are currently 5,955 children in the state's custody. As Amelia Ferrell Knisely has reported, many of these children aren't even in foster homes because there's a shortage of foster parents. Many children are sleeping in hotels in the state because there's not enough beds available for them, and the state spent $70 million in 2024 to send children to out-of-state facilities.
The majority of children who end up in foster care in West Virginia are there in part because of parental substance use disorder or neglect, the West Virginia Centers on Budget and Policy reported. Child abuse allegations involving drug endangerment here is four times the national average.
There were no bills introduced to increase recovery efforts for people who lost custody of their children. And last week, Gov. Patrick Morrisey cut from the state budget $250,000 for Lily's Place, a nonprofit organization in Cabell County that provides support for families dealing with substance use disorder.
There were plenty of bills related to foster care that were introduced during the 60-day session, showing that some lawmakers do care about improving the situation. Let's take a look at the bills that died.
HB 2035 would have established a three-year guardian ad litem pilot program in three judicial courts. Cindy Largent-Hill, director of the state Supreme Court of Appeals Division of Children's Services, told lawmakers during the legislative session that there aren't nearly enough lawyers for child abuse cases, and the ones who are available are assigned to a child's case as a guardian ad litem for a least one year. Most guardians ad litem cover 12 counties, she said. The bill died in House Finance.
HB 2047 would have prohibited cameras and recording devices in bedrooms and bathrooms of foster children. The bill clarifies that baby monitors may be used when age appropriate for the child, or if the child has been medically diagnosed with severe physical disabilities or behavioral, cognitive, or psychological disorders. Children deserve their privacy and to not be monitored in their private spaces if there's no medical need for bill died in the Senate Health and Human Resources.
HB 3382 would have required the Department of Human Services to establish, either on its own or through a contract, a central reception center and emergency resource homes for foster children for up to 72 hours when a home can't be found immediately for them. There are currently 148 children living in the state's emergency shelters. The bill died in House Finance.
HB 3379 would minimize children bouncing from home to home, and it would allow the state to terminate parental rights more quickly to allow a child to find a permanent foster home. West Virginia permanently terminates parent rights more often than any state — at a speed nearly 40% faster than the national average, according to the West Virginia Centers on Budget and Policy. The bill also would have shortened the timeframe to reunite foster children with their biological siblings, and would have loosened requirements for reuniting if it wasn't in the child's best interest. The bill received pushback from child welfare groups who said the requirements conflict with federal child welfare laws that prioritize biological family and sibling reuniting. The bill died in House Health and Human Resources.
HB 2086 would have developed a plan to monitor and improve reading and math skills of children who have been in the foster care system. The bill died in House Education
HB 2033 would have loosened vaccination requirements for biological children of foster parents and allowed families to foster despite their religious beliefs related to sexual orientation and sexual identity. This bill would have put LGBTQ+ children in danger. Luckily, this bill died in House Health and Human Resources.
HB 2542 would have required Child Protective Services workers to record audio of all interactions during CPS visits. A committee substitute removed language to require recordings, changing it to 'permitting' audio recording instead. The bill died in House Health and Human Resources.
HB 2027 would have prevented children from being removed from foster homes if they had been placed there for 15 months or 50% of their life unless it was in the best interest of the child to do so. The bill died in Health and Human Resources.
It's great that there were so many bills introduced related to helping children in the foster care system, but why couldn't lawmakers get them over the finish line? Why were other bills prioritized over these?
If there are so many children that we don't have enough room to house them all, the state should be working to create more homes and more beds for them to sleep in. The state could be offering incentives for people to foster children, or do literally anything to make child care options more available and more affordable. Think of the obstacles that keep families from choosing to foster, and try to eliminate them.
From 2017 until July 2024, there were more than 6,000 children in foster care in the state every year. Last summer was the first time that number dipped below 6,000, and now that number is still more than 5,950.
If the state can spend $70 million a year to send children out of state, surely it can spend $70 million to build new facilities, or expand existing ones. If lawmakers aren't going to address the issues relating to foster care, then they need to accept that we're going to have around 6,000 children who need homes, and to have enough space for all of them.
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