Latest news with #LeannRay
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
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. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Based on some WV Republicans' idea of ‘important' work, we have different definitions of the word
A bill on the way to Gov. Patrick Morrisey's desk would ban foods containing certain artificial dyes in West Virginia, like Red No. 40, which is in Jell-O hot dogs, ketchup and cereals. (Leann Ray | West Virginia Watch) 'This is probably the most important bill that we will vote on in our entire careers here,' Republican Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman said a couple of weeks ago before the state Senate passed a bill 31-2. Now what was this important legislation? New regulations to make sure all West Virginians have clean water? A solution to funding the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency, ensuring that all public employees have affordable health care? Perhaps more funding for public schools that most children attend or maybe raises for their teachers? No. It was a bill banning some artificial dyes in food. House Bill 2354 was passed by both the House and Senate, and now heads to the governor's desk for consideration. The bill also bans several food dyes from foods served in public schools, like Red No. 40, which is in Jell-O, cereals, hot dogs and ketchup; Blue No. 1, found in canned peas and packaged soups, and Green No. 3, an ingredient in canned vegetables and Jell-O. This ban is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1. While 11 other states are considering similar legislation, West Virginia would be the first state in the United States to implement a sweeping food dye ban if Gov. Patrick Morrisey approves the legislation. I don't know exactly how this bill will work — and it's likely our lawmakers don't either. They regularly pass bills without any thought of how to fund or implement them. For example, House Bill 2515, which would require counties to create alternative learning centers for chronically disruptive students, has advanced to the Senate. The bill, however, has no proposed funding included in it to build the centers or staff them. If the food dye ban was passed by Congress, obviously it would be a nationwide ban and all food manufacturers would have to stop using the dyes in food sold in America. But will the Wrigley Company start making natural color Skittles for just West Virginia? Will Mountain Dew Code Red be banned within state lines? Will the Bigley Piggly Wiggly have to stop using rainbow frosting on their cakes? Some food and drink manufacturers have been speaking out. You can't turn on the radio without hearing an ad from Americans for Food & Beverage Choice — the group spent more than $19,000 on ads in the last week — speaking out against HB 2354. And outside of affecting the food available on our grocery store shelves, the bill comes with other serious potential ramifications that seemingly undermine the Legislature's vow to improve West Virginia's economy. The local Pepsi and Coca Cola plants could face layoffs if the bill is passed, according to Donnie Perdue, vice president of the Teamsters local 175 union. 'Both Pepsi and Coke have said the dye bill would cause a 50% decrease in their current inventory levels,' he said. 'There has been no economic analysis done to actually see what the impact would be if all these drinks and food is banned from West Virginia … The states that border West Virginia will be the only winners with this bill as West Virginians travel to their state to get their favorite drinks and food because we no longer have them.' I'm not against the dyes being banned — in January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned Red No. 3 from food because it causes cancer in rats, and almost 35 years ago it was banned from cosmetics for the same reason. Food manufacturers have until Jan. 2027 to stop using Red. No. 3, and drug manufacturers have until Jan. 2028. I just don't understand logistically how this ban on other dyes can work when only one state has banned them. Chapman explained the bill is important because it will make available foods healthier for families, citing the state's high obesity rate and a lack of grocery stores. Some West Virginians don't have local grocery stores and must shop at Dollar General or Dollar Tree for food. People don't necessarily want to buy food that's unhealthy — they're buying what they can afford. Will this bill do anything to drop grocery prices on healthier foods, or increase residents' buying power at the grocery store? Well, no. Quite the opposite, actually. 'This is a law that would impact six in 10 grocery store items, effectively making them illegal. It will lead to higher prices, fewer choices and empty shelves,' said Stacie Rumenap, spokesperson for Americans for Food & Beverage Choice. 'The alternative ingredients simply don't exist to scale.' Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, has argued that the grocery chain Aldi has banned synthetic colors in its store-brand items, and the store sells its own version of Pop-Tarts without dyes and the product is cheaper than the Kellogg option. Aldi is a great grocery chain — but there's only 16 locations in West Virginia. It also carries much fewer options — and name brands — than Kroger, Walmart or Piggly Wiggly. This bill is a way for lawmakers to make it look like they care about the health of West Virginians without addressing the actual reasons for poor health — poverty, food insecurity, food deserts and expensive health legislators address those problems, West Virginia will remain the 'unhealthiest' state in the country. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WV First Foundation requests proposals for statewide needs assessment to help guide future funding
The West Virginia First Foundation issued a request for proposals on for organizations interested in performing a statewide needs assessment survey that will help guide the nonprofit's future grant distributions. (Leann Ray | West Virginia Watch) The West Virginia First Foundation issued a request for proposals on Friday for organizations interested in performing a statewide needs assessment survey that will help guide the nonprofit's future grant distributions. The First Foundation — a private nonprofit tasked with disbursing millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds to projects meant to confront West Virginia's ongoing drug and overdose epidemic — is looking for people or firms with expertise in public health research, data analytics, community engagement and policy evaluations to submit proposals for the needs assessment, according to a news release issued Friday. The needs assessment survey has been discussed by First Foundation leaders since the organization began meeting in 2023. According to the RFP posted this week, the assessment will look at what addiction services currently exist in West Virginia and identify gaps in needs both by geography and types of service. The survey should demonstrate and provide evidence of how different localities compare regarding the burden put on them by substance use disorder. Such a model, according to the RFP, should be built in a way to show changes over time in an attempt to figure out what works and what doesn't in responding to addiction. The survey will also look at how money is spent on addiction services and response, taking account of every dollar spent from all funding sources for such services at the county and state level. This will help to create a 'common definition' of 'Health Return on Investment,' meaning how far each dollar spent goes in improving the health and wellbeing of communities and individuals affected by substance use disorder. This 'Health Return on Investment' will be used to produce a new methodology that can be applied in areas needing new kinds of services while assisting the Foundation in prioritizing future funding, according to the RFP. Through research and interviews with stakeholders — including public health experts, those who work in the field, members of the First Foundation, local leaders and more — the needs assessment will 'define a set of core foundational addiction services that should be available to all West Virginia residents.' Per the RFP, all information collected through the needs assessment will be built into a public-facing dashboard that will allow 'rapid analysis of where to deploy future investments.' First Foundation leaders have been clear that priorities for upcoming funding cycles for the organization will be led by results found in the needs assessment survey. Last year — without the needs assessment done — the First Foundation targeted funding at four addiction response areas where work was already underway: Diversion programs to keep people out of the criminal justice system, youth prevention and workforce development, programming to support children, babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome and families affected by substance use disorder and the expansion of transitional and recovery housing. While $19.2 million was made available for grants in 2024 — of which 174 organizations applied for — only $10.4 million was actually distributed. The Foundation announced in December that a secondary grant cycle was being opened to disburse the remaining $8.8 in funds. Those who applied for the first round but who weren't selected to receive the money were given technical assistance to round out their applications and reapply for the second round. Awardees for the second round of grants have yet to be selected. Those interested in applying to perform the needs assessment survey have until March 21 to submit questions regarding the RFP to the Foundation. Answers will be returned by March 28. Formal responses to the RFP must be received by the First Foundation by April 18. As of Feb. 28, the First Foundation held about $297 million in its bank accounts. The Foundation is scheduled to have its first quarterly meeting of 2025 at 10 a.m. on March 20. Meetings are held virtually and can be accessed via Google Meet by this link: SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
