Latest news with #PatrickMorrisey
CBS News
17 hours ago
- General
- CBS News
West Virginia governor implements policy changes in embattled foster care system
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey vowed Wednesday that his administration will improve transparency and policies within the state's embattled foster care system. Morrisey, a Republican, announced the changes after eight listening sessions statewide to identify areas of improvement and a review of critical cases. Morrisey said he heard attendees at one such session in Martinsburg discuss "a broken system." "It was difficult to hear many of the issues could have been avoided had the state communicated differently, had the state eliminated some red tape or had the right tools to better equip" Child Protective Services workers, Morrisey said at a news conference at the state Capitol. "You all know that these issues have been going on for a very, very long time. And unfortunately, it's the kids that suffer. And we can't tolerate that. "West Virginia cannot keep kicking the can down the road as was done in the past. That's not the model of this administration." Largely overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic in a state with the most overdose deaths per capita, West Virginia has the highest rate of children in foster care, currently more than 6,000 in a state of about 1.8 million. Morrisey, who took office in January after serving three terms as the state's attorney general, put some of the blame on the administration of his predecessor, two-term Republican Gov. Jim Justice, for often withholding foster care information from the public, including stonewalling Freedom of Information Act requests. After an internal review of six fatalities or near fatalities between 2021 and 2024, Morrisey said the Department of Human Services will implement a new policy mandating that certain information, including the results of investigations, be disclosed in serious child welfare cases. "You're not going to have to chase people down the hall" in obtaining case information, Morrisey said. Among the changes, Morrisey said child welfare supervisors will now be required to conduct monthly reviews of their cases, and a new intake process will be implemented for the foster care system, allowing caseworkers to contact individuals involved rather than simply relying on a case referral. He also said improvements have been made to a child welfare dashboard to allow for easier access to data. "What I can promise you today is we want to be honest, we want to be transparent and we will be accountable for what happens," Morrisey said. Serious child welfare issues have dogged West Virginia for decades. In 2014, a private boarding school for troubled youths closed in Salem after abuse allegations surfaced. Lawsuits against the former Miracle Meadows school's co-founder and its operating entities that alleged widespread sexual, physical and mental abuse were settled for tens of millions of dollars. The discovery of the emaciated body of a 14-year-old girl in her home in 2023 prompted a state investigation into whether law enforcement and child protective services could have intervened to prevent her death. The girl's mother and two grandparents were indicted on murder charges last September. In March, a couple received the maximum sentences of decades in prison for abusing their adopted children, which included heavy labor, locking them in bedrooms, forcing some to sleep on concrete floors and making them stand for hours with their hands on their heads. And a judge in February ordered that a monitor be put in place to oversee state child protective services placements in hotels and camps on Friday after a 12-year-old boy in state care attempted suicide in a hotel room. The action came the same day that a federal judge dismissed a years-long sweeping class action lawsuit against West Virginia's welfare system on behalf of foster children.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Planned PEIA rate increases elicit concern from lawmakers and policyholders
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) – Hundreds of thousands of West Virginians with PEIA coverage are set to see rate increases in the coming months. With increases of up to 16% in premiums expected to impact certain West Virginia residents as early as July according to PEIA, members of the general public along with state lawmakers have voiced concerns regarding the coverage provider. While many say a change is in order, no one can seem to agree on how to appropriately address financial concerns associated with the program. 'We keep doing things that they tell us is going to fix the problem and then it ends up not fixing the problem,' Delegate Eric Brooks told 59News. 'We'll see what the options are when we get back down there. I think the governor is really pushing for a Special Session to deal with this before January when we have our next legislative session.' A bill introduced during the most recent session of the West Virginia Legislature – House Bill 2623 – would abolish PEIA altogether, though some detractors have characterized the legislation as reckless. The bill was under consideration by the House Committee on Health and Human Resources at the time the most recent legislative session was brought to a close. Governor Patrick Morrisey told 59News he has been working with the legislature to address issues with PEIA, citing an overall need for fiscal responsibility on the state level. 'We have a lot of tough challenges ahead. I've mentioned that we have PEIA that'll be coming up in the upcoming months,' said Morrisey. 'We've been diligently working on that and are starting to have conversations with the legislature. We want to get that right because we have to make sure that we help West Virginia reach her potential.' Several delegates have said they expect to be called in for a session to address PEIA specifically, and the governor says he hopes to address the issue in the coming months, though an official call for a Special Session of the legislature has yet to be made at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Gov. Morrisey signs 3 pro-life West Virginia bills
BECKLEY, (WBOY) — West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) signed three pieces of legislation into law on Thursday that relate to children and pregnant mothers. Senate Bill 537, which expands the use of state funds for pregnancy help organizations, House Bill 2123, which increases the criminal penalty for child abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian, and House Bill 2871, which classifies the loss of a fetus during a vehicle accident as a vehicular homicide death, were all signed during a ceremony in Beckley. Gov. Morrisey said in a press release that the laws are 'strengthening West Virginia's commitment to defending the sanctity of life.' Man allegedly threw Crown Royal bottle near 2 children while in vehicle in Fairmont 'West Virginia has a proud history of standing for the value of and dignity of life,' Morrisey said in the press release. 'I am pleased to sign these bills into law to further defend and protect the most vulnerable among us.' You can read the full text of the bills at the links below: SB 537 HB 2123 HB 2871 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Morrisey celebrates signing of three bills at Beckley church
Gov. Patrick Morrisey ceremoniously signed three bills during an event at a Beckley, Thursday, May 29, 2025. (West Virginia Office of Gov. Patrick Morrisey | Courtesy photo) West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Thursday celebrated the passage of three bills he said protect and defend life 'at all stages.' Morrisey held the ceremonial bill signing for Senate Bill 537, House Bill 2123 and House Bill 2871 at CrossPoint Church in Beckley, West Virginia. 'West Virginia has a proud history defending the sanctity of life for a long, long time, and I've been very humbled to be an important part of that, serving as the first pro-life attorney general in state history,' Morrisey said. 'And before I left, we were still busy defending the state's pro-life law in the Fourth Circuit. That's still pending, and we've been working constantly to try to keep expanding the provisions to protect innocent life.' Senate Bill 537 expands the state's Mothers and Babies Pregnancy Support Program. The legislation allows the program to use state funds to cover new expenditures including new land and buildings, additional services for mothers, and staff training, Morrisey said. The Legislature also allocated $3 million for the program. 'The goal behind that money and this bill is to give organizations that help pregnant women greater flexibility in using their funds,' Morrisey said. 'What a good, noble cause.' The West Virginia Mothers and Babies Pregnancy Support Program was established by House Bill 2002, signed by former Gov. Jim Justice during the 2023 legislative session. State lawmakers passed a law making abortion illegal with narrow exceptions in September 2022 in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down Roe V. Wade. The program provides funding for 'pregnancy support organizations' except those 'that performs, prescribes, refers for, encourages or promotes abortion as an option for a pregnant woman.' House Bill 2123 increases the penalties for a parents or guardians convicted of child abuse resulting in injury or neglect causing the risk of injury from one to five years in prison to two to 10 years in prison. The bill had unanimous support in both the West Virginia House of Delegates and in the Senate. 'Once again, we have to protect our most precious among us, and if you harm a child as a parent or guardian, you're going to pay a heavy price,' Morrisey said. House Bill 2871 expands the vehicular homicide offense to include aggravated vehicular homicide and clarifies that victims can include embryos and fetuses. The bill was also passed unanimously by both chambers of the Legislature. 'Now, the loss of a child in a womb, that can be considered a death for purposes of prosecution,' Morrisey said. 'That's good, and that's just common sense. A life in the womb is still a life. Our laws have to reflect that fact, and they are.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Gov. Morrisey introduces new foster care transparency and reform initiatives
bluefield – More transparency about child neglect and death cases in what's been called a broken foster care system were among the remedial steps that West Virginia's governor announced Wednesday. Standing behind a lectern bearing the sign Transparency In Foster Care, Gov. Patrick Morrisey spoke in Charleston about changes coming to the state's child welfare system. Hearing from residents who have dealt with the system helped to create the reforms. 'Last week, I had a chance to attend a listening session held by the Department of Human Services in Martinsburg about the child welfare system in West Virginia,' Morrisey said. 'In the overall listening tour we had eight meetings across the state which was organized by our terrific Human Services Secretary Alex Mayer, who unfortunately can't be here today because he's doing great things for the state.' The state Department of Human Services has been working to identify ways to improve the child welfare system, according to the governor. 'We launched this listening tour because we know the most valuable input we can have is from folks on the ground. Parents, guardians, grandparents, judges, lawyers, social workers and more gathered at these eight stops around the state to provide feedback based upon their lived and shared experiences,' Morrisey said. People attending these public sessions described a system with many problems. 'When I attended the session in Martinsburg, I heard some of the attendees talk about a broken system, that they were disjointed, siloed, frustrated, a lot of words that we don't want to stand for any program in the state let alone something that affects so many of our kids,' Morrisey said. 'Frankly, it's tough to sit and listen to all those negative experiences about what many of the folks went through. I know that I shared some of that when I worked down the hall as the attorney general. We didn't have some of the tools that we needed to ultimately bring the kind of change to the system that's required. That's changing now.' Hearing about many child welfare issues that could have been avoided with better communications was difficult, he said. Eliminating bureaucratic red tape and giving Child Protective Service workers the right tools would have helped, too. 'I think you know all of these issues have been going on for a very, very long time and. unfortunately, it's the kids who suffer and we can't tolerate that,' Morrisey said. 'West Virginia cannot, I repeat, West Virginia cannot keep kicking the can down the road as was done in the past. That's not the model of this administration. In my administration, we're making urgently needed changes to take the first steps to address issues within the child welfare system.' Morrisey said when he first took office, he received a letter from a local news outlet about one of their Freedom of Information Act requests that 'essentially had been stonewalled and ignored by the previous administration.' 'The information had to do with the fatalities and near-fatalities of children in West Virginia's child welfare system,' the governor said. 'There was no excuse, I repeat, there was no excuse to keep this information shielded from the public. No excuse. We're going to be different. We're going to be up front with the people of West Virginia and we're going to be as transparent as the law possibly allows. So today, we're releasing the response to that FOIA and all that the law allows.' The child welfare reforms announced Wednesday included: • Fully complying with the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and federal guidelines requiring public disclosure of key information in child abuse or neglect cases resulting in fatalities or near fatalities. • Overhauling the Child Welfare Dashboard to make it simpler to use and easier to interpret the data. • Requiring supervisors to conduct monthly reviews with their child welfare cases and work with our state office team to identify opportunities for improvement and launching a department-wide 'Leadership Education and Development' (LEAD) initiative to better prepare our supervisors. • Creating a Critical Incident Review Team to conduct a deeper dive into every critical incident. • Introducing a Comprehensive Practice Model to provide a foundational framework that can be standardized across the state. • Allowing caseworkers to gather more comprehensive information on cases rather than relying solely on the referral. '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,' Secretary Mayer said later. 'We are listening—intentionally—and using that feedback to shape a more responsive, accountable and transparent system built on trust. ' Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
