West Virginia’s Foster Care Problem: Sixteen Bills in Legislation

The child welfare researchers hired by KTVB 7 news say “that lawmakers’ plans don’t address the roots of the crisis, and won’t prevent kids from being removed from their families or meaningfully address staffing shortages. And they aren’t likely to result in system-wide change, the researchers said.”

“Last year, Mountain State Spotlight investigated the beleaguered system and found that overburdened case workers can mean kids getting few services offered to them once they are in the system, whether that’s support for foster and kinship families or mental health help for children in communities.

Transition to Adulthood

“We also found that the state sent back millions of federal dollars that could have been used to help older kids with things like tuition and rent assistance as they transitioned to adulthood.

The lawmakers, focused on foster care, recommended, among other proposals, requiring CPS workers to wear body cameras; getting CPS workers in two counties mobile devices they can use to send real-time data to supervisors on their cases; securing pay raises and assistants for guardians ad litem, who represent kids in court; and enlisting State Police to train workers.”

Poverty

“One child welfare reformer said, “Families in poverty are more likely to have their children removed, as poverty is often misperceived as neglect, according to Kelley Fong, assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine.

“I think anti-poverty policy is child protection policy,” she said.”

Worker Caseload

“The Child Welfare League of America, an advocacy group composed of experts like researchers and workers, argues for measuring cases by child and not exceeding 15 children per caseworker.

Many case workers in the state have said their average caseload was in the 30s, and some have reported having as many as 50 cases at a time.

But some proposals are aimed at assisting CPS workers, and families and children already involved with the system.

Deeds said a proposal to get CPS workers mobile devices to take out in the field is aimed at helping to take some load off workers by providing supervisors with real-time updates and reducing time spent on paperwork.”

Out-of-State Placements

“Overreliance on putting kids in institutions and sending them out of state has been a constant problem with the state’s system.

And the number of in-state beds has declined — there are only a few beds for kids who need short-term, high-level psychiatric treatment and no long-term treatment beds at in-state residential care facilities, according to Cindy Largent-Hill, director at the Division of Children’s Services at the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

One bill establishes a fund, assuming lawmakers put money in it, for in-state residential care, to bring kids home from out-of-state institutions and train the workforce to treat kids with psychiatric problems that require inpatient care. Gov. Patrick Morrisey has also championed this proposal.”

Mandated Reporting

Child Welfare researcher, “Fong, said “mandated supporting” can help reduce reliance on CPS caseworkers.

This change would empower teachers to be “mandated supporters” and call parents and work with them on finding help for poverty-related problems like finding housing, food or clothing.”

Republican lawmakers’ plans for foster care don’t address the roots of the problem with the system
[KTVB 1/16/26 by Erin Beck]

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