By Emmy Rinehart
On Monday, September 30, a 105 page complaint was filed on WV’s foster care system, resulting in a federal lawsuit. The complaint describes stories of neglect of foster children under the department’s care for being placed in inadequate and dangerous homes, left without needed services and some were even forced to remain in foster care for years when they otherwise may not have been in the system for as long.
One story includes a 17-year-old boy who was physically abused by his family and had been under the care of the WV Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) since 2012. He lived in group homes and residential care centers and then was sent to a juvenile detention center to sleep in a locked cell on a mattress on a cement floor. He has attempted suicide several times and suffers from depression. When he turns 18 and ages out of the system, he will be homeless with no resources.
Stories like this are heart-wrenching, and yet, there are so many just like it from other children within the state. In September, lawmakers even stated 651 children in foster care in the state have run away from group homes or schools in the last year. With the issue of the over-institutionalization of kids with emotional and behavioral disorders that the state has already addressed. Twitter has sounded off on this issue as well.
The complaint was filed by a Charleston law firm alongside nonprofit advocacy groups, A Better Childhood and Disability Rights West Virginia. They filed the lawsuit because they say that there are significant administrative issues that are preventing the system from doing its crucial job: protecting WV’s youth within the foster care system.
The issue doesn’t end here though. Not only is WV’s foster care system failing to give these children the resources they so desperately need, they have also failed to maintain enough foster homes to safely place children where they will be able to thrive. This has led hasty placements being made with relatives without ensuring that the child will be safe in these situations.
A solution is starting to take form, however, on this extremely sad issue. On October 31, the DHHR appointed Pamela M. Woodman-Kaehler as the first foster care ombudsman in the state. She will be required to advocate for the rights of foster children and parents, as well as participate in investigations of complaints of inaction/questionable actions made by social service agencies and managed care services, create and maintain a system for gathering and analyzing data from these complaints across the state and watch for changes in foster care regulations at local, state and federal levels.
This development means that privatized entities are being brought into the WV foster care system, but it seems to be a step in the right direction for a program that has been neglected for so many years. Over 40 other states also have managed care organizations overseeing their foster care systems. With the opioid crisis that has ravaged the state in every way possible and only added to the demand placed on the foster care system, an immediate effort for change was needed.
WV’s children deserve more. They are the future of the state, and they desperately need the resources necessary to live happy and healthy lives. WV needs them to be a part of the change within the state, but they have to be the change for them first.
Almost Heaven, Almost Hell 