Gov. Morrisey acknowledges ‘serious issues’ with foster care system, promises transparency

By Autumn Shelton, RealWV

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – On May 28, Gov. Patrick Morrisey held a press conference where he announced a series of reforms for the state’s child welfare system. These reforms, he said, are intended to increase transparency, accountability and outcomes for children in the state’s care. 

“West Virginia cannot, let me repeat, West Virginia cannot keep kicking the can down the road as was done in the past,” Morrisey said. “That’s not the model of this administration.” 

According to Morrisey, the reforms stem from the recent statewide Department of Human Services (DoHS) Child Welfare Listening Tour, held from May 12 to May 22, where numerous caregivers, providers, case workers and more were able to discuss the best ways to strengthen West Virginia’s child welfare system. 

The first change, Morrisey said, concerns the previous stonewalling and ignoring of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by the previous administration. In particular, Morrisey cited a FOIA request seeking information on child fatalities. 

“There was no excuse to keep this information shielded from the public,” Morrisey stated. “No excuse. We’re going to be different. We’re gonna be upfront with the people of West Virginia and we’re gonna be as transparent as the law possibly allows.” 

Reforms Morrisey announced include: 

• 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 the state’s office team to identify opportunities for improvement and launching a department-wide “Leadership Education and Development” (LEAD) initiative to better prepare supervisors.
• Creating a Critical Incident Review Team, comprised of DoHS staff as well as representatives of the Foster Care Ombudsman, the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Prosecuting Attorneys Institute, the House Of Delegates, the State Senate and the WV State Police, to conduct a deeper dive into every critical incident as part of House Bill 2880, which goes into effect on July 11. 
• Introducing a Comprehensive Practice Model to provide a foundational framework that can be standardized across the state. According to Morrisey, similar models have been successfully implemented in Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota. 
• Allowing caseworkers to gather more comprehensive information on cases rather than relying solely on the referral.

“Ladies and gentlemen, there are very serious issues with the foster care situation in West Virginia, and many of these were handled very poorly in the past,” Morrisey said. “Now, this is a very difficult area . . . these are tough, tough issues that our state faces. But these are issues that have to get fixed. They’re not gonna get fixed overnight . . . but I can promise you today that we want to be honest, we want to be transparent and we will be accountable for what happens.”