West Virginia Children’s Home, a residential facility in Elkins, W.Va., for foster children, will be closed by the state by the end of the year. The home serves youth ages 12 to 18 who can’t be in traditional foster homes due to behavior issues. (Courtesy photo)
In 2022, Gov. Jim Justice and the former state health department leader announced a children’s crisis center would come to Elkins, West Virginia. Too many kids experiencing mental health issues were sleeping in emergency rooms because the state had nowhere to put them. Other kids who needed help ended up in hotel rooms.
“We’ve got a plan that will really help our kids and help a lot of kids who are at risk and that really need the help and need it right now,” Justice said during the announcement.
The crisis center never materialized. Last week, the Department of Human Services announced that the West Virginia Children’s Home, which was supposed to house the center, will shut down by the end of the year. It currently is used for foster children.
“We’ve been exploring over the last few years of what a crisis center may look like and how it would be operationalized, but the facility has never been utilized as a crisis center,” said Cammie Chapman, DoHS deputy secretary of children and adult services, during a governor’s press conference on Nov. 19.
Senate Finance Chairman Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, said he didn’t believe the Legislature had made any ear-marked appropriation to the facility to make it a crisis center.
Randolph County Circuit Judge David Wilmoth, whose cases include children in need of placements, said the West Virginia Children’s home was valuable for juveniles who had nowhere else to go, who would “otherwise fall for the cracks.” He knew there was a plan to build a crisis center.
“West Virginia does need crisis shelters. It is very difficult to find a place to house juveniles who can’t remain home for a variety of reasons,” he said. “Currently, these children are housed in hotels with child protective services employees or youth service workers required to remain with them around the clock. The cost of this could be better spent on facilities strategically placed throughout the state.”
The closure of the Children’s Home along with the never-developed crisis center exacerbates two ongoing problems in West Virginia child welfare: a lack of in-state group homes and an acute need for kids’ mental health care that could help prevent kids from entering the overburdened system.
DoHS has tried to improve community-based and crisis services for children, but shortfalls persist.
“We are still seeing kids in the emergency room, and it is still a problem getting placements once they’re there,” said Jim Kauffman, president of the West Virginia Hospital Association.
Lawmaker requests answers about center’s closure
The state doesn’t have enough foster families, leading to a reliance on group care for kids. Some children with behavioral challenges need residential care, but there aren’t enough beds. Katrina Harmon, executive director for the West Virginia Child Care Association, said the closure of the Children’s Home, which has 25 beds, was “detrimental.”
“Further reduction of in-state residential treatment beds will only result in an increase of the state’s current reliance on out-of-state treatment facilities, and completely inappropriate temporary housing options such as hotels and juvenile detention facilities,” she said.
A news release from DoHS said the West Virginia Children’s Home needs $7.2 million in deferred maintenance and security measures. They’re relocating current residents “in appropriate, supportive environments that align with their individual needs.”
“The building is falling all to pieces. It’s just the right and smart thing to do,” Justice said.
The facility currently operates at an annual cost of $1.7 million due to its continuous 24/7 operation, according to DoHS. The state department of education operated a school on its grounds.
Wilmoth said that some children preferred a placement like the children’s home that allowed residents to access education and prepare for a successful life as adults.
“This facility allows children to remain in-state and close to their families, in a community setting while they receive services, education and treatment,” he said.
Del. Amy Summers is co-chair of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability. She has requested that DoHS leadership appear before lawmakers in December to hear their plans for where children in need of care will go now that the facility is unavailable.
“The DoHS and the courts have an issue with child placements, so I hope they have a plan with a private entity,” said Summers, R-Taylor. “We the state do not need to own a facility, but we better make sure we are doing everything we can to attract highly qualified and competent providers to the state.”
Del. Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason, a foster parent, said, “We have a responsibility to make sure children in West Virginia have a safe and stable environment when being removed from their home … I am deeply concerned about the closing of the West Virginia Children’s Home in Elkins at the end of the year.”
Wilmoth said it was “a complicated situation that requires the cooperation of many agencies and branches of state government to properly address.”
“I have had the opportunity to meet with a number of state representatives about this problem since 2019. Unfortunately, those meetings did not result in solutions that could address the problems outlined above or support the continuing need for the West Virginia Children’s Home,” he said.
State short on in-state group homes, kids’ mental health services
Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, a foster parent, said having an adequate number of safe placements was critical to a well-functioning child welfare system.
“We can’t remove kids for safety concerns, but in turn, have no suitable place to take them … This includes an abundance of safe and loving foster homes and high quality residential facilities for when that type of care is needed,” he said.
Out of the 6,135 children in state foster care, DoHS data showed 149 are in emergency shelters, 138 are in psychiatric hospitals and 708 are in group residential care.
More than half of the children in group homes reside out of state, and a sweeping foster care lawsuit has accused the state of sending kids to unsafe out-of-state facilities. DoHS announced last year that they’re trying to bring more kids back in-state for care, but the shortage of in-state beds is still an issue.
Harmon said a workforce crisis, liability insurance costs and payment reimbursement delays with DoHS were some of the barriers for West Virginia providers to expand care. She said it was vital that DoHS work with private providers to improve the system and adequately invest in robust community-based and foster care services.
Kaufman said DoHS has been working to improve its community-based mental health care for kids, which includes a mobile crisis unit. He noted that a nationwide shortage of pediatric mental health care providers is a challenge.
“I give the state a lot of credit because they’re trying to figure out, ‘How do we strengthen the system and how do we better use the community systems to prevent kids from needing a crisis bed or the emergency room?’” he said.
Jim McKay, state coordinator for Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia, said improving mental health care access was key to preventing more families from entering the foster care system.
“When families can’t access behavioral health services, they are left to face struggles on their own,” he explained. “This can lead to situations where kids end up in foster care — not because their parents don’t care, but because they don’t have the help they need to meet their children’s needs.”
He continued, “By investing in prevention services, mental and behavioral health support, and counseling, we can help children and their families navigate these challenges and hopefully avoid crises altogether.”
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.