House Judiciary Considers CPS Privatization Pilot Program 

A bill to test private management of some child protective service cases drew concern from lawmakers and constituents during a House Judiciary Committee Monday for Senate Bill 937.

The bill stipulates that Child Protective Services would still control abuse and neglect investigations including emergency custody and decisions to remove a child from a home. 

But beginning in January 2028, a pilot program in Berkeley, Jefferson, Raleigh, Fayette, Monroe and Summers counties would transfer day-to-day management of those cases to a private entity. 

Lead sponsor Sen. Tom Willis, R-Berkeley, told the upper chamber last week the move would allow CPS to focus on its core functions of intake, assessment and investigation.

Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, argued that the program would constitute a delegation of the government’s core duty to provide for the welfare of children in protective services and would create two systems of care.

“We have a, despite its flaws, a government system in place now that is designed to assure that each child is treated the same,” he said. “By now starting a pilot program in which a number of counties will take upon a private provider, those counties, those children will be subjected to a different model, different treatment than, say, my county, Ohio County, which is not part of the pilot program. Therefore, to me, on its face, seems to be an equal protection issue.”

Fluharty questioned whether profit motives would put a contractor at odds with a child’s welfare. He also brought up the issue of liability in cases of mistreatment.

“These companies will not be civilly liable for damages arising from acts or emissions undertaken in good faith for responsibilities that we have delegated as a state and may not meet the baseline requirements that are currently found in non-pilot counties, which I guess goes back to my point earlier that this is a gray area,” he said.

Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, said that in his experience, pilot programs required legislative action to expand after a defined trial period. Instead, SB 937 calls for statewide implementation by July 2029 unless the legislature takes action to stop the expansion. 

Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood, questioned how a six-county pilot would interact with the rest of the state where children can be and are regularly relocated.

“My understanding of the way this bill would be drafted is that the agency that is contracted is required to undertake all ongoing services. As with a lot of contracts, the devil is in the details,” Will Valentino, committee counsel, said. “And I would state that when you assume this sort of responsibility as a contracting agency, you also understand that these children can be placed in Florida, Utah. These children are placed in a lot of places around the country, not just the state of West Virginia. And so you would be assuming the risk when you enter into that contract.”

Tanya Hutchison, a former state social worker now in private service, warned the committee that even a pilot program would negatively affect existing social work contractors.

“While we recognize the necessity of child welfare reform, we believe that Senate Bill 937 is an impulsive and reactionary piece of legislation that is unlikely to produce significant enhancements or results for families and children,” she said. “Furthermore, it will introduce instability and unpredictability for the small business providers in West Virginia, who have dedicated 20 years in investing in employees and infrastructure throughout the state.”

Jeremiah Samples, former deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources, joined other public speakers in raising concerns over the administrative costs of privatized services.

“At the very least, we would ask, and really strongly suggest that we have a fiscal analysis of this model before we proceed,” he said.

Samples emphasized that he was not against privatization, but urged caution and pointed to similar efforts in other states. He cited evidence from a 2021 report to the Nebraska legislature that found the same or worse outcomes for children in a region where privatization was implemented.

“Child well-being: in five of the six measures of well-being reviewed in this study, the service area performed below the state average,” Samples quoted. “Independent living: there is no perceptible impact of privatization. Practice standards: there has been an erosion of that measure in the service area where the standard was not being met as of July 2021.”

With the end of session Saturday, Senate Bill 937 has a second reference to the Finance committee, but needs to be heard a second time before it leaves the House Judiciary committee.