Child Abuse Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

DoHS Responds To Minor’s Death

West Virginia Department of Human Services Cabinet Secretary, Cynthia Persily released a statement on the recent death of a minor.

West Virginia Department of Human Services (DoHS) Cabinet Secretary, Cynthia Persily released a statement on the recent death of a minor in the state.

The press release provided no further information on the minor who passed away, but in the headline, she called the incident a criminal case.

Persily called the situation “tragic” and said her thoughts are with those affected by the loss.

“Our dedicated CPS staff work tirelessly on the front lines each and every day, often under very challenging circumstances, to protect vulnerable children and families across our state,” Persily wrote. “CPS staff adhere to stringent policies and procedures outlined in state and federal law to ensure that every report of abuse or neglect is thoroughly assessed and investigated with the utmost care and diligence.”

Persily said in the statement that CPS cannot prevent every instance of abuse or neglect but that the department strives to investigate every qualified report and intervene within legal authority and statute.

“DoHS remains steadfast in its commitment to addressing child abuse throughout West Virginia and urges residents to report any suspected cases to our Centralized Intake for Abuse and Neglect hotline,” Persily wrote. “Let us honor the memory of this young victim by supporting the tireless efforts of our CPS workers and working together as a community to create a safer environment for all children.”

Per West Virginia Code, all records and information concerning a child or juvenile that are maintained by the Department of Human Services, a child agency or facility, or court or law-enforcement agency, are confidential and may not be released or disclosed to anyone, including any federal or state agency.

Legislative efforts to provide more CPS transparency and oversight, while still keeping confidentiality, failed in the recent regular legislative session.

Homeschooling, School Sports Discussed In Education Committees

Education committees in the West Virginia Legislature started the week off by considering changes to homeschooling requirements, as well as sports outside the school.

Monday afternoon the House Education Committee considered bills to promote registered apprenticeship programs, revise requirements of local school improvement councils and remove some requirements for homeschooling.

The original House Bill 5180 would have done away with the requirement that homeschool parents have a high school diploma or higher to provide home instruction. But that requirement was added back in with a committee substitute.

The bill changes how required academic assessments of the homeschooled child at grade level 3, 5, 8 and 11 are presented to the county superintendent, and allows microschools to submit a composite of assessment results instead of individual scores.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, proposed an amendment that would bar county boards of education from authorizing instruction in the home if there is a pending child abuse or neglect investigation or a domestic violence conviction against either custodial parent or an instructor.

Pushkin said he recognizes most homeschoolers are deeply involved and care for their children but was inspired by another law that has often been proposed but never made it far in the legislative process.

“Oftentimes, it’s an instructor or a gym teacher, somebody a service personnel, somebody in the school, spots the signs of abuse, and that’s how they find out and that’s what could lead to that phone call being made that might save a child’s life,” he said. “I’ve offered this amendment, because unfortunately, that bill has been introduced year after a year, Raylee’s Law has been introduced year after year.”

Raylee’s Law is named after an eight-year-old girl who died of abuse and neglect in 2018 after her parents withdrew her from school.

The amendment was voted down nine to 15, and the committee substitute was recommended to the full House for consideration.

The House Education Committee also discussed:

HB 5162, Establish a program to promote creation and expansion of registered apprenticeship programs.
SB 172, Revising requirements of local school improvement councils.

Senate

In the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning, Senators approved bill SB 750 aimed at promoting fentanyl awareness and education, without discussion. A similar bill sparked much debate in the House Education Committee last week.

Senators instead debated the merits of SB 813, which would allow students to participate in non-school competitive activities, and remove restrictions on external teams as a condition for playing for a school, team or sport.

Committee Vice Chair Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, expressed concern that the rule change would allow teams to keep playing beyond their intended season and erode the state’s athletic schedule.

“Right now you can’t start football practice until a certain date, you can’t start basketball practice until a certain date,” Clements said. “So what are we going to do with this and we keep talking about baseball. Okay, we take baseball. Baseball season usually ends for high school at the state baseball tournament. So if this is allowed to continue with the same coach and the same kids will just continue this whole season through until football season starts.”

Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, proposed an amendment that would extend the bill’s provisions to coaches, freeing them up to coach multiple teams.

Sen. David Stover, R-Wyoming, expressed his support for the amendment but also stated his concern that non-school teams would compete concurrently with school teams resulting in divided attention and loyalty from student athletes.

“If you’re playing a high school sport, that’s where your loyalty lies,” Stover said. “I agree with all this. Coaches should, they all better coach the travel teams. I don’t care if you play baseball around the clock but during the season for high school, that’s the season for high school ball.”

The amendment, as well as the broader bill, were ultimately adopted and recommended to the full Senate.

The Senate Education Committee also discussed:

SB806 – Removing certain required reports to Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability
SB761 – Providing greater access to unused buildings for public charter schools

Bill Increasing Child Abuse, Neglect Penalties Moving Through Legislature

The bill raises fines and prison time for parents, guardians and custodians convicted of felony crimes involving child abuse or neglect causing degrees of bodily injury and/or risk of death

A new bill introduced in the West Virginia House of Delegates raises fines and prison time for parents, guardians and custodians convicted of felony crimes involving child abuse or neglect causing degrees of bodily injury and/or risk of death.

A conviction of serious bodily injury for example, calls for imprisonment in a state correctional facility for not less than five nor more than 15 years, instead of the previous two and 10.

House Bill 4302 also includes people in a position of trust with a child, such as a day care worker, as those subject to the same penalties upon a child abuse or neglect conviction.

The bill’s sponsor, Del. Doug Smith, R-Mercer, said that inclusion is vital in 2024.

“Those people are responsible for our children,” Smith said. “The same as any adult would be – father, mother, grandparent. We need to provide an all around inclusion for the protection of the kids.”

Any person convicted of a second or subsequent felony offense under this proposal may be imprisoned for a term up to twice the term otherwise authorized and fined an amount up to twice that otherwise authorized, or both.

Anyone convicted of a misdemeanor offense under this bill may be required to complete parenting classes, substance abuse counseling, anger management counseling, or other appropriate services, or any combination of the above.

On third reading in the House on Monday, the child abuse penalty bill passed 96-0. It now goes on to the Senate, where Smith said it has not advanced in three previous attempts.

Senate Recognizes Child Advocacy Day

Monday was Child Advocacy Day at the Capitol, bringing together child welfare advocates to provide resources and educate the public.

The Senate passed a resolution making Monday Child Advocacy Day at the legislature. Special guests from the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network, or WVCAN, were set up outside the Senate chambers to spread their message.

Kate Flack is the CEO of WVCAN. She said the group was at the Capitol to celebrate the work of local child advocacy centers and their multidisciplinary teams in the past year and to urge the lawmakers to continue to support services to child survivors of abuse.

“Every year, we want to make sure that kids are as safe as possible so that we have laws that keep them safe, that makes sure that those who perpetrate child abuse are held accountable,” Flack said. “We also make sure that the folks who are doing the hard work of supporting children and their healing journey are supported financially, that CPS has support, that law enforcement has support, that prosecuting attorneys have support and that kids have access to mental health services and medical services.”

According to Flack, in the last year 4,879 new children were served by WVCAN’s 21 child advocacy centers.

“A child advocacy center is a child-friendly facility where treatment professionals and investigative professionals work together to hold offenders accountable and help kids heal,” Flack said. “So that includes law enforcement, CPS prosecuting attorneys, mental health providers, medical providers, our forensic interviewers and family advocates at the child advocacy centers. We meet monthly with each of those multidisciplinary investigative teams to coordinate on case outcomes to make sure that kids can heal and offenders are held accountable.”

WVCAN serves 46 of West Virginia’s 55 counties.

“We’re really proud of the work that’s being done, more than 10 percent increase in kids served in the last five years,” Flack said. “We know the services are no less needed now than they were before.”

Flack said WVCAN is expanding its mental health services through support from the Highmark Foundation.

“We’re looking to expand those services even further because we know that kids who have trauma histories do so much better when they get the type of support and medical and mental health support that they need,” Flack said.

A recent study of WVCAN’s services found that West Virginia children are 4.7 times more likely to encounter drug endangerment than the national average.

“Child advocacy centers really helped communities thrive, they are restoring the fabric of our society,” Flack said. “One in 10 kids will be sexually abused by their 18th birthday. So this is not a small problem. We need all hands on deck to support these children. And so we are hopeful that the legislature will continue to do so.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

W.Va. Children 5 Times More At Risk Of Drug Endangerment

The West Virginia Child Advocacy Group, or WVCAN, saw a nearly 10 percent increase in children served in the past five years.

The West Virginia Child Advocacy Group (WVCAN) saw a nearly 10 percent increase in new children served in the past five years according to a new report released on Thursday.

WVCAN operates 21 Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) which provide official service to 46 of 55 counties in the state.

Each CAC provides a safe, child-friendly facility where child protection, criminal justice and child treatment professionals work together to investigate abuse, hold offenders accountable and help children heal.

Kate Flack is the CEO of WVCAN. She said awareness of the program could account for the increase in new children served.

“Every time that we help build awareness, more children are disclosing to mandated reporters, more children’s cases are being investigated by CPS and law enforcement, and CPS and law enforcement make referrals to child advocacy centers,” Flack said. “So the children can come to a safe child-friendly facility to do a forensic interview with a trained forensic interviewer, who asks questions in a non-leading developmentally appropriate way.”

According to the report, children from 0 to six years old make up 25 percent of new children served at a CAC. Children ages seven to 12 account for 43 percent of new children served at a CAC. Finally, children ages 13 to 18 years old account for 32 percent of new children served at a CAC.

Flack said the majority of West Virginia offenders are over the age of 18.

“It represents the vulnerability that our children face,” Flack said. “That 96 percent of our alleged offenders were someone that child knew. So a lot of times when people think about child sexual abuse or physical abuse, they imagine stranger danger. And while there are, you know, cases of that, for sure, the majority, the vast majority of abuse that kids face, are people who are in positions of trust.”

The report shows 14 percent of the West Virginian children served were at a CAC because of allegations of drug endangerment. That is 4.7 times higher than the national average.

“Knowing that with poly-victimization, with the risks that kids face, if they are drug endangered, not only for neglect, you know, so not receiving adequate supervision, but it increases the risk of other types of abuse,” Flack said.

Flack said she is committed to her work and hopeful for state and federal investment into the program.

“The CDC lifetime costs to society for each victim of abuse is $210,000,” Flack said. “And so I mean, if the average cost for services for each of these children from the CAC is between $1,000 and $2,000 per kid, and so really, I mean, a little, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound, or an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Tim Armstead To Be Chief Justice For 2024

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals voted to designate Tim Armstead as chief justice for 2024. The change is part of a yearly rotation of the position between the five justices. Armstead has 10 years left in his current term and last served as chief justice in 2020.

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals voted to designate Tim Armstead as chief justice for 2024.

The change is part of a yearly rotation of the position between the five justices. Armstead has 10 years left in his current term and last served as chief justice in 2020.

Armstead will take over the position currently occupied by Justice Elizabeth Walker on Jan. 1. He said he wants to continue to make it more open to the public.

“I want to continue the work that Chief Justice Walker has done this year, in trying to open up the court and make it more accessible and more transparent,” Armstead said. “I think that’s been a very important accomplishment. And I want to continue that.”

Armstead also wants to address challenges the court faces in child abuse and neglect cases.

“In terms of our child abuse and neglect cases in our state. You know, there’s been a rise in the number of those cases,” Armstead said.

However, he said there is a declining number of attorneys with the state to handle these cases and serve as guardians for the children. He plans to work with the legislature to take steps to attract more attorneys who are willing to serve as attorneys for those children.

“We want to make sure that process works in the best interest of those children. And we’re going to take some steps this year to hopefully make that process work better,” Armstead said.