Ombudsman Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Foster Care Ombudsman Emphasizes Independence, Impartiality As Office’s Role Grows

One of West Virginia’s Foster Care Ombudsmen testified before a committee during November’s interim legislative session about the role her office plays in the state’s child welfare system.

West Virginia’s foster care system has long struggled with limited resources and public oversight. In an effort to improve it, the West Virginia Legislature overhauled foster care statewide in 2019. This included hiring new state officials who advocate for youth in state care: foster care ombudsmen.

Today, eight ombudsmen across the state investigate complaints in West Virginia’s child welfare system and collect data about foster care. Over the years, lawmakers have expanded the scope of their work, as well as the independence of their office.

The ombudsmen report to the state’s inspector general, as well as the deputy director of the state’s Office of the Foster Care Ombudsman. The latter role is currently held by Acting Director Elizabeth Hardy, who said the ombudsmen do important work statewide.

Hardy gave a presentation explaining some common misconceptions about an ombudsman’s role in the state’s foster care system.

“We’re blessed to have eight amazing foster care ombudsmen throughout the state doing direct contact complaint work and investigations,” she said.

Since House Bill 3061 was passed in 2023, the ombudsmen have investigated abuse and neglect allegations in the child welfare system, plus cases from youth in the juvenile justice system. Previously, ombudsmen could only investigate complaints involving a foster child, foster parents or kinship parents.

Most recently, during the 2024 regular legislative session, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 300.

“Senate Bill 300 made it clear that our Office of Inspector General is independent and impartial,” Hardy said. “Thank you to those who fought so hard to pass that bill. Thereby, our office continues to share aggregate data trends with the Department of Human Services Leadership.”

Hardy explained the main objectives of the foster care ombudsman’s office.

“We educate, we empower, we assist, we endorse, we advocate, negotiate, observe, report, recommend and we suggest,” Hardy said.

According to Hardy, the ombudsman enforces the state’s Foster Kinship Parent Bill of Rights and the Foster Child Bill of Rights.

“What we don’t do is we don’t direct or manage, we don’t instruct or rule,” Hardy said. “We don’t adjudicate, order, decide, discipline, demand or enforce.”

Hardy reported that since its inception in 2019, the Office of the Foster Care Ombudsman has received more than 3,000 complaints.

“Compared to the state fiscal year of 2024 we have received almost an additional 700 complaints, which is a 171 percent increase,” Hardy said. “This data trend shows our office’s relevance as a value by the substantial increase in the number of complaints over time.”

Hardy’s work today is informed by her own experience as a foster parent in West Virginia. About a decade ago, she and her husband fostered two three-month-olds. She said she felt scared and alone throughout the process.

“This office didn’t exist then. But if it did, someone would have told me that I was not alone,” Hardy said. “Someone would have educated me about the process, and someone would have given me resources, and that is what our office is today.”

She said a large obstacle to achieving the Office of the Foster Care Ombudsman’s goals is public misunderstanding over its structure.

“To the public, it may still appear we’re under the control or influence of the Department of Human Services,” Hardy said. “This is why our office needs to do more education around the separation of our office to showcase its independence and its impartiality.”

Aside from improving public relations, Hardy said the goal for the Office of the Foster Care Ombudsman is to continue developing a new case management system and to improve child welfare data metrics.

“We want to continue collaborating, working together with child welfare leaders throughout the state to make the most impact on systemic reform,” she said.

After her presentation, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, asked Hardy how communication gaps between her office and the public could be filled.

Hardy said the ombudsman’s office has a website, phone number and electronic assistance forms that families can fill out online.

“They’re welcome to call us or email us, and we will be able to provide them support throughout the entire state of West Virginia,” Hardy said.

Pushkin asked if Hardy’s office has received complaints about finding placements for older foster children.

“Over the past several years, we’ve heard about some of the older children that we can’t find placement for, being put in hotels and motels and state parks,” Pushkin said. “Do you receive complaints about that?”

Hardy said that finding older children foster homes is an ongoing problem.

“We don’t have enough place for our children, and we are trying to work collaboratively to try to figure out what we can do,” Hardy said.

There are currently 6,135 children in West Virginia’s state custody.

Possible Solutions Offered For Foster Care System Problems

For many years West Virginia has led the nation in foster care rates, with more than 6,000 children currently in state custody. This year, the state legislature formed a work group to identify and address complaints of neglect and ineptitude in the state’s child welfare system. As Emily Rice reports, the work group reported their findings and recommendations to lawmakers this month.

West Virginia has led the nation in foster care entry rates since 2010 with more than 6,000 children currently in state care.

A legislative workgroup was formed in March to identify and address complaints of neglect and ineptitude in the state’s child welfare system. During November’s interim session, the workgroup reported their findings and recommended solutions to the Joint Standing Committee on Health.

Foster parents turned advocates, lawmakers and state officials presented lawmakers with ongoing problems and possible solutions in the state’s troubled foster care system.

Foster Care System Workgroup Update

Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, and Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, gave a presentation on the Foster Care System Workgroup’s findings.

“We wanted to investigate the entire system for quality, efficiency and effectiveness,” Burkhammer said.

They said the workgroup’s report was a cumulative effort from several Senators and Delegates, including Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson; Del. Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason; Laura Kimble, R-Harrison; Del. Margitta Mazzocchi, R-Logan; Del. Michael Hite, R-Berkeley and Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood.

The increase in foster care has been largely fed by the state’s Substance Use Disorder (SUD) epidemic.

“When we talk about the leading factors of that (entry rate) 80 to 90 percent would probably go to substance abuse, as well as in poverty, family instability and parental education can kind of be bundled into one there,” Burkhammer said.

In 2000, six out of every 1,000 West Virginia children entered foster care. In 2021, more than double that number, 13 of every 1,000 West Virginia children, entered foster care. West Virginia’s entry rate increased 117 percent in those 21 years.

Burkhammer cited similar statistics from the state’s Child Welfare Dashboard, operated through the West Virginia Department of Health.

“That (6,000 children) leads the nation per capita at 19.8 per 1,000 children, versus the national average of 5.1 per 1,000,” he said.

For that reason, the workgroup focused on evaluating the state’s preventative services, where they found a lack of long-term planning, insufficient resources and a lack of adequate staff.

“There are 79 openings out of 390 CPS workers,” Burkhammer said. “That leads to high caseloads. High caseloads lead to poor quality in those caseloads.”

There is a need for attorneys appointed by a judge to represent the interests of people who cannot protect their rights. Those attorneys are called guardians ad litem (GAL) in family court.

“We’re always discussing that we don’t have enough of those to represent everyone through this legal process, and as well as all of our service providers are short-staffed and understaffed, and again, lead to high caseloads, which I believe ultimately leads to poor quality and attention to our children,” Burkhammer said.

Pinson, another member of the Foster Care System Workgroup, testified before the committee that in 2023, there were 157 GALs for the state of West Virginia. This year, there are 191, which Pinson said was an improvement, but not enough.

“That’s a pretty large increase, percentage-wise, 191, though for the entire state of West Virginia,” he said. “In 2024, from Jan. 1 until Oct. 31, there have been 4,708 new juvenile abuse and neglect cases.”

Pinson said that figure did not include active cases that are pending, so the workgroup estimates there could be as many as 10,000 active abuse and neglect cases for 191 GALs to handle.

“That means every guardian ad litem has at least 41 active juvenile abuse and neglect cases, not counting all the other legal work that they’re doing,” he said. “So as we think about guardian ad litems, we need to consider an increase in compensation.”

Pinson said though they may be overworked, West Virginia’s guardians ad litem are excellent attorneys.

“If we’re going to retain excellent attorneys for the children that we take custody of, we’re going to have to pay them,” Pinson said.

Burkhammer said the workgroup found that these problems could not always be attributed to a lack of funding, but a lack of urgency.

“Sometimes the money is there and the bills are not being paid in a timely fashion,” he said. “It was an ongoing complaint from everyone from service providers all the way down to families, of not getting timely payment and then ultimately not being able to provide those services and care to children.”

But, according to Burkhammer, the lack of urgency doesn’t end with spending.

“There’s a lack of urgency when we’re talking about court-ordered services that our biological families are ordered to participate in,” he said. “There’s delays in getting those implemented. Another area is data collection. Some of our reports are out of date. So when we’re talking about trying to fix an ongoing problem, we can’t be looking at one-year, two-year-old data. We need to be looking at real-time data.”

The workgroup looked into the foster care system’s transparency, and Burkhammer said that the workgroup found that confidentiality requirements often hindered the process.

“We want to protect the confidentiality of children, but at times, we’ve noticed that that extreme use of that confidentiality statute might create unintended consequences downstream when we talked about the complexity of the system,” Burkhammer said.

In fact, the workgroup found that the people who do have access to this confidential information are not performing their duties.

According to West Virginia state code, an MDT (multidisciplinary team) must be established for children in abuse and neglect cases to assess, plan and implement a system of services for those children and their families.

Burkhammer said the workgroup found MDT meetings are underutilized and lacking participation in West Virginia’s system.

“I think we all recognize sometimes we can put some really good law and really good code and really good policy on paper, but we have to make sure that’s being implemented in the field,” Burkhammer said.

The workgroup recommends the system require the MDT-appointed professionals to attend and participate in (MDT) meetings to set up a plan forward through the child’s case.

“I think one thing that would really help there is potentially adding a mediator to the MDT meetings, there’s really no leadership in the meeting, depending on who shows up and doesn’t show up,” Burkhammer said. “So a lot of times, the loudest voice in a room rules the day.”

The workgroup also found varying implementation dates for different programs, which Burkhammer thinks can be attributed to a lack of experienced workers and workers not receiving updated policies throughout their training.

The workgroup also found communication system failures among CPS workers, advocates and court officials.

“When we’re talking about this complex web of individuals all trying to work together, there’s no joint communication,” Burkhammer said. “So we do everything from text, email, phone call, trying to get information together, and simply there’s just a breakdown of communication when you start trying to piece everyone together.”

Burkhammer highlighted the passage of House Bill 4975 during the 2024 regular legislative session as a step in the right direction to resolve communication issues throughout the foster care system.

“We’ve got to continue to make sure that is rolled out and implemented properly, and then I believe in its initial success, we can then expand it into all of the stakeholders that I mentioned that have the ability to communicate together and utilize technology to our advantage,” Burkhammer said.

He told the committee that the workgroup also recommends increased intergovernmental cooperation.

“We have to build a coalition together and realize we all play a vital part in this, in solving this,” Burkhammer said. “And so building that cooperation between us, the sharing of information, the sharing of data, and working together, is essential to that.”

Pinson said he has learned about the foster care system through this investigation and in real life. He said that in his experience, there was a total lack of communication and resources for children and families

“My family, my wife and I, we’ve taken in foster children, and most generally, they show up with maybe a change of clothes or two, and so now you’re trying to think about, okay, how do I provide clothing for them,” Pinson said. “How do I provide a car seat for them, a bed for them, a crib for them, all of these things that they’re needed and they’re needed immediately, also while you’re trying to get them enrolled in school and make sure that you’re working out all the new transitional decisions.”

According to Pinson, a foster child is supposed to arrive at their custody placement with a $375 voucher from the state to help get the child settled in a new home. But, he testified the workgroup found complications with foster families reliably receiving a voucher and children losing purchased clothing and items while being moved from placement to placement.

“We can set forth requirements that children who are in state custody, that as these items are being purchased with state money, voucher money that they’re being inventoried and kept with the child,” Pinson said. “These items should belong to the children.”

Pinson also testified that often the vouchers are only redeemable at the chain retail store, Gabe’s, which doesn’t always stock all the necessities of caring for a child.

“If you’ve been to one (Gabe’s), you probably realize that there’s not car seats available,” Pinson said. “Very rarely we find beds and cribs and these things, so limited supply there.”

The workgroup also found an overall lack of resources like drug rehabilitation therapy counseling, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), transportation and visitation services.

“There’s just certain areas that are doing certain things really well, and other areas not doing some things really well, which creates kind of that resource service gap for really all families, whether it’s biological kinship or or foster families in there,” Burkhammer said.

The Workgroup’s Proposed Solutions

While the workgroup found many problems throughout the Foster Care System, Delegates Burkhammer, Pinson and Deeds presented their proposed solutions.

To address foster children’s clothing and necessities, the workgroup presented draft legislation that would solidify the voucher program and implement an inventory process so children can keep what belongs to them, even if their placement is changed.

To address staff shortages, the workgroup recommends increasing pay. Burkhammer said lawmakers need to prioritize increasing reimbursement for Child Protective Services (CPS).

“High caseload leads to poor quality,” Burkhammer said. “I think we can prioritize that through increased pay.”

Burkhammer said compensating providers and families needs to be prioritized as well.

“Those that are on the front lines need to be paid for the services they’re providing,” Burkhammer said.

According to a state foster care policy from May 2022, the monthly boarding care payments for foster children range from $790 to $942, depending on the age of the child.

The workgroup recommends improving the use and leverage of federal funds.

“We found some gaps in where we were not utilizing federal funding, maybe to its maximum potential,” Burkhammer said. “And so that’s not needing state money. That just needs some policy rewrote and some approval from the feds.”

Burkhammer said the foster care system needs to utilize data better to prioritize needs and determine what is and is not working.

“A lot of times we’re just kind of throwing stuff out there,” Burkhammer said. “Let’s get a priority. And I think that’s going to come when we can see what is being effective and what isn’t.”

Burkhammer told the committee the system needs to improve access to preventative services and treatment resources to prevent children from being removed from their biological families in the first place.

“Pregnant mothers that are struggling with substance abuse need access to rehabilitation that lacks throughout the state,” Burkhammer said. “So we have between 15 and 20 percent on average, our babies in West Virginia are being born drug affected with drugs in their system.”

Burkhammer explained that by providing pregnant mothers with recovery resources before they give birth, there will be less of a chance the baby will be born dependent on substances and taken from the mother’s custody at birth.

During questioning, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, asked Burkhammer to clarify the number and extent of infants born affected by substances in West Virginia. Burkhammer answered that 15 percent of all infants born in the state have some exposure to a drug.

“Some would be considered NAS (neonatal abstinence syndrome) addicted, others may just be exposed to the drug,” Burkhammer said. “So when you talk about NAS, that would require they have a dependence on it, and it requires a methadone type treatment to bring them off of that while some it may not be, it may be in their system, but not to the point of dependency.”

Burkhammer added that the experts he has spoken with have told him they believe the number of infants born exposed to drugs is much higher.

Pushkin expressed his support for the bill, saying he hoped it would pass both chambers unanimously.

“Unless we really address preventative services, we’re going to keep beating our heads against the wall,” Pushkin said. “We need to fix it on this end as much as we can for the kids that are in the system now.

Pushkin said that one of the root causes of the crisis needs to be addressed as well.

“We’re going to keep getting more and more kids in the system if we don’t address the 15 percent of children born somehow affected by the drug epidemic,” Pushkin said.

On the topic of mothers struggling with SUD, Burkhammer said lawmakers need to consider adding a “long acting reversible contraceptive” program to the rehabilitation process. He did not elaborate and no lawmakers asked about that proposal.

Next, Burkhammer said the state needs to make transitional living programs available to the 30.86 percent of the state’s foster children who are 13 to 17 years old. He said many of those children lack a sense of permanency from their time in state custody, turn 18 and age out of the system with no place to go.

“There’s some really good programs out there with transitional living that we need to expand to make sure we’re grasping them kids because if we don’t expand transitional living, we will expand our jails,” Burkhammer said. “It’s a given that there’s a higher potential for those kids aging out of the system to end up incarcerated if we don’t give them those resources as they’re leaving our system.”

West Virginia leads the nation in rates of kinship placement, an arrangement where a child is removed from a parent or guardian and placed with another relative or someone familiar to them.

“We place them with somebody that knows them and tries to create some sense of stability throughout that traumatic event, but those kinship family resources don’t flow through the child placing agencies the same for a foster family,” Burkhammer said.

He recommended outsourcing resources for foster families, possibly duplicating the models used by child-placing agencies serving kinship families.

Burkhammer said West Virginia needs to improve its Adoption Family Resources.

“When you adopt a child, you go to court, everyone gets their picture taken (and) a lot of your services through that you were getting through that child placing agency end,” Burkhammer said. “It’s now that family’s responsibility, and so we need to continue to provide services through adoption and beyond to do that.”

Burkhammer told the committee he knows a lot of people want to help fix West Virginia’s foster care system, but many do not know where to start. He thinks the state can start by building volunteer coalitions in their local communities, dedicated to providing resources to families.

“Being a foster parent, a kinship parent, is difficult, and we’ve got to build resources around these families in their communities, with community folks,” Burkhammer said. “This isn’t asking the government to provide anything. It’s simply saying building these volunteer coalitions in our communities.”

During questioning, Del. George Miller, R-Morgan, asked how the workgroup plans to get communities involved and volunteering. Burkhammer answered that he believes churches and faith communities are the resource to look to, mentioning Chestnut Mountain Village by name.

“There are folks out there that that want to want to build beds, folks that want to provide meals, folks that want to provide clothing, and start clothing closets and offering all of those volunteer services,” Burkhammer said. “I believe they are out there. I believe West Virginians are charitable people. They just need some direction and in some leadership in it.”

Transparency And Accountability Draft Legislation

Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, opened his testimony by telling the committee that every one the workgroup talked to wants the best for the state’s children.

“I can report to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that everyone that we have spoken to, and this includes all, whether it’s the law enforcement, community, education, health care, Department of Human Services, everyone wants the best for our children,” Deeds said.

The draft legislation Deeds presented addresses child welfare transparency by setting up abuse and neglect reporting procedures that allow for reports to be made by email, fax, or an in-person printed form. He said this could supplement the 24/7 Centralized Intake Hotline currently used by the Department of Human Services.

Furthermore, the legislation would require that the person reporting suspected abuse or neglect receive an identifier number to track their report through the system. These other forms of reporting would be required to be treated the same as those that arrive through Centralized Intake.

Deeds said there would be no fiscal note for the new Centralized Intake supplemental program.

“So also, as you know, of course, there’s no cost on this as far as that goes, because, of course, it’d be part of their normal workload, and they can also the critical incident review team, can also, if they have the need, they can ask for outside experts for guidance,” Deeds said.

Deeds then discussed the screening out of reports by mandatory reporters, certain professionals that are legally required to report suspected abuse and neglect. The new draft legislation does not allow for any mandated reporter’s report to be screened out.

“I know, in my area, we have a lot of educators that file a lot of reports and they should, because they spend, they’re the one loving, caring adult that this child may see,” Deeds said. “They have an opportunity to see how this child is doing, and they would be a credible source of information, so need to be investigated by filing these mandatory reports.”

The workgroup also found that audio files from calls to Centralized Intake are not stored or cataloged They recommended keeping them on file for a year.

“That way, you can go back and review,” Deeds said. “If a person said, ‘Well, I called in and reported this.’ Well, what’s the identifier number? ‘I don’t have the identifier number.’ Well, you can go back and check the audio files and see if there actually was a file reported. And so it’d be really helpful to track that as well.”

Deeds said the same transparency bill would allow the foster care ombudsman broader authority to review certain information in abuse and neglect cases.

The Ombudsman reports information to the public and the legislature.

The transparency draft legislation would also require timely submission of a fatality or near fatality case to be reported to a new data dashboard.

Currently in West Virginia, the Critical Incident Review Team reviews fatalities or near fatalities of children known to the child welfare system in the last 12 months. The team meets quarterly to examine each case practice, policy and training needed to make program improvements.

The review is meant to identify areas that, if improved upon, may have prevented the death or severe injury of a child. They release a critical incident report annually.

In 2023, the team reported 16 fatalities of children known to the child welfare system, five of which are attributed to abuse and/or neglect.

“If there’s an incident that happens in our areas, you know, we have a lot of public outcry for it, and there’s a lot of misinformation that comes from that because of the delay in time,” Deeds said.

The draft legislation aims to resolve incidents where miscommunications may have cost a child’s life.

Earlier this year 14-year-old Kyneddi Miller was found dead, her grandparents and mother were later charged with felony neglect and abuse. There were conflicting reports about the actions of state agencies involved in the case and calls for accountability.

Police officers claimed they saw the now deceased Miller nearly a year before her death. They said they were concerned about the girl’s well being, so they went to Boone County’s Child Protective Services (CPS) office to file a referral. However, CPS, which is a division of the Department of Human Services, said they have no record of that.

GPS data, police reports, and audio obtained from the police officer who visited Kyneddi in 2023, all corroborate the police officer’s claim that they went to CPS to make a referral after completing a welfare check on the child.

During a June press conference on the incident, Brian Abraham, Gov. Jim Justice’s chief of staff, said he interviewed the police officers and came to the conclusion that they did visit CPS, but that the officers may have not followed the proper protocol; the officer failed to call the 1-800 number the department had provided him to report the abuse and neglect.

Miller’s mother and grandparents were indicted on charges of murder of a child by parent, guardian or custodian by failure or refusal to supply necessities, and child neglect resulting in death on Sept. 17, 2024.

Deeds said the child’s initials, sex, age, ethnicity, county of residence and the date of the incident would be listed on the new dashboard under the purview of the Office of the Inspector General.

“We don’t want to take away from the criminal investigation or the civil investigation, but we just want to be able to list, yeah, there this happened in this area, and there will be a follow-up with the critical incident review team,” Deeds said.

Deeds said the workgroup found shortcomings in the Critical Incident Review Team, so they included an expansion of the team in their draft legislation.

“It would establish a team with requirements to review fatalities and near fatalities in the child welfare system and make recommendations for prevention and intervention,” Deeds said.

In the draft legislation, the new configuration of the critical incident review team would include a mixture of personnel from the Department of Human Services, the judicial system, law enforcement, a Senator appointed by the President of the Senate and a Delegate appointed by the Speaker of the House.

“They are there as monitors to see the information come in, and it is completely confidential,” Deeds said. “You know, there’s no FOIA requests, and it’s written very clearly in the bill that everything is, to be examined and not open to FOIA requests as well.”

Deeds said the hope is that the expanded critical incident review team will be able to identify patterns of abuse and neglect, but they would have no voting power.

Medical Information Draft Legislation

Burkhammer presented the workgroup’s second draft bill, which aims to ease foster and kinship parent’s access to the medical records of the children in their custody. This bill would expand on the 2024 regular session’s House Bill 4320, which passed both chambers, but stalled out on March 8 before completing legislation.

“We need to know if kids are taking medication, what that medication is, how often, what doctor they’ve been seeing,” Burkhammer said. “So oftentimes kids come into your care, you’re essentially starting back over.”

The legislation would also allow managed care providers and child placement agencies access to the child’s medical records.

“We want to allow our MCOs, our managed care provider, and our CPAs, our child placing agencies, to have access to that information, still in a confidential manner, but allows for proper care as children move throughout the system there,” Burkhammer said.

During questioning, Del. George Miller, R-Morgan, asked if there was a need to change the states interpretation of a federal privacy law, the health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996 or HIPAA, laws would need to be changed to accommodate the draft legislation.

“West Virginia is kind of using the extreme side of the HIPAA law and not allowing parents in as well, not allowing their MCO and their CPAs to see that so we can stay within the bounds of federal HIPAA and still allow some flexibility in that,” Burkhammer answered.

Lawmakers will be able to consider those draft bills during the regular session in the spring.

W.Va.’s First Foster Care Ombudsman Resigns

The appointed watchdog of the West Virginia Foster Care System has resigned, effective June 6.

The first West Virginia Foster Care Ombudsman, Pamela Woodman-Kaehler, will resign effective June 6 to pursue new opportunities.

“We very much appreciate Pamela’s work over the years and her passion for serving the children of this state,” said Ann Urling, interim inspector general for the Departments of Health, Human Services, and Health Facilities. ”We wish her well in all of her future endeavors.”

Elizabeth Hardy will serve as the acting office director foster care ombudsman in her place.

“It has been an incredible honor and pleasure to serve the citizens of West Virginia as the state’s first foster care ombudsman. I am choosing to pursue a new opportunity, but the program is exceptionally well positioned to serve our foster care system,” said Woodman-Kaehler. “I extend grateful thanks to department leaders and other stakeholders who have supported the important work of the foster care ombudsman.”

The foster care ombudsman, a position allowed for by legislation passed in 2019 and 2020, advocates for the rights of foster children, investigates and resolves complaints, and provides assistance to foster families, among other responsibilities.

Since then, lawmakers have been expanding the scope and independence of the Foster Care Ombudsman’s Office.

In 2023, House Bill 3061 was passed, permitting the foster care ombudsman to investigate reported allegations of abuse and neglect for critical incidents and to investigate children placed in the juvenile justice system. Previously, the ombudsman could only investigate complaints involving a foster child, foster parents or kinship parents.

Kelli Caseman, executive director of Think Kids WV, a statewide advocacy group focused on the health and well-being of West Virginia’s children, was one of the advocates pushing for the creation of an ombudsman.

Bills to further clarify the foster care ombudsman’s authority regarding child abuse and neglect investigations did not pass during the 2024 legislative session.

“I think that she really has given a voice to families, you know, of course, kids don’t have that opportunity to share their concerns, their challenges, their trauma. We are rightfully protective of their personal information,” Caseman said. “But so they really don’t have a voice, and we often find that their parents don’t have that voice either, and so Pamela really gave a voice and a platform to some of these challenges.”

Woodman-Kaehler’s resignation garnered praise for her work ethic in a difficult field but left some wondering if the ombudsman is encumbered by outside influences.

News of Woodman-Kaehler’s resignation broke less than a week after an April deposition of former deputy secretary of the previous Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), Jeremiah Samples, was made public.

The deposition was conducted in connection with a 2019 class action lawsuit, filed by A Better Childhood (ABC), a New York-based nonprofit, along with Shafer and Shafer and Disability Rights West Virginia against the now-split DHHR.

Marcia Robinson Lowry, the lead plaintiff for the class, and executive director of A Better Childhood, said she has been interested in interviewing Samples since his departure from the department.

“We took his deposition and we expected that we would get this kind of information,” Lowry said. “We didn’t know exactly what we would get, of course. But we were not surprised to get this kind of information.”

The lawsuit alleges the DHHR failed to properly care for thousands of foster kids, putting some in dangerous and unsafe situations.

In the original court filing, the plaintiffs allege, “Children in West Virginia’s foster care system have been abused and neglected, put in inadequate and dangerous placements, institutionalized and segregated from the outside world, left without necessary services, and forced to unnecessarily languish in foster care for years.”

The group filed a complaint in federal court in October 2019, denouncing the DHHR’s “over-reliance” on shelter care, shortages in case workers and a “failure to appropriately plan for the children in its custody.”

The following year, a motion for class action status was filed but left undecided when the case was dismissed in 2021. In 2022, that decision was reversed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the class action motion was renewed in May 2023.

“It’s been delayed twice, because of the defendants failing to produce materials to us,” Lowry said. “So it is going forward, and the trial will be in November.”

In the deposition, Samples, who is now senior advisor to the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance, testified that the Department of Human Services (DoHS) was not providing certain information to the Foster Care Ombudsman’s Office.

“There was an effort in 2023, through legislation, to accomplish that (investigative access for the ombudsman),” Samples said. “It was then stated by the ombudsman that they were still not being provided access because of a discussion or because of a position by Ms. [Cammie] Chapman.”

Samples testified that in early 2024, he learned that Deputy Secretary of Children and Adult Services Cammie Chapman was not providing investigative data to the ombudsman, due to the department’s interpretation of House Bill 3061.

“It was relayed that it was the interpretation of the department and Ms. Chapman that the ombudsman would not have access to that information,” Samples said.

Furthermore, Samples testified that the ombudsman had to contend with the previous DHHR secretary, Bill Crouch, who retired in 2022. He recalled a conversation with the ombudsman during the deposition.

“She said that she was called in to Secretary Crouch’s office,” Samples said. “And I don’t recall specifically how she worded it. But the tone of the conversation was that it was a threat, to be very careful about conversations that she had with the legislature and documents that she would release.”

Legal Director of Disability Rights West Virginia Mike Folio praised Woodman-Kaehler’s work but called her resignation a failure of the department.

“The resignation of Pamela Woodman-Kaehler is a sad chapter in DHHR’s and DoHS’ failed history to protect vulnerable children,” Folio said. “Sworn testimony exists that shows former DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch and current DoHS Deputy Secretary Cammie Chapman have meddled in the foster care ombudsman’s affairs, directed her to conceal information from the legislature, and withheld information from her that would have enabled her to conduct investigations to protect the state’s vulnerable children. Pam is a champion for children and her resignation highlights the state’s failure to safeguard children.”

Samples testified that he and Woodman-Kaehler also discussed shortfalls in the Child Protective Services (CPS) system. He said topics of conversation included CPS not properly conducting investigations and CPS case workers not being prepared in court.

“There would be a referral to centralized intake and concerns that these referrals were being screened out inappropriately,” Samples said. “For example, I recall specifically talking to her about the percentage of cases that were being investigated historically. So you go back to 2017, for example, there might have been 67, 69 percent of all referrals investigated. And now, I think the last time I saw the data, it was 60 point something percent.”

Samples also testified that the ombudsman found that there was fear of retaliation by CPS workers. He said he’s received similar complaints, “as recently as this week,” in the April 18, 2024 deposition.

“There were certainly reports at the time that CPS workers were using their authority to retaliate against foster parents, biological families,” Samples said. “And those concerns continue to be reported through constituent referrals to me at the legislature.”

Caseman said Woodman-Kaehler prepared a report for the legislature in 2021, documenting these findings.

“That (report) explained that over 90 percent of the people who called her office, either primary or secondary reason was out of fear of retaliation of the system, which really opened a lot of eyes, that there needs to be more transparency and more effort to ensure that our foster care families, our biological families, families that are transitioning through the child welfare system are treated with, you know, compassion and respect,” Caseman said.

During his weekly media briefing, Gov. Jim Justice addressed Woodman-Kaehler’s resignation.

“She got a better job, guys,” Justice said. “I mean, that’s all there is to it. You know, I mean, this business of attacking people and everything and … digging into everything coming and going. I mean, if she’s telling us she got a better job, you know, and why don’t we celebrate that?”

Justice brought up Sample’s deposition and said “this” all started with Crouch’s firing of Samples.

“From what I understand, Bill Crouch and Jeremiah Samples were butting heads,” Justice said. “Jeremiah Samples was the second in charge. He was in charge, the second man in charge here for a decade plus. And now he runs through the building saying everything in the world was wrong? Why didn’t he fix it? Why in the world didn’t he fix it? If something was wrong?”

Justice said he thinks everyone who works in the West Virginia government is doing their best.

“I really think for the most part, these people surely got their heart in and are trying really hard and they don’t deserve, you know, to be beat on,” Justice said.

According to the West Virginia Child Welfare Dashboard, there are 6,094 children in state care.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

Clarity Provided On Foster Care Ombudsmen

Pamela Woodman-Kaehler, office director of the Foster Care Ombudsman, gave a presentation and answered questions about West Virginia’s Foster Care Ombudsman’s purposes and functions.

Lawmakers heard from the office of West Virginia’s Foster Care Ombudsman Monday during a Joint Standing Committee on Government Organization.

Pamela Woodman-Kaehler, office director of the Foster Care Ombudsman, gave a presentation and answered questions about West Virginia’s Foster Care Ombudsman’s purposes and functions.

“The foster care ombudsman investigates and resolves complaints that basically relate to the child welfare system,” Woodman-Kaehler said. “If there is an action or inaction or decision of any state agency that is involved with the foster care population, it is typically within our jurisdiction to help our public with that issue.”

Established by the West Virginia Legislature in 2019, the West Virginia foster care ombudsman’s team has received a total of 1,834 complaints. Woodman-Kaehler could not comment on which claims have been substantiated. There are currently 6,262 children in West Virginia state care.

“And we talked to hundreds and thousands of people, overall in meetings, and panels with relationships to investigating complaints, and helping people,” Woodman-Kaehler said. “A very important part of what we do is we substantiate or validate complaints that are validatable that come to our office, and we keep track of complaint validity by topic and by county and we are working hard to attempt to map that.”

Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, asked Woodman-Kaehler about the number of complaints and some issues surrounding vouchers not being accepted at certain stores. She said the department issued a variety of different changes.

“I stayed on top of those changes and how they were being implemented with leadership,” she said. “If there are complaints about vouchers only being accepted at a particular store, I would suspect it’s a communication error on the part of a well-intended, but inaccurate employee sharing information.”

Woodman-Kaehler reported that more than 10 people work in the foster care ombudsman’s unit, and due to anonymity procedures couldn’t elaborate further.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, asked Woodman-Kaehler if her office has enough staff, given nationwide workforce shortages.

“Our workforce is positioned all over the state, we are not Charleston-centric, we are throughout the state so that we can have that presence wherever we may be needed,” she said.

Woodman-Kaehler also said the office of the foster care ombudsman’s budget is $979,000, and as of the fiscal year to-date the office has spent just under $600,000 of that sum.

Foster Care Ombudsman Authority Broadened In Senate

A bill allowing the Foster Care Ombudsman more authority to protect children in state care passed the Senate unanimously Tuesday.

The Foster Care Ombudsman, a position allowed for by legislation passed in 2019 and 2020, advocates for the rights of foster children, investigates and resolves complaints, and provides assistance to foster families, among other responsibilities.

House Bill 3061 will permit the Foster Care Ombudsman to investigate reported allegations of abuse and neglect for critical incidents and to investigate children placed in the juvenile justice system.

“Currently, the Foster Care Ombudsman can investigate complaints involving a foster child, a foster parents or kinship parent,” said Sen. Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, who introduced the bill and its amendments to the chamber. “The bill before us now would expand the ombudsman authority to investigate reported allegations of abuse and neglect, to investigate a child who has sustained a critical incident in order to investigate a child in the juvenile justice system. The bill also allows the foster care ombudsman to investigate complaints on his or her own initiative.”

Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan County, spoke to the importance of the bill after its passing, noting West Virginia’s 6,300 foster children.

“We report it to the DHHR we’ve spent money, this state government, this legislature has funded DHHR to set up a hotline where people can report report allegations of child abuse or neglect,” Trump said. “And it’s sad that it happens. But it does happen in this state, Mr. President, and I think most people who’ve studied it and analyzed it will agree that our opioid crisis has inflamed that, has increased the numbers.”

HB 3061 now goes to the governor’s desk for his signature.

Foster Care Ombudsman Authority Broadened In The House

The official advocate for foster children in the state system may soon have more power to look out for their rights.

House Bill 3061, concerning the authority of the Foster Care Ombudsman (FCO) passed the West Virginia House of Delegates unanimously Wednesday.

During the 2019 and 2020 legislative sessions, House Bills 2010 and 4094, allowed for an independent FCO in West Virginia.

FCOs are required to have experience as a former foster parent or experience in the area of child welfare. They advocate for the rights of foster children, investigate and resolve complaints, and provide assistance to foster families, among other responsibilities.

“This bill permits the foster care ombudsman (FCO) to monitor, investigate and review issues with the child welfare system from intake to when the child ages out and foster children within the juvenile justice system,” said Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor, lead sponsor of the bill. “It adds language which protects the ombudsman from being compelled to testify or produce evidence in a proceeding on investigations. But the ombudsman may be called before LOCHRRA to testify on actions carried out by the office, but not the substance of an official investigation. It prohibits other state agencies or officials from preventing the release of reports by the ombudsman. These changes bring added accountability to the child welfare system, and I urge passage.”

Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, also spoke in favor of the legislation, noting the many discussions surrounding the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) this legislative session.

“This is an important bill. We’ve all sat here for several years and worked on our problems with foster care and CPS,” Rohrbach said. “What this legislature is attempting to do with this bill is to put some real accountability and enforcement into the data collection and the ability to enforce and see what’s going on. This frees up the omsbudsmans to give them much more control. And I’m 100 percent for this because this, as well as some other things that we’re doing in DHHR, in the Office of the Inspector General, is really going to help to make this system accountable, which I think is something that everybody in here wants.”

House Bill 3061 is now headed to the Senate.