CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) 鈥� A West Virginia judge ordered that a monitor be put in place to oversee state child protective services placements in hotels and camps on Friday after a 12-year-old boy in state care attempted suicide in a hotel room last week.
The action came the same day a federal judge dismissed a against West Virginia's welfare system on behalf of foster children.
Circuit Court Judge Maryclaire Akers said the West Virginia Department of Human Services will be under an 鈥渋mprovement period鈥� for a year under her appointed monitor, Cindy Largent-Hill, the state Supreme Court's children's services division director. Akers ordered that Hill collect data and create public reports on children being housed in unlicensed facilities after 鈥渢roubling reports鈥� of kids being housed in hotels and 4H camps attacking staff and each other, experiencing suicidal and homicidal thoughts and being restrained.
鈥淲hat we cannot have are continued failures of that magnitude,鈥� she said.
Children across the country have for years been housed in offices, camps, hotels and even sometimes jails as 鈥� especially those with the most complex mental health, medical or physical needs that make finding a placement with a foster family more challenging.
Foster care conditions under scrutiny across the US
Just last month in , Auditor Allison Ball described 鈥渄eeply concerning issues impacting foster children." Ball said she planned to conduct a broader investigation after a preliminary review found dozens of foster children ranging from teens to toddlers spent nights sleeping in social services buildings while awaiting placement by a state agency.
In 2020, the state of Kansas settled a class-action lawsuit filed by child care advocates. The settlement required the state to stop sheltering foster children in hotels, motels, cars, stores, offices, unlicensed homes or any other non-child-welfare housing.
Largely overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic in a state with the most overdose deaths per capita, West Virginia has the highest rate of children in foster care 鈥� currently more than 6,000 in a state of about 1.8 million.
The was first filed in 2019 and alleged the state's foster care children鈥檚 needs have gone unmet because of a shortage of caseworkers, an overreliance on institutionalization and a lack of mental health support.
In dismissing the case Friday, U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin recognized that 鈥渢here are children who deeply suffer in the custody of the state," but that his court didn't have jurisdiction. He said "state government retains every tool鈥� to improve the foster care system, and elected officials are 鈥渆ntrusted and obligated鈥� to do so 鈥� not the courts.
A federal appeals court in 2022 had revived the lawsuit that another federal judge in Charleston had dismissed in 2021.
Child's suicide attempt in hotel heightens scrutiny
In Kanawha County Court, Akers said a 12-year-old boy in state care who was being housed in a Charleston-area hotel attempted suicide last week three days after being removed from an unsuccessful foster care placement. The child had 鈥渧ery serious, dynamic needs鈥� resulting from trauma he experienced with his biological family and multiple different foster placements and has had to be hospitalized in the past for mental health challenges, Akers said in court.
Akers said she grew concerned after the incident wasn鈥檛 disclosed to the guardian ad litem representing the child or during a scheduled review hearing of the child鈥檚 case. The judge said the court also wasn鈥檛 made aware that the state was housing the child in a hotel, and that it wasn't the first example of a failure by the state to disclose such information.
After investigating, Akers discovered the communication breakdown occurred because a Child Protective Services worker was out sick. She said procedures should be implemented to prevent such oversights in the future and that the state has a 鈥渕oral and legal responsibility鈥� to do so.
鈥淭hose without power here are the children,鈥� she said. "They have to live where they鈥檙e told. They have to go where they鈥檙e told. So it鈥檚 incumbent upon all of us to protect them.鈥�
West Virginia Department of Human Services Cabinet Secretary Alex Mayer, who began work in West Virginia about a month ago after leading child protective services in South Dakota, said he began meeting with providers to see what can be done to improve the system even before Akers' order. 鈥淐oming into this role, I knew it was broken, because it鈥檚 broken across the country,鈥� he said.
Mayer said he welcomed the implementation of the monitor.
鈥淚f we didn鈥檛 have to have children in hotels, we don鈥檛 we want them in hotels,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want them in appropriate levels of care where they can start either getting treatment that they need or they can be in a loving home to receive support while their family goes through the court process.鈥�
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Associated Press journalist John Raby contributed to this report.
Leah Willingham, The Associated Press
