While WV pilots new foster care intake system, overloaded CPS workers still a concern

In the wake of a child’s starvation death, West Virginia is piloting a new system for how Child Protective Services workers make decisions about foster kids’ cases.

But the rollout isn’t paired with additional CPS staffing, prompting concern from Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis.

“I definitely have concerns when we start asking more out of our case workers that are already overloaded,” he said.

In 2024, 14-year-old Kyneddi Miller was found emaciated on the bathroom floor of her Boone County home. While the Justice administration maintained that CPS didn’t know about Miller prior to her death, reporters obtained documents showing that a CPS referral had been made about her. 

In July of 2024, the state Department of Human Services said that it would change how it screens referrals for child abuse and neglect, partnering with nonprofit Evident Change for a new system.

A recent investigation by West Virginia Watch found that the state never implemented the Evident Change referral system, despite the state paying the nonprofit $223,000.

West Virginia screens in CPS referrals at the highest rate in the country, more than double the national average.

The state is now, under the Morrisey administration, implementing the Safety Assessment and Family Evaluation model, or SAFE, a “practice model that starts at intake and continues through the life of a case, up to permanency,” according to Angel Hightower, communications specialist for the Department of Human Services. SAFE is supposed to help case workers make decisions about children’s cases, including whether a child should be reunited with a biological parent or adopted outside of the home. 

“It’s really focused on ensuring child safety, assessing parent protective capacities, and what that family dynamic looks like, so it’s not just a snapshot of an incident,” said Kendra Boley Rogers, deputy commissioner for the state Bureau for Social Services. 

She testified before House of Delegates Health Committee members on Tuesday during the House-only member meetings.

The SAFE model is being piloted in Braxton, Clay, Gilmer, Raleigh and Webster counties.

Boley Rogers said that a goal is ensuring that children can safely remain in their biological homes, explaining, “because we know well-being outcomes are better for children when they can remain in the home or return to their families.”

There are 5,580 children in West Virginia foster care.

In March, Boley Rogers told lawmakers that most CPS workers in West Virginia are handling 20 to 30 cases, and the preferred standard is 12 to 15 cases per worker. 

Burkhammer is a foster parent who has spearheaded child welfare reform in the Legislature.

The state’s CPS workers will be tasked with carrying out the decision making process, prompting concerns from Burkhammer about caseloads and adequate support.

“(The) majority of our workers are already carrying high case loads, so we’re now wanting to take this initiative on. Do you think we need to add staff to adequately do it at a high quality standard?” he questioned.

Boley Rogers responded, “I can’t really say that at this juncture, because we are so very early into the process.”

“But I know that this model specifically is designed to make that decision making better, so that case loads are more at a standard,” she continued. 

Burkhammer said that lawmakers will have to continue looking into CPS caseloads.

“Probably at the end of the day, we’re going to have to spend some money and add some staffing to that to ensure that it’s a good quality program and it gets the results we want,” he said.

Lawmakers recently passed a bill that gives the state Department of Human Services more authority to move CPS workers around the state to high-needs areas. It was in an effort to address long-time CPS staffing shortages without hiring additional workers. The measure was requested by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who signed it into law.