Morrisey’s vetoes limit several Republican Party bills on foster care; One helped WV youth age out of the system

Several GOP bills aimed at improving West Virginia’s troubled foster care system have been rejected by the governor, including a measure that would tie juvenile people’s exit from the system to resources such as housing and employment.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey also left a question mark over how the state will pay novel court commissioners focused on the high number of child abuse and neglect cases because he vetoed the bill with its funding source.

Foster families in West Virginia struggle to meet needs almost 6,000 children because of a deficiency There are no state-run foster homes or facilities, there is a lack of support services, and child protective services staff are overstretched.

Morrisey has promised care reformbut progress was snail-paced or not present. His first secretary of the Department of Human Services – Alex Mayer – leave the day after the end of the legislative session.

Lawmakers this year declined to support Morrisey’s signature foster care proposal, a “Bring Them Home Fund” to bring hundreds of West Virginia foster children back to West Virginia. The plan lacked details about how services would be provided locally to children in need.

On Thursday, Morrisey announced he had vetoed it 12 billsincluding three Republican-sponsored measures focused on child welfare and a separate GOP bill that included funding to lend a hand children in cases of abuse and neglect.

One measure that was vetoed sought to streamline West Virginia’s inconsistent continuity of care for youth exiting the foster care system. according to sponsors. The legislation brought West Virginia into line with President Donald Trump’s novel foster family Implementing regulation.

In his veto NewsMorrisey said the bill is “a noble effort to help youth who have spent much of their lives in foster care as they transition out of this program,” and praised the efforts of sponsor Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, a foster parent who has led child welfare reform.

“The problem is that the bill requires the Department of Human Services to expand services already offered through its Independent Living and Transitional Living programs, and that expansion will cost at least $5,000,000 in the first year,” Morrisey continued.

The bill would also have required the state to maximize available federal funding earmarked for children who are no longer in foster care by age 21. the State Millions of dollars returned to the federal government, which should lend a hand children make the transition to adulthood. The DoHS would have been required to report annually to the legislature on the apply of these federal funds.

The measure would also have required DoHS to pay providers who lend a hand children emerging from care based on precise, current costs using federal funds.

Morrisey said the proposed changes limit DoHS’s ability to “develop a cost-conscious program” to comply with Trump’s order on foster care.

Burkhammer could not be reached for an interview on Thursday.

The governor also vetoed it a measureThe project sponsored by Burkhammer would have required the state to develop and implement a plan to prevent children from entering foster care.

Morrisey said in his Veto message that he had concerns “about government intervention” and believed that the legislation was too inflexible in its requirements.

“According to the law, a child is at risk of being placed in foster care because it is determined that the child has a family with financial means […] need. …. But economic need does not lead to abuse and neglect, and it is troubling to see such a connection here,” Morrisey wrote. “The integration of the state into the family should only occur when children are truly at risk.” Ultimately, this is too intrusive and paints with too broad a brush.”

The governor said the changes to the state’s current prevention services could also jeopardize necessary federal funding that helps at-risk children.

“We must prioritize the safety and well-being of our most innocent and vulnerable West Virginians. There can be no debate about this. And like the proponents of this bill, I believe a statewide prevention plan is an important step in achieving that goal,” Morrisey wrote.

In a news release Thursday, the West Virginia Democratic Party criticized Morrisey’s vetoes of child welfare legislation.

“Governor Morrisey has consistently had the choice of standing up for children and families or hiding behind bureaucratic excuses,” said Teresa Toriseva, vice chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party. “And he kept choosing excuses.”

Toriseva noted that Morrisey based many of his vetoes on concerns about costs, administrative flexibility or potential overlap with existing programs.

“Budgets are about priorities,” she said. “And Governor Morrisey just told us exactly where his priorities lie – and it’s not with at-risk children, not with struggling families, and not with the people who need help the most.”

Changes to the team that reviews child deaths have been rejected

Morrisey vetoed it an invoice Make changes to the state’s Critical Incident Review Team, which the Legislature convened created to review child deaths in West Virginia afterwards the death of a girl from starvation in 2024.

The Critical Incident Review Team reviews the death or near-death of a child in DoHS custody. The team must then meet within 45 days of the death or near-fatal event to conduct the review, share a report with lawmakers and publish it online.

Senate Health Committee Chairman Brian Helton, R-Fayette, suggested changes to the review team, including that the state Office of Inspector General would be responsible for it instead of the West Virginia Department of Human Services. The measure passed unanimously in the Senate and House during the session.

Morrisey said in his Veto message that the bill would “upend the structure of the Department of Human Services’ Critical Incident Review Team, which was established just eight months ago.”

The governor also did not like putting the inspector general in charge of the team, saying the office’s focus was more on financial management than the welfare of children.

“Restructuring such a program so soon after its initial implementation should always be done with caution because there are necessarily so few data points on the effectiveness, performance and outcomes of the current structure,” the governor wrote.

Helton said he spoke to the governor about a veto and supported his decision because the review team hasn’t had a chance to get fully underway yet.

“We’ll probably have to let it develop further and see what it looks like in a year or two,” Helton said.

The governor also vetoed it an invoice This would be the first time that money from the state’s medical cannabis program fund would have been made available for multiple initiatives. The fund has an estimated volume of $38 million has not yet been issued. Morrisey said in his Veto message that the state “cannot fully predetermine future revenue sources like this when it has reserves to invest more in roads, water, wastewater, siting, rail and future tax cuts.”

The measure he vetoed required this $5 million from the medical cannabis fund will be spent newly created court commissioners The focus will be on the overwhelming number of child welfare cases in the justice system. Morrisey signed the bill creating the commissioner positions, but the funding source is currently unknown.

“I am grateful that the Governor has approved our new child protection officer legislation. We need significant changes to our abuse and neglect system, and this bill is part of that,” Del said. JB Akers, R-Kanawha, who sponsored legislation creating the court commissioners. “I’m told the governor will communicate with us about funding after a separate bill for it was vetoed. I’m confident he’ll get it done, and I look forward to working with him and the Supreme Court in the future.”