Democratic members of the Senate, Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion (left), and Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, held a press conference on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, stating that care reform is their priority. (Photo by Amelia Ferrell Knisely/West Virginia Watch)
A series of bills aimed at improving the state’s foster care crisis are advancing in the House and Senate, including a measure aimed at improving preventive services to prevent more children from entering the overwhelmed system.
“I think we just have to break this vicious circle. We cannot continue to raise thousands and thousands of children in the state of West Virginia,” Mark Drennan, vice president of the National Youth Advocate Program, told members of the Senate Health Committee on Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats held a press conference earlier that day in which they said foster care reform was a top priority for both of them this session. They said the Republican supermajority must raise the state’s financial investment in child welfare.
“My primary focus is on our care crisis, which has been going on for too many years,” said Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel. “I am calling on Senate President Randy Smith to immediately establish an ad hoc committee to address our foster care crisis.”
There are around 6,000 Children in West Virginia are in foster care, and thousands more children come into contact with the child welfare system each year. State lawmakers have struggled for years to improve the foster care system and address high child protective services caseloads, a Lack of secure houses for children and other problems.
A child was placed in foster care in West Virginia recently injured while living in an Airbnb short-term rental property after the state placed the minor there due to a lack of nursing homes and treatment beds available for foster children.
Woelfel, D-Cabell, and Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, presented reporters with a plan to address the foster care crisis, including requiring CPS to open a formal investigation or conduct family assessments based on the severity of child abuse and neglect allegations.
“[There] “There needs to be an increase in funding for additional CPS employees,” Woelfel said. “The health and safety of the least among us, namely foster children, should be a priority.”
While the governor’s budget proposal included an $11 million boost to foster care, Senate Democrats say that’s not enough. They said it should be $20 million to raise child care in the state, support nonprofits that support foster children and more.
Garcia said the estimated price is $125 million the governor’s proposed 5% tax cut Instead, funds should be used to raise funding for foster care.
“We believe we can really do this,” Garcia said. “We can actually reduce the number of people in foster care… 25 kids are in hotels and Airbnbs. Let’s make that number zero. We can do that now.”
Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, led the charge on the Senate’s nursing reform bills. He said he was “excited” that children’s well-being was a priority for Democratic members of the Senate.
“I think it’s so important that we all work together and come up with the best ideas possible,” Deeds said. “Children and citizens are at the center of their conversations every day. I think it will be crucial to have their input.”
Senate and House committees advance foster care bills; some require financing
The Senate Health Committee approved two foster care bills on Tuesday, including Senate Bill 436 This would require the Department of Human Services to develop a statewide prevention plan to reduce the number of children entering care. West Virginia has for years led the nation in the number of children entering foster care.
Prevention services would be offered to children at risk of entering foster care or already involved in a CPS case, pregnant and parenting youth, and children transitioning out of foster care after their 21st birthday.
“I think it’s really important that we address this situation and really try to do a lot of prevention,” Drennan said. “I think we need support for foster parents, for placing relatives, for grandparents and parents.”
Deeds, who co-sponsored the measure with Garcia, said the DoHS already has some preventative efforts in foster care and will expand those efforts. The bill would require the department to collect information about preventive services and provide it to legislators so they can make better decisions about the child welfare system.
“This allows us to make improvements within the department for those young people who may have come into contact with the department but do not need the full range of human care. The preventative measures are designed to allow them to stay out of the system,” Deeds explained.
The Senate Health Committee agreed Senate Bill 228The project, sponsored by Deeds and Woelfel, calls for the DoHS to implement a pilot project in two counties using mobile devices to assist CPS officers in child abuse and neglect investigations. This would reduce the need for a CPS employee to manually enter data into a system and potentially lend a hand reduce the time spent on paperwork.
The two foster care bills now go to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration. Deeds estimated the bill for preventive care would cost about $45,000. No cost estimate is yet available for the other measure involving mobile devices for CPS employees.
In the House of Representatives on Tuesday, members of the Health Committee presented several of their own care measures, including their version of the Prevention Plan Act.
The committee advanced legislation that would change the state’s clothing voucher program for foster children. The program is currently offering a $375 voucher for families only when given, a discount chain with narrow locations in West Virginia.
“It has to be spent all at once,” said bill sponsor Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, a foster parent. “You’re limited to the contents of Gabe’s. So let’s say you had a toddler and they needed bottles. You wouldn’t be able to buy those bottles, car seats or other things you need.”
His bill, House Bill 4354would give families an “instant card” to purchase clothing and necessary items for foster children. Families could also be eligible for reimbursement for items purchased for children.
The bill was referred to the House Finance Committee for consideration.
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