Senate Judiciary Chairman Tom Willis, R-Berkeley, supported a measure to shift most of West Virginia’s foster care system to a private company. (Photo by Will Price/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
With three days left in the legislative session, the Senate Judiciary leader isn’t giving up on his idea of transferring most of West Virginia’s troubled foster care system to a private company.
Sen. Tom Willis, R-Berkeley, included his bill mandating the privatization of foster care in a House bill his committee was considering late Wednesday night. It’s a move known as “fat possums running at midnight,” when lawmakers start changing language in bills late in the session in hopes of getting them passed.
A committee lawyer who introduced the amendment to members described it as “a phoenix rising from the ashes of the House’s finances,” referring to the House committee that had not yet passed the foster care privatization bill before Saturday’s legislative deadline.
The Measure of Willis would require the state to hire a private company to monitor child cases, court dates, possible parental reunifications and more. It would be rolled out in select counties before being rolled out statewide in 2030.
The Senate approved the bill last weekand sends it to the House of Representatives for consideration. The House Judiciary Committee I signed it It was then forwarded to the House Finance Committee for review on Tuesday.
The bill does not include a tax return, meaning lawmakers pushed forward the legislation without estimating how much it would cost the state.
Around 9:30 p.m., Willis introduced his bill to privatize foster care to a Republican bill in the House of Representatives The invoice which was concerned with strengthening child protection services.
Willis did not comment in committee on why he introduced the amendment.
Kendra Boley Rogers, deputy commissioner of the state Office of Human Services, warned lawmakers that foster care privatization efforts in other states have failed. In Nebraska the governor had to completely reverse course about hiring a private company after earnest problems with foster child cases.
“It didn’t work out the way they had hoped and they ended up withdrawing it and withdrawing it,” she said. “That’s really our concern because other states have shown that child well-being outcomes have actually declined.”
Boley Rogers said if a private company oversees children’s cases, it is still the state’s responsibility to monitor the quality of care.
“It is still the responsibility of this agency to ensure that these workers meet federal and state milestones and necessary requirements,” Boley Rogers said.
Willis has argued that privatization has worked in other states and that West Virginia needs to reform its foster care system.
He referred to a current Federal Republic Test Depiction of the foster care system in West Virginia The state did not comply Investigative requirements apply to responding to 91% of reports of child abuse and neglect.
“We can keep our children in a system that needs change, or we can try to implement change,” Willis said on the Senate floor last week.
There are nearly 6,000 children in West Virginia’s foster care system.
Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, opposed the privatization effort and said the state could run a better foster care system by hiring additional CPS workers and increasing their salaries.
“Let’s fix the problem where it is: we’re trying to be more supportive of children’s well-being rather than creating a different system,” he said.
According to Boley Rogers, most CPS employees in West Virginia handle 20 to 30 cases, and the preferred standard is 12 to 15 cases per employee.
Under Willis’ measure, CPS would still conduct initial investigations into child abuse and neglect referrals and decide whether a child should be removed from their home.
The Senate must reconsider the privatization measure in its fresh form before it can go to the House of Representatives for a vote.
“I don’t think this is the right path. I think the House has seen that and I hope the House rejects this,” Garcia said.
Child welfare workers in West Virginia shared their own opposition to the bill with House Judiciary members earlier this week, saying it would impact child care. They told lawmakers they were already struggling to fill social worker positions and provide necessary services for foster children and were unsure how a private company would address those challenges.
Democratic members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees voted against the measure.
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