CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The new man in charge of the state Division of Juvenile Services is passionate about the new position. William Marshall was appointed by Gov. Jim Justice to the position earlier this month.
“Coming from the background I come from in coaching and being a father of five myself,” he explained. “Working with youth programs through the years it really gives me a great platform to try and make a difference for our youth in West Virginia.”
Marshall believes when children are in trouble, they’re not a lost cause. He’s convinced with the proper programs juvenile services can become the catalyst to life changing action for many young people in West Virginia.
“We want to make sure these young people have a chance. We don’t want to bury them right off the bat,” Marshall explained. “We want to make sure they get an opportunity to become productive and successful West Virginians.”
One of the biggest challenges will be to help the home life of those children. Marshall said like so many other problems in West Virginia, addiction is at the root of many of the issues. Working to restore the home life, would be a good first step in restoring a child’s opportunity moving forward.
“I’m researching some programs in which we could maybe coach some of these families,” said Marshall. “Try to get these families to learn how to be families–for dads to learn to be dads and moms learn to be moms. We want to start from the very beginning.”
Marshall served 25 years with the West Virginia State Police and had earned commendations from the U.S. Department of Justice for his investigative work. He served as commander of the Wood County detachment until his retirement earlier this year.