CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The debut of a Senate committee aimed at the challenges of West Virginia’s children and families opened with lawmakers wanting to hear how people are affected by state policy but concerned that they might fear repercussions.
The newly-established Senate Select Committee on Children and Families gathered for the first time on Thursday, led by Majority Leader Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha.
“This is our committee. This isn’t a partisan committee,” Takubo told members. He later added, “All are welcome here.”
The committee includes Takubo and senators Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, Sue Cline, R-Wyoming, Paul Hardesty, D-Logan, John Pitsenbarger, R-Nicholas, Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, Rollen Roberts, R-Raleigh, Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, and Ron Stollings, D-Boone.
When senators opened up with their own comments, Hardesty led off by commenting that state government too often takes a top-down approach and that those affected may be reluctant to speak up.
Senators of both parties then spoke up with their own takes in agreement.
“For some reason in this state we try to build it from the top down and push it down to the community,” Hardesty said.
Hardesty, who was a lobbyist prior to being appointed to an open Senate seat last year, honed in on a managed care contract for the healthcare needs of foster children.
The Legislature passed a bill last year establishing that role for managed care, although the Department of Health and Human Resources consistently said there was an internal plan to do that anyway. The contract went to Aetna Better Health of West Virginia.
Hardesty contended there wasn’t enough competition for the contract, and that’s because the proposal wasn’t based on the needs of West Virginia’s communities.
“Either we in the state in our request for proposal are asking for something that does not work or we’re asking for something that doesn’t make sense,” Hardesty said.
West Virginia has 7,000 children in foster care, largely a result of the drug addiction crisis that has ravaged the state.
Several bills this legislative session are aimed at enumerating the rights of foster families, raising per diem for kinship families, developing the role of the newly-established foster care ombudsman and reducing turnover for child protective services workers.
Improvements will require hearing from foster families, communities and providers, Hardesty said.
“To make this network work and to fix these foster care problems, you’re going to have to work bottom up,” he said.
“We need to bring these stakeholders here. The true policy experts are not the people sitting in these offices. The people in these counties need to tell the agency what they need.”
Roberts spoke up next and agreed from personal experience that people who are affected by how the system works can feel afraid to talk openly.
Roberts said that became clear to him during a meeting he attended last fall about the guardians ad litem who report to the court system as foster cases are adjudicated. They’re supposed to represent the interests of the child.
“So what ended up happening after that is the providers were afraid to say anything,” Roberts said. “Somehow we have to create the scenario where we pull that out of them in a safe setting.
“The key is, you want to be careful as you pull it out of those providers so it is not them attacking. Otherwise there are punitive measures behind the scenes that can take place.”
Cline chimed in with agreement that those with firsthand experiences should be encouraged to describe their needs.
“He’s right,” Cline said, referring to Hardesty. “We have to have stakeholders come here and tell us their issues from the bottom up. People are so afraid of being ostracized or something happening to them or money being taken away from them or whatever.”
Cline also expressed worry over foster children who age out of the system, saying they may be unprepared.
“We need a place for those kids to go. They’re releasing them out on the street,” she said. “They’re not getting educated. They aren’t getting jobs. We don’t know where they are.”
Stollings, a physician who is running for governor, said the committee has its work cut out.
“I think we are in nothing less than a crisis mode right now with our children and families,” Stollings said..
“This committee has a heavy lift. We have to really look at root causes and recommend some strategic investment, particularly in the birth to three children and families.”
.@WVMetroNews Capitol Report for Thursday afternoon..we take a look at new Senate Select Committee https://t.co/CYGA19p99J
— Jeff Jenkins (@JeffJenkinsMN) January 23, 2020