ROANE COUNTY, W.Va. — A circuit judge in central West Virginia tells MetroNews child abuse and neglect cases, many connected to parental substance use, can often dominate her days.
“It does take a considerable amount of my time. We have lots of cases,” Roane County Circuit Judge Anita Harold Ashley said.
Her approach to those cases will change a bit in the coming days as the new Roane County Family Drug Treatment Court launches in Spencer.
On Friday morning at 10 a.m., four of the five justices of the West Virginia Supreme Court — Chief Justice Tim Armstead, Justice Beth Walker, Justice Evan Jenkins and Justice John Hutchison — were scheduled to be in Spencer to officially open the court.
Court officials said Justice Margaret Workman could not attend because of a scheduling conflict.
The Roane County Family Drug Treatment Court is the fourth to get started in West Virginia as part of a pilot program.
Such courts opened late last year in Boone County, Randolph County and Ohio County.
The last of the pilot counties, Nicholas County, could see the opening of its Family Drug Treatment Court before the end of February.
Eventually, Family Drug Treatment Courts could be available in all 55 counties.
In general, the courts are designed to offer protections to abused and neglected children while assisting parents with substance use disorder treatment before the parents lose permanent custody of their kids.
Participation is on a voluntary basis with referrals.
“Unfortunately, we have so many children and families that have been affected by the drug crisis in our state and this is an opportunity to recognize that we don’t need to be punishing the kids,” Judge Ashley said.
“We need to figure out how to get the parent’s drug problem fixed, if you can, and get the kids back to their parents, if it can be done safely.”
The Roane County Family Drug Treatment Court will be for new cases only, not those in which parental rights have already been severed.
Judge Ashley said a family treatment case coordinator had been hired while the state Department of Health and Human Resources was in the process of bringing on a Child Protective Services worker specifically for the court.
In addition to Roane County, Judge Ashley’s Fifth Judicial Circuit includes the counties of Jackson, Mason and Calhoun.
Already, there is an existing Drug Court.
“This court (the Family Drug Treatment Court) will be different because all the parents involved will have been adjudicated as abusing or neglecting parents,” Judge Ashley said.
“The goal will be, not only to get their drug problems addressed, but to get their children back.”