CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia hopes a newly-released video outlining the process followed in child abuse and neglect situations can better educate people about the reality behind these various cases.
The video explains the step-by-step process of what happens to children after a parent is charged with child abuse and neglect and explains what’s in place to allow parents to potentially regain custody of the child, provided they accomplish a certain set benchmarks and successfully demonstrates that they are no longer a risk to their child.
The Supreme Courts’ Division of Children’s Services Director Cindy Largent-Hill told MetroNews they have been looking at various facets within the child abuse and neglect system and how they can make improvements.
She said it’s ultimately about doing what’s best for the child, and sometimes that involves keeping them with their parents the best they can despite such charges against them.
“We are always looking for ways to strengthen the system and kind of promote opportunities for parents to work through this system toward the ultimate goal of reunification if at all possible,” Largent-Hill said.
The video was funded through grants provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, with the Court Improvement Program (CIP) overseeing the funding process.
“Protecting children is the highest priority of our court system,” said Supreme Court Justice Tim Armstead, who was serving as the Court’s chief justice during much of the video’s production over the past year.
“We know that if they are safe, children are happiest growing up in their own homes,” Armstead stated. “Unfortunately, there are many cases, such as those involving physical or sexual abuse, where that is not possible. But for those cases in which it may be possible to reunify families, this video will serve as a tool to help educate people about this process and emphasize the importance of every step involved in it.”
Largent-Hill said child abuse and neglect cases are often very complex with a lot of moving parts and legal facets. She said that’s why the Supreme Courts’ Children’s Services felt parents in those situations and who are trying to regain custody needed some more assistance.
“It can be overwhelming, it can intimidating, and they are often not equipped to handle all of the legal information that’s presented to them as well as the case-related information that is to move toward an improvement plan and reunification,” she said.
She added that she believes this may, at least in part, be due to the often difficult situations the parents are going through at the time.
“If you think about it, a parent finding themselves in a child abuse and neglect situation are not at their best, they’re not the strongest, their coping skills are probably struggling, and they just have a lot of things going on, obviously, or they wouldn’t be in that situation,” she said.
However, Largent-Hill said that after talking with some of the parents involved who told them that the process was hard for them to understand, and looking at the Family Treatment Court model — specifically the parts of that model contributing to the highest success rate of reunification — they realized what those parents may need most of all is a stronger support system.
She said they felt that an educational video would be the best way for them to improve parents’ understanding of the process.
“So, we decided to put together a video that is more current, and that would hopefully communicate to them on where they are with the different pieces to the child abuse and neglect case,” Largent-Hill said.
Largent-Hill said, in addition to the video being available to watch on YouTube, they have already sent it out to all of circuit judges and law clerks across the state, and are going to send it to prosecuting attorneys as well.
She said there has been an alarming rise in child abuse/ neglect cases.
A total of 5,286 of those cases were filed in circuit courts in 2023, and at the Supreme Court, there were approximately 251 abuse and neglect appeals filed in 2023.
Largent-Hill said, with that, an average of 5,200 petitions are filed every year across the state.
“A child abuse and neglect petition is typically not resolved in a 12-month period, so we’re adding to that number every year, so it’s pretty significant.”