Senators unanimously passed a bill meant to closely study the challenges of West Virginia’s child welfare system.
SB 944 now goes to the House of Delegates for consideration. The bill would create the West Virginia Child First Advisory Committee.
“This is a bill that does speak to the heart,” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha.
“I know that every member who is within this chamber, and every member that serves in the House of Delegates understands how important and cares about and wants to make the changes necessary to have a good, functioning, working child welfare system in West Virginia.”
The bill took a stop-and-stop-and-go route through the committee Stuart leads.
Stuart had proposed Senate Bill 727 to direct a thorough examination of West Virginia’s child welfare system by an independent third party. The bill was to address issues in the abuse and neglect court system, foster care and education.
The Judiciary chairman first brought the bill before the committee on March 10, calling it a supercharged study resolution. Then, West Virginia Human Services Secretary Alex Mayer told the committee that his agency is already working toward meaningful change. At the time, Stuart tabled the bill and directed ultimate responsibility to Mayer.
Stuart brought it back last week, March 26. During a discussion that lasted an hour and twenty minutes, several committee members questioned whether the study would cost taxpayer dollars but have no teeth. A majority of committee members voted it down.
On Monday evening, facing an upcoming deadline to move Senate bills to the House of Delegates, Stuart tried again in a different way.
The new bill, which is the version the full Senate wound up passing, would establish a committee of various state officials and legislators: the secretary for Human Services, the state foster care ombudsman, two people appointed by the governor with backgrounds in child welfare issues, three members each from the House of Delegates and the Senate and a representative of the state Supreme Court.
The committee will evaluate the child welfare outcomes and problems with the current system. Members would submit annual reports starting in 2026.
“I think the collective effort that we put together here, I think makes a whole lot of sense,” Stuart said on the Senate floor today.