Audit finds imperfections in West Virginia child welfare system

Federal review finds issues with Justice-era Child Protective Services

CHARLESTON – A federal audit of West Virginia’s child welfare system during former Gov. Jim Justice’s final year in office found that 91% of 100 reviewed reports did not follow requirements for child neglect and abuse cases.

West Virginia Department of Human Services responds to findings of child welfare system audit

Editor's Note: Added DoHS response. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) — The federal government cited the death of a child as its reason for pursuing a recent audit of West Virginia's Bureau of Social Services, specifically Child Protective Services (CPS). "Based on our risk assessment and West Virginia new outlets that reported the high-profile death related to [...]

Federal audit: WV didn't properly investigate bulk of child abuse, neglect referrals

A new federal audit of West Virginia’s overwhelmed foster care system showed the state didn’t comply with the required investigation requirements when responding to reports of child abuse and neglect. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General sampled 100 of 23,759 of West Virginia’s screened-in family reports of child abuse and neglect for the period of Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024. The audit reviewed …

Audit finds imperfections in West Virginia child welfare system

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) — The federal government cited the death of a child as its reason for pursuing a recent audit of West Virginia's Bureau of Social Services, specifically Child Protective Services (CPS). "Based on our risk assessment and West Virginia new outlets that reported the high-profile death related to child neglect of a teenager, [...]

Federal Inspector releases results of audit into WV social services

Kanawha County, WV (WOAY) – A federal inspector general has released the results of an audit of West Virginia’s Bureau of Social Services, finding that at least one requirement was not met – 91% of child abuse and neglect cases. Those reports were randomly selected between October 2023 and September 2024. The state attributed many of the failures to meet requirements to high caseloads or prioritizing some tasks over others. According to the repo…