West Virginia's reliance on out-of-state group homes leaves some foster kids in unsafe, abusive

West Virginia’s reliance on out-of-state group homes leaves some foster kids in unsafe, abusive situations


In early 2015, West Virginia state inspectors visited an all-boys group home in Grove City, Pennsylvania. There were West Virginia foster kids living at the facility about an hour north of Pittsburgh; they, along with hundreds of others, were sent to homes outside West Virginia because the overburdened foster care system couldn’t care for all its kids in-state.

A 10-page inspection report, summarizing what the inspectors saw over the course of six days in January and February, contained stark observations about the kind of care the kids were getting at George Junior Republic.

Kids were being improperly restrained, the inspectors wrote. They spent up to six hours a day isolated in their bedrooms and some reported not getting necessary therapy and education. The center used a “time out chair” as punishment liberally, and kids could be put in it for hours or for up to two weeks at a time.

Their conclusion, typed in red on the first page of the report, was clear: West Virginia should get its kids out of the center.

Read more: https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2021/09/21/west-virginia-foster-care-out-of-state-homes/