CPS OFFICIALS WEIGH IN ON BABIES BORN WITH DRUG ADDICTIONS

CHARLESTON - Lawmakers were told by officials with the Department of
Health and Human Resources' that each county's Child Protective
Services Division doesn't handle all cases the same.

"Every county handles them differently," said Paula Taylor, a social
services coordinator for Monongalia and Marion counties.

Taylor was responding to a question from a member of the
Legislature's special committee on Child Protective Services, which
met Monday during legislative interim sessions.

"Because of different judges in different counties, cases such as a
baby born addicted to drugs could be handled differently," Taylor
said. "For example, in Monongalia County, the court system doesn't
want to hear about it until something happens with the baby, but in
Marion County the fact the baby was born addicted to drugs is enough
for them to file to take custody of the baby."

Taylor told lawmakers that in most cases, drug-addicted babies
eventually go home with their parents.

Raleigh County Delegate Ron Thompson said legislation should be
developed to deal with this issue statewide.

"There should be a statewide law regarding babies born addicted to
drugs," Thompson said.

Margaret Waybright, commissioner for the Bureau for Children and
Families, said there have been a couple of baby fatality cases
recently, but she could not speak about them specifically due to
confidentiality laws.

CPS came under fire in Raleigh County after a 5-day-old baby died
from lack of heat in the home. The child and the mother were
supposedly under the care of CPS.

"Critical incidents are reviewed in-house and by a Child Fatality
Review Team outside of the DHHR," Waybright said. "This happens
anytime a child dies in West Virginia."

Waybright told lawmakers that significant progress has been made
within the Child Protective Services division, but there is still
much work to be done.

"We average about 2,000 intakes per month and that doesn't count all
the referrals that are not accepted," she said. "We average about
3,800 ongoing cases per month."

Waybright said the Legislature's response to the need for additional
staff and higher pay for CPS workers has made a difference.

"Our vacancy rate for CPS workers was 25 percent, but it is now down
to 9 percent," she said.

Waybright said the agency is now dealing with the fact that about 42
percent of CPS workers have less than a year's experience on the job.

"We have strong CPS policy, but we must have the experienced workers
to understand how to properly implement those policies," Waybright said.

The agency received a $3.3 million improvement package in its last
budget from the Legislature, which was mostly used to increase the
number of CPS workers and to also increase their pay.

"We have increased pay, upgraded positions and are making real
progress," Waybright said. "The pay is not were it needs to be, but
the increases have helped to retain workers and also recruit others."

Waybright said the DHHR is currently dealing with over 200 grievances
filed by other workers in the agency who did not receive pay raises.

Waybright told lawmakers that CPS has implemented a crisis response
team to address backlog cases, developed a comprehensive training
program, implemented a mentoring program for new workers and new
supervisors, and made the decision not to give new workers entire
caseloads until they are fully trained.

Waybright added that CPS is prioritizing infant cases and cases
involving children under 6 years of age.

"We are looking at our strengths and weaknesses and developing
corrective action plans where they are needed," she said. "All of
these things should strengthen CPS as an agency."