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CHARLESTON -- Citing a need for a safe space for children facing behavioral health crises and for social workers, Gov. Jim Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that Elkins would be the home to a new children's crisis center.
"We've got a plan that will really help our kids and help a lot of kids who are at risk and that really need the help and need it right now," Justice said during a virtual briefing with reporters from the State Capitol Building.
A children's crisis center will be built on the grounds of the West Virginia Children's Home in Elkins. While the Children's Home provides social services to children who are unable to be placed into foster, kinship, or group homes, the children's crisis center will provide an alternative location to help children who must be removed from their homes for behavioral reasons.
"The West Virginia Children's Home is not functioning like a real crisis center. They don't have any ability to be able to do that," Justice said. "Now what we're doing is we're moving this forward to absolutely be able to really help our children in a big way. "
The children's crisis center will serve children up to age 18 and young adults up to age 21, focusing on ages 9-21. The facility will allow DHHR staff to evaluate children with behavioral health issues and stabilize them before referring them for either community or home-based services.
According to DHHR, these services are often administered in hospital emergency rooms or hotels, neither of which offer dedicated services in safe locations for both DHHR staff or the children. The children's crisis center will operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and offer private rooms with the capability of providing up to 14-day stays.
"It will offer a safe alternative and diversion from the use of hospital emergency departments and hotel rooms to address the needs of our children removed from their homes who may be in a behavioral health crisis," said Bill Crouch, cabinet secretary for DHHR. "We've had multiple instances of children being in emergency rooms of hospitals for days and even weeks. This needs to stop."
DHHR will put out a request for proposals for construction of the new facility. Justice praised the work of the West Virginia Children's Home and said it made sense to host the new facility alongside the Children's Home in Elkins.
"The Children's Home has done great work," Justice said. "They continue to do great work, but now we really want to move this to another level. Elkins is an absolute fabulous community for this."
According to the DHHR Child Welfare Dashboard, out of the 6,619 children in foster care or child placement as of Aug. 10, 129 are in agency emergency shelters, 39 are in detention centers, five are in medical hospitals, 44 are in long-term psychiatric care, and 23 are in short term psychiatric care.