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CHARLESTON -- West Virginia's first ever ombudsman was appointed Monday to oversee the state's beleaguered foster care system.
Bill Crouch, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Resources, announced Monday that Pamela Woodman-Kaehler will serve as the state's first foster care ombudsman.
The role will involve Woodman-Kaehler working as an advocate for foster children and their families, something she has first-hand experience with being a foster parent herself.
"Pamela brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this important role," Crouch said in a statement Monday. "Her personal and professional history in child welfare has equipped her to be a strong advocate for West Virginia's foster children and parents."
Woodman-Kaehler has worked for the DHHR before as a Child Protective Services worker in Harrison County. She has previous experience providing oversight for DHHR programs when she served as state coordinator for the Citizen Review Panel that monitor the Bureau of Children and Families with the department.
As well as holding several degrees in social sciences, business administration, and social work, Woodman-Kaehler has also received training in rehabilitation administration from DePaul University. She has helped train other parents to become certified DHHR foster families. Her job will involve setting up procedures and policies for her new office, then start investigating complaints against service providers.
The foster care ombudsman, which works within DHHR's Office of Inspector General, was created by House Bill 2010 which passed the legislature during the 2019 session at the request of DHHR. The bill passed the House 67-32 and the state Senate 33-1.
The bill allows the DHHR to contract out specialized managed care services for foster care, such as medical and behavior health services. Three companies -- Aetna, The Health Plan and UniCare -- submitted bids for the program Aug. 16, though no bid has been accepted yet.
West Virginia's foster care system has grown massively, largely connected to the growth in opioid use in the state, including prescription drugs, heroin and fentanyl. According to data from DHHR, foster care placements have increased by 67 percent between September 2011 and September of this year, from 4,129 placements in 2011 to 6,895 placements last month.
Of 6,895 foster placements, 455 placements in September involved sending children out of the state. The number of out-of-state placements increased by 35 percent from 337 placements in September 2011.
Last month, DHHR officials told lawmakers that 791 children ran away from foster homes overseen by the department in 2018, with 651 runaways reported as of the end of September.
A lawsuit is pending against DHHR and Gov. Jim Justice, filed by Disability Rights West Virginia, the national child welfare advocacy group A Better Childhood and the law firm Shaffer and Shaffer. The three groups, which filed suit Sept. 30 according to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, allege that the DHHR is not taking proper care of foster children in the state's custody.
"West Virginia fails to exercise sufficient oversight over its child welfare system and to take necessary steps to ensure that the DHHR complies with federal law and constitutional rights of children," according to a statement on A Better Childhood's website. "West Virginia has assumed responsibility but failed to protect children by not providing necessary services nor placing them in safe homes and appropriate facilities. The result of these failures is that the West Virginia foster care system devastates and permanently damages the children in its care."