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Gov. Jim Justice and state Department of Human Services Secretary Cynthia Persily have shifted tactics regarding a 14-year-old Boone County girl found dead in what law enforcement officers described as a "skeletal state."
They're throwing the lawyers under the bus.
Walking back his April 23 statement that Child Protective Services workers had been unaware of the circumstances behind the girl's death, Justice now says he had been given bad information.
"I would tell you what I told you two weeks ago to the very best of all the abilities I have in me was 100% accurate. Will I stand behind what was said two weeks ago now that I know the information that I know today? No way," Justice said.
After reporting last month, family members told multiple reporters that CPS had been contacted about the girl. Now, Justice says attorneys for DoHS did not tell him the truth. "We've got basically attorneys that are with DHHR and they screw it up, and then when they give us information, then we've got to act on the information that they give us, and that's exactly what happened," Justice said.
Meanwhile, media outlets still have no way of shedding more light on the story, because Persily and the DoHS continue to pretend their hands are tied.
"Our lawyers have traditionally interpreted the state and federal statutes as us not being allowed to just disclose any information except to very limited groups," Persily said.
She's shifted the narrative to this being a matter of interpretation by lawyers. In fact, despite the federal law allowing for states to authorize limited access to information as long as state officials guarantee the safety and wellbeing of children and parents/guardians, Persily doubled down, saying the state does what it needs to meet federal standards.
"Our interpretation of fulfilling the federal requirement about reporting fatalities has been that our critical incident report that we provide annually fulfills that federal requirement," Persily said.
What? Remember, the DoHS lawyers doing the interpreting are the same bunch blamed by Justice for provided bad information. So, who do we trust? Who can West Virginia children rely upon to be on their side?
Time will surely tell. But lawmakers must waste no time amending state code to make it clear to the lawyers West Virginia protects children, not those who would harm them, or those who fail to fulfill their responsibility to stop it, if they can.