• 5/31/24 - Hoppy Kercheval on X
  Breaking: Sources say Justice Admin is planning for a press conference late next week, possibly Thursday, to release details of its investigation into how State Police and CPS handled the case of a 14-year-old Boone County girl who eventually died and was found in skeletal state.
  https://x.com/HoppyKercheval/status/1796519894093086960
   

• 5/29/24 - WOWK 13 News
  A high-ranking member of West Virginia’s foster care system has resigned, and it’s raising concerns about the agency.  Pamela Woodman-Kaehler resigned her position as foster care ombudsman in West Virginia, a position she has held since 2019, when the job was first created.
  
  “She was a champion for children. Sadly however, the leadership of the agency did not give her the support necessary so that she could actually thrive in her position,” said Mike Folio, Legal Director for Disability Rights of West Virginia.
  https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/after-resignation-there-are-more-concerns-over-west-virginia-foster-care/
   

• 5/28/24 - Metro News
  The ombudsman for West Virginia’s overloaded foster care system has resigned, according to the state Department of Health.  Pamela Woodman-Kaehler’s resignation will take effect June 6. 
  
  The resignation of Pamela Woodman-Kaehler is a sad chapter in DHHR’s and DoHS’ failed history to protect vulnerable children,” said Mike Folio, legal director for Disability Rights West Virginia.
  https://wvmetronews.com/2024/05/28/first-ombudsman-for-west-virginias-pressured-foster-care-system-has-resigned/
   

• 5/28/24 - WSAZ News Channel 3
  W.Va. Department of Health official announces resignation.
  
  Michael Folio, legal director for Disability Rights of West Virginia, released the following statement:
  “The resignation of Pamela Woodman-Kaehler is a sad chapter in DHHR’s and DoHS’ failed history to protect vulnerable children. Sworn testimony exists that shows former DHHR Sec. Bill Crouch and current DoHS Deputy Secretary Cammie Chapman have meddled in the Foster Care Ombudsman’s affairs, directed her to conceal information from the Legislature, and withheld information from her that would have enabled her to conduct investigations to protect the state’s vulnerable children. Pam is a champion for children and her resignation is a sad chapter in the state’s failure to safeguard children.”
  https://www.wsaz.com/2024/05/28/wva-department-health-official-announces-resignation/
   

• 5/28/24 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting
  Disability Rights West Virginia (DRWV) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of an adult male, referred to as J.P., with developmental disabilities that says he has been physically abused and wrongfully held at William R. Sharpe Hospital for more than 570 days.
  https://wvpublic.org/man-held-at-sharpe-hospital-sues-state-officials/
   

• 5/24/24 - WCHS TV 8 Eyewitness News
  There are new developments in the death of a Boone County teenager as a notice of a lawsuit was filed Thursday. Disability Rights WV legal director Mike Folio filed a notice of suit and cease and desist against West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Department of Human Services Cabinet Secretary Cynthia Persily in the death of 14-year-old Kyneddi Miller.
  
  "It's reached the point where there is level of deception, a level of concealment and no one is focused on the young girl who died," Folio said.
  https://wchstv.com/news/local/disability-rights-wv-demands-transparency-in-kyneddi-millers-case-sent-cease-desist
   

• 5/23/24 - WOWK 13 News
  Disability Rights of WV plan to sue Gov. Jim Justice, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Department of Human Services and its secretary, Cynthia Persily over the alleged concealment of documents relating to the death of a Boone County child.  
  
  They allege the governor’s office and the Department of Human Services have held documents about child abuse cases, investigations and findings that are federally mandated to be publicly disclosed to “evade accountability.”
  https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/advocacy-group-planning-to-sue-gov-justice-morrisey-over-boone-county-childs-death/
   

• 5/23/24 - WSAZ News Channel 3
  An advocacy system has put West Virginia officials on notice as it considers a potential lawsuit alleging state officials have violated state law in refusing to disclose records pertaining to the alleged child neglect death of Kyneddi Miller, 14, of Boone County.  
  
  Disability Rights of West Virginia says it sent the notice Thursday to Gov. Jim Justice, Department of Human Services Secretary Cynthia Persily and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
  https://www.wsaz.com/2024/05/23/advocacy-group-threatens-sue-wva-amid-wsaz-investigation/
   

• 5/13/24 - West Virginia Watch
  Patient sues Sharpe Hospital, says he was wrongfully held there for more than 570 days and abused.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/05/13/patient-sues-sharpe-hospital-says-he-was-wrongfully-held-there-for-more-than-570-days-and-abused/
   

• 5/9/24 - 12WBOY
  Disability Rights of West Virginia (DRWV) has filed a civil complaint against Sharpe Hospital, its administrators, the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health Facilities and the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Human Services. 
  
  The suit, claims that an adult male with a developmental disability was illegally discharged from a group home in Wood County, unlawfully committed to Sharpe Hospital in Lewis County and has been “battered and physically abused.”
  https://www.wboy.com/news/lewis/lawsuit-claims-patient-at-sharpe-hospital-was-unlawfully-committed-abused/
   

• 4/16/24 - 12WBOY
  West Virginia disability rights advocates protest cuts in state budget.
  
  On Sunday, advocates and families of people with intellectual disabilities rallied at the state capital in Charleston to protest a 10% budget cut to the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Waiver.
  
  The IDD Waiver provides financial aid to help families pay for at-home or community-based care for their loved ones with intellectual disabilities instead of having them committed to a state psychiatric hospital. Disability Rights of West Virginia’s Legal Director Michael Folio has called the waiver “a lifeline.”
  https://www.wboy.com/news/west-virginia/west-virginia-disability-rights-advocates-protest-cuts-in-state-budget/

 

​

• 4/16/24 - West Virginia Watch
  Lawmakers say Justice admin canceled meeting to discuss man’s gruesome death in state hospital.
  
  ‘This is a cover up. Plain and simple,’ said Mike Folio, legal director for Disability Rights West Virginia, who was scheduled to speak with lawmakers.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/04/16/lawmakers-say-justice-admin-canceled-meeting-to-discuss-mans-gruesome-death-in-state-hospital/
   

• 4/3/24 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting
  W.Va. Grapples With IDD Waiver Program
  
  In the final hours of the 2024 regular legislative session, lawmakers passed a budget that cut funding for IDD waivers. “They failed to do the required financial analysis to determine the impact of cutting the IDD waiver budget,” Folio said.
  “We have hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia that are going to be affected — can you imagine, can you imagine the good work that we did and now we could possibly hurt those folks?” Justice said.
  https://wvpublic.org/w-va-grapples-with-idd-waiver-program/
   

• 3/20/24 - People Magazine
  Elderly Non-Verbal Patient Died After Reportedly Being Left in 134-Degree Whirlpool at Care Facility.
  
  Four people were reportedly fired in connection with the Jan. 4 incident at Hopemont Hospital in Terra Alta, West Virginia
  https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/advocates-families-want-to-see-more-funding-towards-idd-program-following-11-million-cut/
   

• 3/18/24 - West Virginia Watch
  ‘His skin melted off’ — Elderly man in state care dies after being left in scalding water.
  
  Three contract nurses at a state-run hospital were fired after the patient’s death. The incident has raised more concerns about how the state health department vets staff who care for vulnerable individuals.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/03/18/his-skin-melted-off-elderly-man-in-state-care-dies-after-being-left-in-scalding-water/
   

• 3/14/24 - WOWK 13 News
  Advocates, families want to see more funding towards IDD program following $11 million cut.
  https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/advocates-families-want-to-see-more-funding-towards-idd-program-following-11-million-cut/
   

• 1/24/24 - Mountain State Spotlight
  People with disabilities are stuck at state hospitals. Lawmakers and patient advocates disagree on where they should go next.
  https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2024/01/24/idd-transitional-facilities-bill/
   

• 1/24/24 - West Virginia Watch
  House committee passes controversial plan to build facility for patients with disabilities.
  
  Citing “no real solutions,” House lawmakers are moving forward with a plan to build a new facility for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The proposal has been met with sharp criticism from those who advocate for and serve patients with disabilities; they say the bill will further trap individuals in institutions without proper support.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/01/24/house-narrowly-passes-controversial-plan-to-build-facility-for-patients-with-disabilities/

 

• 1/19/24 - West Virginia Watch
  Teachers need student discipline support. State lawmakers will try to address a complicated issue. 
  
  School discipline issues have spiked post pandemic, and West Virginia is one of several states that have already enacted stricter punishments for disruptive students. Lawmakers said they’ll be doing much more to address student discipline issues, mostly focusing on protecting teachers and bolstering their ability to remove disruptive students. There’s already legislation that expands last year’s discipline bill into elementary schools.
  
  Holly Sheldon, a senior advocate with Disability Rights West Virginia, said schools are already failing to follow students’ IEP and behavior intervention plans, resulting in students being unfairly disciplined. “Children with a disability require assessments and services and not discipline, classroom removal or expulsion.  Schools cannot discipline the disability out of a student,” she said.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/01/19/teachers-need-student-discipline-support-state-lawmakers-will-try-to-address-a-complicated-issue/
   

 

• 1/18/24 - West Virginia Watch
  What are we waiting for?  Legislators, our child welfare system needs immediate action.
  
  Do you remember the old Dutch tale about a boy who stuck his finger in a leaking dike to save his country from a great flood? It’s a story about courage and conviction in taking action to prevent the devastation of immediate danger.  We are at a similar juncture with the plight of West Virginia’s child welfare system — and ours is no tale.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/01/18/what-are-we-waiting-for-legislators-our-child-welfare-system-needs-immediate-action/
   

• 1/17/24 - West Virginia Watch
  Judge considers ‘proper sanctions’ against state health department over deleted foster care emails.
  
  ‘You guys really didn’t do that much to protect it,’ a federal judge told health department attorneys and leaders on Wednesday.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/01/17/judge-considers-proper-sanctions-against-state-health-department-over-deleted-foster-care-emails/
   

• 1/16/24 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

  Attorneys Seek Sanctions In Delayed Lawsuit Against DHHR.  Attorneys say they have new evidence that shows the now split West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) purposely deleted emails related to a class action lawsuit.
  
  Plaintiffs in the suit, A Better Childhood, a New York-based nonprofit, along with Shafer and Shafer and Disability Rights West Virginia, recently asked for sanctions in the case due to lack of evidence retention from the defendants.
  https://wvpublic.org/attorneys-seek-sanctions-in-delayed-lawsuit-against-dhhr/
   

• 1/10/24 - West Virginia Watch
  Isn’t it time for the West Virginia Legislature to face the truth about Sharpe Hospital?
   
  During the 2023 legislative session, the West Virginia Legislature enacted House Bill 2006 that split the Department of Health and Human Resources into three agencies amid criticism of mismanagement, nonfeasance and retaliation.  The bill required DHHR to create a “long-term sustainability plan for each state health facility” by Dec. 1, 2023.  
  
  The deadline has passed and DHHR has presented no formal plan to sustain the state’s seven health care facilities — one acute, four long-term care and two psychiatric facilities.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/01/10/isnt-it-time-for-the-west-virginia-legislature-to-face-the-truth-about-sharpe-hospital/?emci=7da18419-1eaf-ee11-bea1-0022482237da&emdi=c711fdc3-afaf-ee11-bea1-0022482237da&ceid=113465
   

• 1/9/24 - West Virginia Watch
  Older foster kids are turning up in mental hospitals because the state has nowhere to put them.  “I think [the state] failed him. And, they’ve failed me,” a mother said.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/01/09/older-foster-kids-are-turning-up-in-mental-hospitals-because-the-state-has-nowhere-to-put-them/
   

• 1/2/24 - West Virginia Watch
  State health department’s top attorney retires amid ties to deleted foster care email scandal. The department is facing sanctions over missing emails from former officials in an ongoing lawsuit about the treatment of foster kids.
  https://westvirginiawatch.com/2024/01/02/state-health-departments-top-attorney-retires-amid-ties-to-deleted-foster-care-email-scandal/