CHARLESTON — West Virginia has the right policies to help children transitioning out of foster care, but they are not being effectively applied, a top legislative advisor told lawmakers.
Jeremiah Samples, a former deputy secretary with the Department of Health and Human Resources, recently gave a presentation to the West Virginia Legislature’s Joint Committee on Children and Families in which he discussed the risks associated with children aging out of the state’s foster care system. Samples is now an advisor for the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.
Samples provided a report filled with statistics, but he also shared stories of foster children who met with unfortunate fates because of failures within the system.
One story was that of a young mother driven by isolation to kill her children and herself.
“That the system allows that to happen, when we know the probabilities, it’s just inexcusable,” Samples said.
Another story involved bureaucrats deciding whether a woman, a ward of the state, would receive life-saving surgery after a suicide attempt.
“It was just wrong,” Samples said.
Samples also talked about a woman who was sent directly to a mental institution after being in juvenile services most of her life.
“When she was 18, they didn’t know what to do with her, so they put her in (a hospital),” Samples said.
In each of these cases, safeguards put in place to prevent tragedy were simply ignored, Samples said.
“All the things that are in our policy that are supposed to happen, just didn’t happen,” Samples said. “We’re just dropping the ball. Our policies are fine. The implementation of our policies, we must improve on.”
West Virginia has 6,369 children in state care, an increase of 1,716 since 2016, and leads the nation for the number of children per capita in state custody.
“There are a lot of issues here, especially in a state that only has 18,000 kids born a year,” Samples said. “You’re talking big numbers, in terms of percentage.”
According to the nonprofit Annie E. Casey Foundation, 13 out of every 1,000 children younger than 17 enter foster care in West Virginia. The next worst state is Montana, with 9 out of every 1,000 children entering the system.
“Our entry rate, the number of kids coming into the foster care system, is just out of control … We are almost lapping the next worst state,” Samples said.
In 2021, 268 children ran away from foster care in West Virginia, a drastic increase over 53 the year before, Samples said.
“In terms of runaways, we still have a problem in West Virginia,” Samples said.
Samples noted statistics showing 15,600 children who were 14 or older when they entered the foster care system, which is larger than the populations of “many of our even moderately sized towns in the state.”
Samples said that number represents 15,600 individuals who have experienced trauma and are transitioning into adulthood without a family support network.
“When kids suffer trauma, they grow up and they’re traumatic adults, and they have kids that are traumatic, in terms of probability. You have success stories,” Samples said. “Some of the best CPS workers that I’ve ever met in my life were former clients, kids that were in the system that made it through and wanted to tackle the issue that they faced. But from a probability perspective, the cards are stacked against them.”
Samples said 229 children aged out of the foster care system in West Virginia in 2021.
A person can age out of the system in two ways: They can emancipate themselves and refuse to work with DHHR after they turn 18, or they can remain in the system and continue to receive benefits afforded to transitioning foster children.
These benefits can make all the difference, Samples said.
Children who grow up in foster care are at higher risk of poor outcomes once they become adults, Samples said. In his presentation, he cited national statistics from the Casey Family Foundation that indicate nearly 40% have had at least one mental health diagnosis in the past year. Less than 50% will have a high school diploma or a job, and almost 60% will give birth or father a child. He said 37.7% of people experience homelessness when they leave foster care.
They’re also far more likely to develop substance abuse and mental health issues, Samples said.
“You’re looking at 242% more likely to smoke, 357% more likely to experience depression, 1,525% more likely to commit suicide, 1,133% more likely to use intravenous drugs,” he said.
Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, said she supports finding ways to reach out to individuals who refuse continuing services. She was particularly interested in peer-to-peer contact, bringing back former foster children to reach out to those struggling in the system.
She noted this concept has been successful in other areas, particularly drug rehabilitation.
“We have these former foster kids, who were in foster care, who have been successful, who could come back and talk to these 17-year-olds and give them perspective,” Grady said. “Because when you look at it and you think about people in rehab, for instance, for addictions. They’re not going to listen to us, but they will listen to someone who has been through the process. They can actually see themselves in the future when they talk to somebody like that.”
Of the 21-year-olds transitioning out of foster care in West Virginia only 43% are employed, compared to 49% nationally, Samples said. The numbers are closer for 19-year-olds, with 33% in West Virginia employed, compared to 34% on the national level, he said.
Samples noted that 75% of the state’s youth transitioning out of foster care have a high-school diploma or equivalency credential, compared to 67% in 2018.
“We’ve actually seen some success, some improvement in this area. But still only three-quarters of kids that age out of the foster care system have a high-school diploma or GED,” Samples said.
While the state does well keeping its foster children in high school, the numbers for post-secondary outcomes are not as good, Samples said. According to Samples, 95% of the state’s 17-year-olds in foster care are in school, which is close to the national figure of 93%.
However, only 27% of 19-year-olds transitioning out of foster care in West Virginia go to college, compared to 52% nationally. That is despite state programs that encourage them to go to school and even pay for tuition, Samples said.
For 21-year-olds, the number is even lower, with 8% of those in West Virginia going to college, while the national number stands at 28%, Samples said.
“You see that huge drop-off from age 17 to 19 for our state. There’s a drop off across the country, but not as significant,” Samples said.
Samples said roughly 30% of the state’s transitioning 19-year-olds have been incarcerated in the past two years, which is 10 percentage points higher than the national figure.
According to Samples’ report, 28% of 21-year-olds coming out of foster care in West Virginia experience homelessness, a figure that is dead even with national numbers.
Samples said 36% of 21-year-olds transitioning from foster care in West Virginia had a child in the past two years, compared to 27% nationally.
“When you have a significant number of kids in foster care, like we do, a significant number transitioning to adulthood from our foster care system, like we do, and then these kids have kids. Well, what’s likely going to happen there? We’re perpetuating the problem, except instead of it just being cyclical, it’s an avalanche. It’s a snowball rolling down a mountain,” Samples said.
