ELKINS, W.Va. — The West Virginia Department of Human Services say consistent absenteeism in schools will be dealt with in another way after making the announcement that a historic children’s home will permanently be closing its doors.

The DoHS said the West Virginia Children’s Home in Elkins is scheduled to officially close down tomorrow, Tuesday, December 31.

DoHS Cabinet Secretary Cynthia Persily said a decision was made to close the facility as the state is working to reduce reliance on residential care for children. She said this facility and its use for housing children who have been adjudicated by the court, primarily for truancy, is not consistent with those goals.

Persily said all of the adolescents who were currently living in the Children’s Home have now been removed from the facility and have been transferred to more appropriate placements elsewhere.

“We made arrangements to close the facility in November and worked diligently in transferring the very few children who were housed there into more appropriate housing for them,” said Persily.

She said there were just two remaining children in the facility at the time the decision was made to close it, and the average daily census of children there has been about four since it reopened after the Covid-19 Pandemic. The facility was only licensed to house a total of seven children at a time.

Persily said they have been working with the Department of Education who has been working diligently on truancy prevention programs for children instead of housing them for truancy purposes, as they believe there are more appropriate solutions that can be put in place to address this issue.

“The children who were housed there were not receiving treatment, it was purely housing, and the county school district was providing schooling for them,” she said.

Persily said it was also costing them $1.7 million annually to keep the facility operational due to it needing to be staffed 24/7. She said it just wasn’t feasible.

“If any of us do the math, $1.7 million dollars a year to care for an average of four children, it doesn’t seem to be financially-sound either,” she said.

She said they had about 21 full-time employees working at the facility at the time of closure as well as a few more temporary staff. Persily said they are being transferred to work at other state-run facilities.

Additionally, Persily said a recent study by ZMM Architects also highlighted the need for $7.8 million in deferred maintenance to be put into the building, which was completed in 1909. She said the architect company said there would need to be a lot of new safety measures put in place to keep the building up to code.

Persily said, given that it is a historic building, they weren’t sure if more maintenance needs would be tacked on.

“So, consequently, those costs could have gone up significantly, and given the fact that it’s just not consistent with our goals to house children in a residential facility who could be housed elsewhere, we opted to close the facility.

While she said WVCH had received additions and upgrades in 1916 and again in 1935, and has been well-maintained over the years, the over 25,000 square foot facility now faces challenges due to age and structural requirements.

Once home to the West Virginia Orphanage beginning in 1909 when it opened, Persily said interestingly enough, there are a number of historic artifacts there that they are currently working with the Department of Culture and History to archive some of those artifacts, including historic pictures and documents.

She said the facility has definitely made an impact on the children it has served over its 115 year tenure, but it can no longer serve such a purpose.

“I certainly think that it has kept children safe, and in many instances, caused those children to be able to graduate, to go to school and graduate, but again, we think there are better ways to do that for children today than by housing them in a residential facility,” Persily said.

However, the state is currently evaluating any future potential use for the historic building to preserve its legacy. Those plans will be developed in coordination with the West Virginia Real Estate Division.

West Virginia was able to hire Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley for the defensive coordinator role at West Virginia. So, we asked our Oklahoma site about his time in Norman and what the Mountaineers can expect.

What can you expect from the new defensive coordinator? Well, we contacted an authority on the subject in OUInsider.com writer Jesse Crittenden.

1. How was Zac Alley received during his lone year in Norman? What are some of the qualities that make him stand out as a coach?

How was Zac Alley received during his lone year in Norman? What are some of the qualities that make him stand out as a coach? There was certainly a ton of excitement for Zach Alley when he arrived in Norman, and he largely lived up to the billing. A lot of that was Oklahoma-specific — he is Brent Venables’ protege and was often described as a “Venables clone.” But the biggest thing is that he broke the idea that the defensive coordinator is largely irrelevant under Venables.

The biggest thing is that he’s a players coach, and a lot of that is his age. He’s really not much older than the players he’s coaching, and while some could see that as a negative, for him it’s largely a positive.

2. The Oklahoma defense was a bright spot this season. What made it stand out?

Oklahoma took huge steps forward in essentially every aspect, but the most noticeable impact was the rushing defense. The Sooners ranked inside the top 15 in both yards allowed and yards per carry for essentially the entire season. They were particularly adept at limiting mobile quarterbacks. Nico lamaleava, LaNorris Sellers, and Jalen Milton were all stifled on the ground.

3. How does he call a defense? Is he aggressive, etc?

Alley’s defense was all gas and no breaks, and that’s not just limited to Oklahoma. But the Sooners were among the nation’s best at tackles for loss and sacks, and their turnover rate was fantastic through the first six weeks.

Alley isn’t one to play it safe. He wants to keep offenses off balance with shifting formations while dialing up pressure from unexpected places.

4. What type of scheme does he use and what can West Virginia fans expect?

Oklahoma almost always plays with four defensive linemen and three linebackers, though the Sooners sid experiment with some three-man fronts at time this season. Venables’ (and Alley’s) defense is also known for utilizing the “cheetah” position, which is a hybrid of linebacker and defensive back. The cheetah can line up on the line, at linebacker, as a cornerback or even as a safety on any given play. It’ll be interesting to see if Alley brings that to West Virginia.

5. Any other thoughts you have on him as a coach?

Zac is a really personable coach, and he’s certainly one of the promising up-and-coming people in college football. His departure hurts Oklahoma, and he’ll give West Virginia an elite young coach who can be part of the future moving forward.

Associated Press

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley is being reunited with Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia.

Rodriguez, who was hired for his second stint as West Virginia’s coach on Dec. 12, announced Sunday that he hired the 31-year-old Alley as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

“Zac is one of the top young defensive coordinators in the country and has proven his ability to lead and be an innovator at different stops during his career,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “I have worked with him several seasons, and he constantly impresses me with his ability to blend schemes with his personnel and develop winning results.”

Under Rodriguez, Alley spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Jacksonville State. Alley was the youngest defensive coordinator in the Bowl Subdivision at Louisiana-Monroe in 2021 when Rodriguez was the Warhawks’ offensive coordinator.

In Alley’s lone season at Oklahoma, the Sooners ranked fifth in the Southeastern Conference in total defense, allowing 318 yards per game.

“I have tremendous respect for Coach Rod, as I’ve seen how he develops players and builds a program,” Alley said. “I look forward to working with the players and doing my part to help WVU be one of the top teams in the Big 12 Conference and the nation.”

Alley worked under Oklahoma coach Brent Venables as a graduate assistant at Clemson from 2015 to 2018 when Venables was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach there.

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