West Virginia
New Information System Aims To Ease Fostering In W.Va. – West Virginia Public Broadcasting
During the recent regular session, legislators passed a bill aimed at improving foster care communication and accountability.
House Bill 4975 incorporates foster and kinship parent information systems into the existing Child Welfare Information Technology System.
The bill was the product of two foster parents serving in the West Virginia House of Delegates, Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis County, and Del. Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason County.
Pinson said they were both elected to the House of Delegates four years ago and have been working to pass this bill since then.
“We immediately found common ground in wanting to improve the current West Virginia foster care system, and the opportunity for folks to help as foster parents and if they choose to adopt out of our foster care crisis,” Pinson said.
Burkhammer said the complex foster care system, combined with Child Protective Services (CPS) investigations and court orders can be intimidating for potential foster parents.
“All of that can be a little overwhelming, and trying to cross-communicate between all of them can be a struggle,” Burkhammer said. “The communication is lacking, so as a parent, you just start to get a little frustrated and feeling in the dark.”
This new communication system will work as an electronic hub for all information on the child’s case.
Pinson said he believes the communication breakdown is no one’s fault, just a symptom of an overburdened system.
“Everybody involved in these children’s cases, are doing their very best and are working really hard,” Pinson said. “But communication among several stakeholders who are all busy, who are all maxed with their caseloads and workloads, just proves to be very, very difficult.”
Burkhammer said access to medical records, in particular, can be vital for a child’s health and well-being in the foster care system.
“When they come into our care, we’re not sure where they’ve been going to the doctor, what medications are they taking, and all of those things,” Burkhammer said. “We also wanted to bring in the health aspect of it, just to give parents the ability to be able to care for the children and make sure everybody’s healthy and safe at the end of the day.”
Pinson said West Virginia leads the nation in the number of children who are currently in state custody per capita. There are more than 6,000 children in West Virginia state care. He said he believes any family who is willing to foster or adopt should have access to information and a smooth transition.
“When a family is willing to open their home and allow these children into their home, we believe that they ought to receive excellent support around their decision to try to help,” Pinson said. “What we find is many times families are less frustrated because they have a child come into their home or children, multiple children come into their home, and they can’t get basic questions answered.”
Pinson said he wants all foster and adoptive parents to have access to the stakeholders and information of the child in their care immediately. The communication portal approved in the bill allows for a digital space for people involved in the child’s care to communicate quickly and effectively.
“They could post this question, they could post this concern or this emergency,” Pinson said. “And everyone involved with that child’s case would see it immediately and get an immediate notification. And then that way, the attorneys who need to know that information, they get it at the same time that the CPS worker gets it, at the same time that the child placing agency worker gets it.”
If you are going to take a foster child out of the state, for example on vacation, Pinson said the foster parent has to ask permission.
“Well, I know families who have had to cancel the family vacation because no one was able to respond to their vacation request in a timely fashion,” Pinson said. “Well, that’s just inappropriate, we can’t have that.”
The bill faced some pushback from lawmakers who were concerned for the children’s privacy and access to confidential records. Burkhammer said the second hurdle for the bill was an overwhelmed CPS staff.
“We were going to create a whole new system and require that the courts and require the placing agencies and require the CPS workers to log in and input information,” Burkhammer said. “And everybody said, ‘Hey, don’t give me one more thing that I’ve got to do. I’m already overwhelmed. We’re understaffed.’ That’s what we have created in this language in the bill that says to reduce redundancy. We’re talking about being able to pull information that they’re already inputting.”
Burkhammer said he wishes the legislature had been able to pass a pay raise for guardian ad litems, lawyers who represent children in court.
“Currently, we’ve only got about 159 guardian ad litems for over 6,000 kids right now, give or take in the foster care system, under the state’s control at this point,” Burkhammer said. “We’re severely overworking our guardian ad litem who are representing these children in the court cases. We’ve got to tackle that situation.”
Both delegates agree the key to fixing all the pervasive issues is communication.
“The problem is we’re just dealing with people, real people, real lives, real problems,” Pinson said. “I believe most anything in life can be solved if proper communication takes place. This bill points everybody involved to the importance of proper communication.”
Pinson said West Virginia’s system isn’t broken, it is just overwhelmed and this bill is an effort to ease that workload, not point any accusing fingers.
“It’s not that our CPS workers just simply don’t care,” Pinson said. “They do care. They care so much that they’re willing to try to make this their livelihood, their life. We have excellent CPS workers, we have excellent child placing agency workers through our foster agencies throughout West Virginia. But there’s just an overwhelming number of people who need the services. And everybody’s caseload is just maxed.”
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.
The West Virginia Mountaineers (46-16) fell to the North Carolina Tarheels (53-12-1) Sunday night 5-2 in the second game of the College World Series.
With a little luck, North Carolina scratched a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Jake Schaffner hit a leadoff single back up the middle before junior Owen Hall rolled a single through the left side. Then, on the first pitch delivered junior Macon Winslow was awarded first base after it was ruled the ball hit his foot. Despite no evidence on replay, he remained at first.
West Virginia starting pitcher Maxx Yehl walked in the first run and junior Erik Paulsen brought in a run with a slow high chopper towards first for a 2-0 lead.
The Mountaineers pulled within a run in the third after senior Ben Lumsden singled to right field and advanced to second on a ground ball from junior Tyrus Hall. Then, junior Armani Guzman drove an RBI single to centerfield.
West Virginia evened the game in the fourth when senior Sean Smith received a leadoff walk and senior Matt Graveline singled to right centerfield, placing runners at the corners before sophomore Matt Ineich hit into a double play, but brought in the tying run.
In the seventh, the Tarheels took advantage of the West Virginia miscues to take the lead. An error from Hall at third put the leadoff hitter aboard. Then, with one out, a bobble ball from senior second baseman Brodie Kresser on a potential inning ending double play, put two aboard before junior Gavin Gallaher drove a two-RBI triple to right centerfield. Hull followed with a chopper over the mound for an RBI single before Yehl could get out of the frame as UNC held a 5-2 advantage.
Yehl took the mound in the eight and after giving up the eighth hit of the night, WVU head coach Steve Sabins turned to senior Reese Bassinger. The redshirt junior finished the night with seven strikeouts and was credited with two earned runs.
After North Carolina sophomore starting pitcher Ryan Lynch was removed in the fifth, sophomore Walker McDuffie tossed 4.2 scoreless innings before Ineich was issued a one-out walk and Kresser followed with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. UNC head coach Scott Forbes handed the ball to freshman right-hander Caden Glauber
Glauber closed the door with a pair of strikeouts as the Tarheels held on for the 5-2 decision.
West Virginia will face Troy on Tuesday in an elimination game. The first pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. EST and the action will be televised on ESPN.
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Steve Sabins said a few days ago that he has a soft spot for the guys at the lower level who grind for everything and aren’t entitled. Well, he just added another piece to the 2027 puzzle with someone who fits that bill in Le Moyne outfielder Jack Cannon (6’3”, 215).
“Let’s Go!! Thank the Lord Jesus Christ and everyone else who has guided me on this journey, but it’s time for the next chapter! Go Mountaineers,” Cannon tweeted when announcing his commitment to the program on Saturday.
Le Moyne is a Division I school, but is a low major, being a member of the NEC. Still, the skill set Cannon brings to Morganton is very transferable — he gets on base, and when he does, he typically ends up on second not too long after.
Cannon swiped 51 bags in 55 attempts this season, finishing the season with the second-most stolen bases in the country. Oh, and he also happens to rank second nationally in batting average (.439), recording 86 hits in 196 at-bats. It’s not all speed and contact, though; Cannon has some pop in that bat. He belted 10 homers and 19 doubles while driving in 64 runs. For the cherry on top, he doesn’t have much swing and miss in his game. He has a great feel for the strike zone, striking out just 28 times compared to 25 walks.
Potential role at West Virginia in 2027
Cannon was consistently in the three-hole for the Dolphins this season, but at West Virginia, there’s a chance he could be in the leadoff spot, especially if Armani Guzman is drafted (very likely) and signs. Then again, he could remain in the three-hole and have a similar type of impact that Paul Schoenfeld has had this season. Cannon does have more speed and a little more power than Schoenfeld, but the glove is very similar. Cannon will be a candidate to start in right field, but could also fill in at first base some as well. He is one of the very few players out there who throws left and bats right.
He will have one year of eligibility remaining under the current eligibility rules.
West Virginia’s 2026 transfer portal commits
RHP Korey Alston (Odessa JC), RHP Drew Becker (Ashland, D-II), RHP Griffen Paige (Wright State), RHP Austin Ziance (Marietta College)
INF Owen Henne (Seton Hill), INF Ryan Piekutoski (USC-Sumter JC)
OF Jack Cannon (Le Moyne), OF Colin Coonradt (Johnson County JC), OF Seth Williams (Galveston College JC)
C Cash Williams (Tennessee)
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OMAHA, Neb. — A pair of Division II transfers toed the rubber to start Friday’s Men’s College World Series opener between West Virginia and Troy.
It was the one that came on in relief, however, who made the biggest impact in the Mountaineers’ 7-5 victory over the Trojans at Charles Schwab Field.
Ian Korn spelled Chansen Cole with two outs in the third inning and the Trojans leading 4-3 at the time, having tagged Cole for seven hits across the last 10 batters he faced.
“We saw Chansen Cole get hit a little bit for basically the first time all season,” WVU coach Steve Sabins said.
Korn, who spent the previous four seasons at Seton Hill, would go on to throw six innings of one-run ball, allowing only two hits to go with four strikeouts and three walks as he improved to 6-1 this season.
“What Ian Korn did in that game to stabilize it to go six innings, two hits,” Sabins said, “was nothing short of miraculous.”
Jabe Boroff, the first batter Korn faced, drew a walk, and the right-hander threw 12 balls to 11 strikes over his first 23 pitches.
From that point forward, he peppered the zone on a consistent basis through the rest of an outing that featured 51 of 79 pitches for strikes.
“I was throwing some more cutters than usual,” Korn said. “Slider wasn’t working. We threw some more curveballs. So we were mixing up a little more than usual, kind of against the scouting report they probably had. So our goal was just to go out there and throw strikes, and that’s what I did.”
Mixing pitches to keep the Trojans off balance as he best he could made Korn’s outing especially effective.
“I saw every single one of his pitches,” said Troy left fielder and No. 6 hitter Drew Nelson. “I think he had five, and I saw all five. Being able to mix and match and attack the strike zone like he did, that’s how you succeed.”
The six innings from Korn matched his lengthiest outing as a Mountaineer, tying the 18 outs recorded on May 14 against TCU in one of his three starts this season.
Korn has been used in relief 20 times in 2026, but has thrived in any role.
For the year, he has a 2.95 earned-run average over 76.1 innings with 67 strikeouts and only 13 walks.
The Mountaineers are 18-5 in games Korn has appeared in.
After retiring the first two Trojans in the ninth, Korn was within one out of finishing off the victory.
He then walked Blake Cavill and Sabins elected to replace Korn with left-hander Ben McDougal with Jimmy Janicki at the plate representing the tying run. Janicki had connected for a solo home run in the seventh inning that tied the game at 5, and the WVU head coach didn’t like the idea of Troy’s top hitter seeing Korn for a third time after he’d walked on four pitches and blasted the long ball in his previous two plate appearances.
“Matchup wise, we just believed that left-handed was better against Janicki in that situation,” Sabins said. “Korn was kind of cruising, and so we knew that Korn was going to face the first three hitters [of the ninth inning], and if it got to Janicki, we were going to go to McDougal. But after he clips off two quick outs, then it’s a walk, you’re like, damn, I wish we weren’t in that spot, right. Because the guy’s throwing strikes and handling the moment. And so there’s always that unknown when you bring somebody out of the bullpen in the big moment.
“With McDougal, he’s so convicted and he’s been in those moments so many times. At the end of the day, what I told myself is you’re either playing to win or you’re playing to lose essentially. So you’ve got to play to win, because it’s the right matchup with the right kid and the extra bases, right versus left, is completely different. He’s been a different hitter this year versus left-handed fastball. So we just had to go rip the Band-Aid off and do that.”
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