ELKINS, W.Va. — The West Virginia Children’s Home in Elkins will close at the end of the year.

The state Department of Human Services announced the closing in recent days.

The 25-bed facility for foster children was built in 1909 and serves children from 12 to 18 years old and, in recent months, has consistently housed 10 or fewer children.

The facility also has the number of maintenance concerns any structure more than 110 years old would have.

Kylee Hassan, the marketing director for Mission West Virginia Adoption Resource Exchange, said the move away from an institutional setting will encourage more growth and development that could lead to better outcomes.

“We see the benefits when a child is with a family that has supports in place versus growing up in a facility that puts them at a disadvantage,” Hassan said.

The state already has more than 6,000 children in the foster care system and a shortage of families to care for them. The need for foster families of all types has been dire in recent years, and the need for families to work with older children is currently high.

While organizations continue working to get more families qualified, the Foster Care and Adoption Services program operated by Genesis will be expanded with state resources.

“The real pressure is on us to find families for those children,” Hassan said. “We are always in need of foster families to help, especially teenagers.”

Leaving the institutional care model behind will put more kids in the foster system in actual families where they learn the importance of relationships. The family setting is a full-time environment where children learn the importance of the family unit, building relationships, learning how to follow rules, and how to handle disappointment.

“The one that comes most to my mind is reduced trauma,” Hassan said. “So, children placed with a family are less likely to experience additional trauma from being separated from siblings or other things.”

The “home” setting comes with the same people guiding young people through experience, different than the sterile institutional environment where different shifts of people may manage the populations in homes. Homes also give foster kids an opportunity to build trust with others and learn the importance of responsibility and respect.

“What friendships look like, what healthy relationships with family or friends look like,” Hassan said. “Even learning basic skills like how to get your driver’s license.”

Hassan contends children growing up in homes are more resilient and have a better chance to succeed when they age out of the foster system. The children not only learn from adults in a family setting, but they also see the family unit in action, giving them practical knowledge needed to be successful in the world of work.

“When children grow up in the facility type setting, they don’t know how to be on their own when they age out,” Hassan said. “And it’s harder for them to establish relationships and connections, which puts them at a higher risk.”