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.
Kylee Hassan
The facility also has the number of maintenance concerns any structure more than 110 years old would have.
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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.”
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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.
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“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.”
The Department of Biology invites the community to join its spring ephemeral wildflower walk Sunday (April 12) at the Core Arboretum.
The free guided walks will begin at noon, 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The walks will take place each Sunday in April.
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Find more information and register to attend.
Last year, more than 45 species of plants were seen in bloom over the course of the wildflower walks.
Individuals are also welcome to visit and see the flowers on their own. Information on how to find and identify the flowers are available at the kiosk.
Those who wish to schedule a group tour outside of the regular schedule or would like to become a volunteer guide, should contact Zach Fowler, WVU Core Arboretum director, at zfowler@mail.wvu.edu.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia University has welcomed back its beloved Research Week for its eighth year.
Research Week at WVU was created to highlight the research efforts of students, faculty and staff across the school’s three campuses and to thank them for helping create the R1 institution’s household name.
Core facilities showcase (WBOY image).
Monday kicked off the week with award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author and historian John M. Barry as a keynote speaker in a conversation “on the power of storytelling to shape public understanding, inform policy, and influence how science is understood in public life,” according to WVU.
One of the events that took place on Tuesday was the Core Facilities showcase held in the Health Science Center, which featured 30 different displays of research.
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12 News spoke with WVU Core Resources Director Karen Martin on why it was important to feature the university’s research projects in this way.
“This is going to be professional development for them so that they can learn the skills that they can then take, not only to do their research now, but that they can take with them for jobs in the future. And we’ve got the cutting-edge, greatest technologies out there, so they’re really competitive, they’ve got good skills when they leave here. And we study everything from diabetes, cancer, neuroscience, just a whole range of everything that we study, and so students really get a lot of opportunities to learn, to understand how the technology works, and they’ve got that to take with them,” Martin said.
Research products that the Core facilities showcase. (WBOY images)
Research Week will continue all across WVU until Friday. You can find a full list of events and virtual seminars on the university’s website here.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Children’s Home Society of West Virginia (CHSWV) is a private, non-profit organization designed to help children find lifetime families, protect and nurture children, and help to strengthen and preserve families. Every year, they offer child welfare, behavioral health, social casework, and advocacy services to 24,000+ children and families statewide.
CHSWV is currently asking for donations and any help possible, as they begin their capital campaign to help raise funds to build a new, larger facility in Morgantown.
“A large portion of our funds goes toward maintaining our current rental space,” Abby Miller, Site Manager at the CHSWV Morgantown Location, said. “The resources that could otherwise be used to expand our services and reach more families are going toward our rent. We’re wanting to raise enough money to have a place of our own to be able to expand our foster care services.”
CHSWV’s goal is to raise $2 million. They have already raised $270,000.
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As well as foster care, CHSWV also provides those in need with a resource room, which supplies clothes, toys, shoes, accessories, and more. Anyone within the community is allowed to come in and pick items out, free of charge.
If you are unable to donate funds toward their campaign, donating to their resource room is another way in which you could aid CHSWV.
“We are always in need of donations, specifically men’s clothing, children’s clothing, children’s furniture, and any household items, as well,” Miler stated.
Last but not least, those interested in becoming a foster parent may call into CHSWV’s office or fill out an inquiry directly through their website. Although the foster care process is long, it has been known to be quite rewarding.
“Foster parents that we have had through us say it’s a rewarding process,” Miller said. “They have opened their home and their heart to be able to help children in need, and that’s the whole point of being a foster parent, whether it’s for a short time, a long time, or forever.
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Those interested in aiding in any way, whether that’s through donating funds, supplies, or becoming a foster parent, can consult in-person at their office in Westover, over the phone at 304-284-0992, or through their website at www.childhswv.org.
