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.
Cynthia Persily
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.
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“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.
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“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.
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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.
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.
