A West Virginia circuit judge has ordered state officials to serve as CPS workers due to severe understaffing in child protective services.
Those under the judge's order include the new cabinet secretary for the Department of Human Services, Alex Mayer, who just became active in the role.
Others affected by the order include the agency's interim deputy commissioner of field operations, Laurea Ellis, the special consultant to the secretary, Kim Ricketts, General Counsel Chanin Krivonyak and Lorie Bragg Lawrence, the deputy commissioner of policy and programs.
The date they're supposed to report is Feb. 20.
Judge Timothy Sweeney, who issued the order this week, handles a judicial circuit that covers Doddridge, Pleasants, Ritchie and Wirt counties.
West Virginia's child welfare dashboard shows three CPS workers in Doddridge County, two in Pleasants County, one CPS worker plus a coordinator in Ritchie County,
"Our department is actually responsible, in addition to the counties in my circuit, for Lewis and Upshur, and even though those aren't my counties, due to their responsibilities in those counties as well. We're very, very shorthanded," the judge said today on MetroNews' "Talkline."
Lewis County has two CPS workers and Upshur has three, according to the dashboard.
The judge's order said this kind of "understaffing is an immediate and critical threat to at-risk children, the most vulnerable residents of this Circuit and state." It continued, "Cases involving juveniles are the highest priority for the judiciary in the State of West Virginia."
Child welfare has been a persistent and troubling issue in West Virginia. The dashboard shows that more than 6,000 children are currently in state custody. The dashboard reflects just 83% of CPS worker positions being filled.
The Parkersburg News & Sentinel first covered the story of Judge Sweeney's order.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, responded to that on social media by saying "One of the reasons we brought on our new Secretary is to focus on foster care and CPS. We are working to clean up all of the mess. Very hopeful our team will make a difference."
Judge Sweeney, appearing on "Talkline," emphasized the need for immediate action to protect abused and neglected children.
"What's happening is the people that are there are definitely being overworked. We've got managers doing CPS boots on the ground, investigations and removals, just in order to protect these children," he said.
He criticized the state Legislature, which gathers next week for its annual 60-day regular session, for not addressing the issue -- and the judge highlighted the legal mandate for adequate staffing based on population and case referrals. Sweeney called for increased funding and better retention strategies to attract and retain CPS workers.
"I think it has to do with priorities, and it's going to be a judgment call from the Legislature. You know, they're going to make a decision based on what they think is most pressing and the greatest issue that they need to address, and it needs to be brought to their attention," he said.
"And I'm hoping that it will be here at the outset, before we get into session, that it can be a priority, that people can look at it, and we can get off on the right foot with the new secretary and with regard to providing the necessary funding."
Sweeney said there's an immediate need for help, though, and that's why he assigned several of the lead officials with the state agency to do it.
"And these folks with the department that I have assigned should be the best equipped to do that as seasoned and knowledgeable professionals," he said. "And if you don't know the department, what they do on a local level, I don't think you're capable, or you're less equipped I should say, to do your job in a supervisory capacity on up the line."
The judge said he is prepared to go forward with the order if necessary.
"I'm encouraged that our new secretary, Mayer, is well qualified and has agreed that the focus needs to be upon our most vulnerable population, the abused and neglected children, and would hope for a solution to this," he said.
"But I'm fully prepared to go forward on that date in order to address these issues and provide the local department with the resources they need to get their job done."