(Capitol Notes – Graphic Illustration/MetroCreative)
Just when I think that the West Virginia Department of Human Services and the Governor’s Office can’t handle this situation surrounding the death of 14-year-old Boone County girl Kyneddi Miller any worse, something happens each week that makes me shake my head.
I’m no lawyer, but to paraphrase the great comedian Lewis Black, I know how to read. While not being a lawyer, I am a former state government communications professional (four years for the Senate, one and a half years for the Secretary of State’s Office).
I say that above in order to say this: DoHS could have kept these issues from continuing to be a statewide story had they simply followed the plain reading of State Code and say, “we are aware of the death of this girl. Our Child Protective Services had past interactions with the family of this girl on at least two occasions. We are investigating and can’t release any additional information at this time.”
Absolutely no one, certainly not state and local media, are blaming DoHS for the death of Miller. Frankly, this controversy has continued to grow because two months ago DoHS refused to provide any information despite state law allowing very limited release of certain information upon the reported death of a child. DoHS believes it only had to annually provide this information, which it does in a critical incident report.
The appearance to date has been a department that has been more concerned about keeping negative stories out of the headlines, but as a result it has only continued to bring upon itself and the Governor’s Office bad headlines one after the other as we head into the middle of June.
I’m not saying Miller’s death shouldn’t be a statewide story. Her death is tragic and unfortunately more common than not. We really know next to nothing about her mother and grandparents who are facing charges of child abuse causing death. But similar stories can be found all across the state, sometimes involving family members with substance use disorders, criminal behavior or dealing with the issues of poverty that have always been rampant in the state.
I’m simply saying that except for the blunders by state officials, this would have stayed mostly a local story in southern West Virginia. Reporters down there, such as WCHS-TV and WSAZ-TV, have done wonderful work uncovering DoHS’ past involvement with Miller’s family and last year’s wellness check by the West Virginia State Police. But otherwise, the focus would have been on the local Child Protective Services office in Boone County, not the state’s reaction and overreaction to the media.
The Governor’s Office has accused the media of fanning the flames on this controversy. I say it is quite the opposite. And now the missteps are happening with the Boone County criminal case against Miller’s mother and grandparents, with a DoHS staffer interviewing the mother without her attorneys present, DoHS attorneys emailing documents to the Boone County prosecutor that may have included information prohibited by the judge, and alleged comments by someone in the Governor’s Office to defense attorneys that they couldn’t comply with court orders to turn over its internal investigation documents to the court.
As I write this, there is a pending motion for the judge to consider holding DoHS and the Governor’s Office in contempt of court. Brian Abraham, chief of staff to Gov. Jim Justice, said Wednesday he has been in contact with the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense attorneys and turned over all information from the internal investigation to the court to determine how best to distribute.
However, he also believes that because DoHS and the Governor’s Office are not parties in the criminal case that the Boone County judge can’t hold the state in contempt of court. Considering by all appearances that someone or multiples in DoHS appear to be interfering in an active criminal case, I don’t know what would prevent DoHS officials from being held in contempt.
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Look, in many ways DoHS, and previously the Department of Health and Human Resources before it was split into three, is danged if it does and danged if it doesn’t. If a child dies and there is past CPS involvement, they’re going to be scrutinized. At the same time, I can’t tell you how many calls and emails I get each week asking me to look into a circumstance where CPS took a child from a family for what they say is no good reason.
I tell those people almost always the same thing: that I get too many of those anecdotal reports to look into all of them. The fact is it is hard to raise children when you are poor, and there are a lot of people below the poverty level in this state. The state’s health and human services departments are almost always going to have an uphill battle. Factor in the state’s substance use disorder crisis over the last 15 years and it is like pouring gasoline on an already lit fire.
I know this because I’m one of those poor kids, with a father who barely made minimum wage as a 911 dispatcher and a mother who couldn’t graduate high school or pass her GED. DHHR services when I was a young kid were vital.
While there is no amount of money that can fix all of DoHS’ problems, and while as long as there are bad people that there is always a chance of a child dying, the state needs to provide the funding for CPS to more thoroughly vet potential child and abuse cases to ensure those putting children at risk are prosecuted and to ensure those families simply struggling under the weight of poverty receive the resources they need.
It’s always going to be an uphill battle in West Virginia until economic conditions improve. But that doesn’t mean the state needs to be a burden. The state should be pulling the rope to help people to the top of the hill.
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com