“We can’t just plug holes. We need to fix the foundation. Everyone says children are our priority, so what’s the plan?” Sharon Iskra, BG’s Institutional Abuse & Neglect team leader, co-authors this insightful and powerful op-ed about the state of West Virginia’s child welfare system with Kellie Caseman, Executive Director of Think Kids in West Virginia.
Some data: “In 2023 alone, the Bureau of Social Services’ Centralized Intake hotline received roughly 40,000 referrals. Our state now has the highest ratio of child victims in the country: 17 per 1,000 children, which is twice the national average. And, despite the pediatric population decreasing by 10,000 between 2017-2021, more kids entered West Virginia’s foster care system in 2021 than in the five years prior.”
To read this article, visit here.
To learn more about Sharon, follow this link.
To learn more about the firm’s Institutional Abuse & Neglect practice, visit here.