By Amelia Ferrell Knisely and Taylor Stuck HD Media
CHARLESTON, W.VA. — Child Protective Services workers, mandated by West Virginia law to investigate child abuse allegations, failed to look into half of the reports of child abuse in 2018 in the required time.
That failure to promptly investigate abuse and neglect allegations left children at significant risk, according to a new state audit of the Bureau for Children and Families.
“When a report of child abuse and/or neglect goes without being investigated in a timely manner, the risk that further harm or possibly death may occur to the child increases,” auditors said in the report.
Melissa Bishop, of the Legislative Auditor’s Office, presented the report Tuesday to lawmakers, who accepted the report with little comment.
The audit also highlighted West Virginia’s ongoing issues with hiring and keeping CPS workers as caseloads have spiked during the state’s drug epidemic. The report noted that staffing issues had played a role in the inability to promptly look into reports of abuse and neglect. …
