(Capitol Note – Graphic Illustration/MetroCreative)
CHARLESTON — Despite telling reporters two weeks ago that Child Protective Services had no clues about the circumstances that led to the death of a Boone County girl, Gov. Jim Justice said officials are behind the state's interpretation. He said he was given bad information while remaining in hiding. Privacy law. During a weekly administrative briefing from the state Capitol on Wednesday, a judge mistakenly provided incorrect information during an April 23 briefing regarding the death of a 14-year-old girl found by law enforcement officers in a so-called riot in Boone County. said. “Skeletal condition” Due to years of malnutrition. At the press conference, the judge acknowledged that Child Protection Services (CPS) officials within the state Department of Human Services (DoHS) were unaware of the circumstances behind the girl's death. The child's mother, Julie Ann Stone Miller, 49, was charged in April with child neglect resulting in death after police found the baby girl, who had suffered from malnutrition for years.
“What I told you two weeks ago to the best of my ability was 100% accurate. Now knowing the information I have today, I stand by what I was told two weeks ago. Would you do that? No way.” Justice said. According to multiple media reports, including WCHS-TV and West Virginia Watch, family members said the girl's condition had worsened in recent months and years, during which time they observed her going to and from school. Family members also told reporters that CPS has been contacted. Law enforcement officials placed responsibility for the bad information provided two weeks ago on lawyers for the DoHS, one of three departments that was once part of the former Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR).
“We have lawyers who basically belong to DHHR, and they mess up cases. And once they give us information, we have to act on the information they give us. No. And that's exactly what happened.” Justice said. “Are you disappointed that the information they gave me that I gave you was wrong? You're stubborn.”
DoHS has asked news outlets, West Virginia legislators, and the public to request information from CPS about whether it received complaints about the Boone County family or whether it made any visits hiding behind the state's interpretation. Fighting every effort. According to federal law, providing any information is prohibited. Due to recent Freedom of Information Act requests by the West Virginia Superintendent's Office to CPS for her travel records and referrals, they were denied.
“Traditionally, our lawyers are not permitted to disclose any information except to very limited groups, and that information is not used by those groups to carry out their duties related to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. We have interpreted state and federal law to allow them to do so.” Defense Department Cabinet Secretary Cynthia Persily, who joined the judiciary at Wednesday's briefing, said: State law 49-5-101 states that all records about children maintained by DoHS are confidential. The federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) requires states to keep child abuse confidential and ignore reports to protect the rights of children and parents/guardians. However, states may grant limited access to information as long as state authorities ensure the safety and well-being of children and parents/guardians. Other states allow certain information related to her CPS cases, such as child death cases, to be released in the case of criminal charges. Persily said DoHS is reviewing these state laws and is considering changes to the West Virginia statute. But Persily said she believes the state is already complying with CAPTA's requirement that states release information about child deaths, including the circumstances, age, gender, and prior reports of abuse or neglect. she said. State law also requires states to release information about child fatalities. Persily said DoHS provides very basic child mortality data in its annual report.
“Our interpretation of meeting the federal requirements for reporting fatalities is that the critical incident report we provide each year meets that federal requirement.” Persily said. “Of course, that report has not been reported in the media.”
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.
