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The most rural and poor counties in West Virginia may get short-changed in a state
program that delivers direct services to families that have experienced abuse and neglect
of children.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human services, experiencing financial strain,
cut payments to seven different agencies that provide direct services. The cut will affect
the "family preservation" program, which sent social workers into troubled families to
provide resolution and keep the children out of official state custody.
The program was aimed at keeping families together, protecting children and not placing
kids in foster homes or shelters.
The movement with the service is toward using competitive fee-for-service agencies, which
generally would not be interested in rural counties. Several of the long time agencies
providing services have been cut, like Youth Services System in Wheeling and the United
Methodist Burlington Family Service.
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