West Virginia’s first ombudsman for state’s heavily burdened foster care system resigns

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The first ombudsman of West Virginia’s heavily burdened foster care system has resigned.

Pamela Woodman-Kaehler’s resignation will take effect June 6, the state Department of Health announced in a statement. Woodman-Kaehler said she was “choosing to pursue a new opportunity,” but did not provide more details.

Woodman-Kaehler said the ombudsman’s program is “exceptionally well positioned to serve West Virginia’s foster care system. Elizabeth Hardy, deputy director of the foster care ombudsman’s office, will serve as acting director after Woodman-Kaehler’s departure.

The ombudsman position was created by the state Legislature in 2019 to help investigate complaints and collect data about the state’s foster care system. Largely overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic in a state with the most overdose deaths per capita, West Virginia also has the highest rate of children in foster care — currently more than 6,000 in a state of around 1.8 million.

The state is facing a massive ongoing class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of foster care children in 2019. The suit alleged that children’s needs were going unmet because of a shortage of case workers, an over-reliance on institutionalization and a lack of mental health support.

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