KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS) — Kanawha County 4-H Foundation Treasurer Oscar Hutchison said the agreement to house foster kids at Camp Virgil Tate was one they made with their hearts, not so much their business and legal minds. Now, after several violent and threatening incidents prompting police and EMS response on their property, that agreement is over, and the foundation has to present a corrective plan to the Kanawha County Commission.
Hutchison came to Thursday’s Kanawha County Commission meeting to request $60,000 for the Kanawha County 4-H Foundation’s budget, but it turned into more than just a budget discussion when Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango expressed his frustration over a communication breakdown between the 4-H board and the commission involving the housing of at-risk youth.
Salango said it was Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Maryclaire Akers’ hearing and order that brought this to their attention.
Last week, Akers ordered the Department of Human Services officials to court to answer to the appropriateness of placing foster children in hotels and at Kanawha County’s 4-H camp, Camp Virgil Tate. This came after several incidents involving the foster children and the Child Protective Services workers that included a suicide attempt by one the kids in a hotel room.
The commission, who owns some of the property throughout the camp, including near where the kids were staying, was not aware of this.
When the court mentioned there had been several consecutive February calls for police and EMS service, including three in one day, Salango said this had to be addressed. The calls included kids attacking staff and each other, threats of violence and homicide, medical emergencies and reports of kids being restrained.
“It’s really not an issue with the 4-H program,” Salango said. “4-H uses the camp. We had foster children being housed there, causing significant police presence, significant ambulance response.”
Hutchison told Eyewitness News on Friday that they entered into an agreement with DoHS in 2023, thinking this could be a way to help an overwhelmed system and kids without a place to go.
Salango said during the commission meeting that DoHS resorted to Camp Virgil Tate after they were kicked out of a hotel for damages.
Hutchison said there were five instances where foster children were staying there, but 4-H was never given any information on how many or who they were. They have since told DoHS they cannot bring any more kids there until further notice.
“It was, I don’t want to say ignorance on our part, but that’s pretty much it,” Hutchinson said. “We were doing some things involving those people [DoHS] that we were putting ourselves, as well as the county in jeopardy if something were to have happened involving the children.”
Even with the foster care agreement over, Salango and Commissioner Lance Wheeler said that before they could guarantee the $60,000 for the 4-H budget, they wanted to see a plan of action to correct issues and improve communication between the foundation and the county.
“I think there are around 6,000 kids that are in the foster system right now, and that certainly is something the legislature needs to take up, but what the county commission has to look at is what are the exposures to the county commission, to the taxpayers of the county when you have nearly a dozen police calls in a week, when you have ambulances repeatedly showing up at Camp Virgil Tate,” Salango said.
Several 4-H parents, volunteers and kids spoke out in support of not cutting and possibly increasing the budget to the 4-H camp, so they can continue to have camp there and improve it.
Sarah Clemente, a 4-H parent, said she understood both the liability concerns and the reasoning for agreeing to house the children.
“I do believe that while there are some real concerns with the liability of having children in state’s care there, it also is coming from a place of kindness and a good heartedness and unless you have opened your home up to a child, you’re not going to understand. These kids have nowhere else to go,” she said.
Hutchison said it was inspiring to see the support and all the more reason to work on a plan to move forward.
“Develop plans on how we’re going to operate, what we’re going to do going forward and how we can work more in concert with the county commission and their concerns that they want to see addressed.”
The Kanawha County 4-H Foundation Board will meet next week to discuss this and start developing the corrective plan.
They will meet back with the commission on March 18 to make a decision on the budget allocation.
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