Federal audit says WV failed to properly investigate bulk of child abuse and neglect referrals

by Amelia Ferrell Knisely, West Virginia Watch
November 17, 2025

A new federal audit of West Virginia’s overwhelmed foster care system showed the state didn’t comply with investigation requirements when responding to reports of child abuse and neglect.

The 2024 high-profile death of 14-year-old Kyneddi Miller, who was found in a skeletal state in her Boone County home, and news coverage of the incident prompted the audit, according to federal officials. 

Reporters uncovered that Child Protective Services and the West Virginia State Police were aware of Miller prior to her death; state foster care officials said they had no record of a referral that could have prompted an investigation. After a controversial investigation into the situation, the state Department of Human Services said it would tighten up its abuse and neglect referral process and said it would change how it screens those referrals. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General sampled 100 of 23,759 of West Virginia’s screened-in family reports of child abuse and neglect for the period of Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024. 

The audit reviewed if the state was in compliance with the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, which provides funds to states to improve CPS and child abuse prevention.

“On the basis of our sample results, we estimated that 91% of the 100 screened-in family reports for our audit period were not in compliance with one or more requirements related to the intake, screening, assessment, and investigation of child abuse and neglect,” the office said in its report. The office shared the audit Nov. 14.

The state failed in multiple cases to conduct interviews with children or adults, send letters notifying parents or caregivers of suspected child abuse and assess immediate safety risks.

CPS didn’t asses 61 reports of child abuse and neglect within the required 30 days, according to the audit. 

West Virginia’s Bureau for Social Services said, according to the audit, that it didn’t always follow the required federal child abuse and neglect investigation process “because child welfare workers, who were carrying higher caseload due to staffing shortages, prioritized conducting child interviews over administrative functions such as sending out notification letters to parents or caregivers.”

“Failure to comply with requirements places the children’s health and safety at risk,” the audit said. 

The office made four recommendations to West Virginia, including that the state take the appropriate steps to ensure that child welfare workers perform all required procedures, provide training, develop a system edit and develop written policies and procedures. 

“West Virginia concurred with all four recommendations, and outlined actions that it has taken and plans to take to address our recommendations,” the office said. 

The state is under new foster care leadership since leaders came in this year, including a new DoHS secretary appointed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey.

The Bureau for Social Services told federal officials that the state revised its CPS policy to include additional steps for supervisors that would ensure interviews and assessments are completed in a timely manner.

Following Miller’s death, the state Legislature passed a bill creating a critical incident review team made up of law enforcement, social services workers and legislators to review a death or near-death of a foster child due to child abuse or neglect. 

Miller had been homeschooled from 2021 until her death. Her mother, who was indicted for murder in connection with the girl’s death, didn’t turn in the required documentation tracking Miller’s school progress to the local school board. The girl’s grandmother was also indicted for her death.

Following the girl’s death, Gov. Jim Justice and other lawmakers called for tightening West Virginia’s limited homeschool reporting requirements, but they weren’t changed.

Additionally, the Senate didn’t take up a bill this year that would have paused or potentially denied a parent’s request to homeschool if a teacher has reported suspected child abuse. The House signed off on the bill in February.

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West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.