The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), Bureau for Social Services reports today that progress has been made in resolving issues surrounding a payment delay affecting foster families and agencies.
“We understand the impact that this has had on families and providers and deeply apologize for this situation,” said Jeff Pack, Commissioner of DHHR’s Bureau for Social Services. “We have staff dedicated to resolving this issue who will see it through until all payments are made.”
When DHHR learned of the delay, Mission WV sent a robo-call to all affected certified kinship and relative caregivers. Aetna, the managed care organization for West Virginia children in foster care, reached out to their affected members to inform them of the delay in payments. Additionally, a press release was issued notifying the public of this delay.
Affected families with questions may contact DHHR’s Client Services at 1-800-642-8589, or email dhhrbcfcs@wv.gov, Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Those with emergency needs are encouraged to contact their local DHHR office which will assist as they are able.
The following groups have been paid:
Non-certified kinship payments to individuals were made earlier this month. The remaining payments are expected to go out this week.
Adoption subsidies have been paid to individuals through an automated process.
Some payments to Socially Necessary Services Providers (agencies) were paid last week. The remaining payments were released today.
Legal guardianship subsidies have been paid to individuals through an automated process.
These groups can expect payments to be processed this week:
Payments to Child Placing Agencies are scheduled to be processed tomorrow, Wednesday, February 22, 2023.
Payments to Residential Providers (agencies) are scheduled to be processed tomorrow, Wednesday, February 22, 2023.
Payments to individuals who are Certified Kinship and Relative Caretakers are scheduled to be processed tomorrow, Wednesday, February 22, 2023.
These groups can expect payments as soon as issues are resolved:
Payments to individuals and agencies for Independent Living and Transitional Living are being resolved with a manual fix. The timeline is pending.
Payments to individuals and agencies for Adult Services are being resolved with a manual fix. The timeline is pending.
Please note that once payments are issued by the State Treasurer’s office, for individuals with direct deposit, it may take 24-48 hours to deposit in accounts depending on the bank.
Payments are anticipated to return to their normal schedule next month.