CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia has appointed a new deputy secretary of child and adult services following recommendations in a $1 million report completed earlier this month by a consulting firm hired to study restructuring the agency responsible for running the state’s foster care system.
Cammie Chapman, previously West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resource’s associate general counsel, will oversee the agency’s Bureau for Child Support Enforcement and Bureau for Social Services effective immediately, Cabinet secretary Bill Crouch announced Monday.
The Bureau for Child Support Enforcement is in charge of establishing and administering child support enforcement plans and enforcing alimony court orders. The Bureau for Social Services is in charge of running the state’s foster care system.
Republican Gov. Jim Justice earlier this year vetoed a bill that proposed to split West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources into two departments. The McChrystal Group of Alexandria, Virginia, was hired to review the Department of Health and Human Resources and concluded that the current configuration “is not an option” but that splitting the agency would “divert time, funding, and leadership’s focus away from serving West Virginians.”
The firm recommended that the department remain a single department with all efforts focused on a strategic plan to address top priorities, including an “executive leadership team” that would include three deputy secretaries. Chapman is the first deputy secretary named following the report’s release.
Since 2018, Chapman has served as associate general counsel for the department and currently oversees all legal aspects of the Bureau for Family Assistance and the Bureau for Social Services. Additionally, Chapman has coordinated efforts to expand children’s mental health services, according to DHHR. ”
Prior to joining DHHR, Chapman worked for the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia as the director of Children Services Division.
McChrystal Group was awarded a contract in June to conduct a thorough review of DHHR. The firm provided a cost estimate of $503,648 for the Department of Health and Human Resources’ organizational assessment and $578,770 to develop a strategic plan.
