(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

West Virginia’s Department of Human Services has begun its statewide tour of child welfare listening sessions. Kicking off in Hurricane on Monday, the tour will run through Beckley, Wheeling, Parkersburg, Burlington, Philippi, Martinsburg and Morgantown in an effort to hear from foster families, case workers and many others with a stake in the effort to do right by vulnerable Mountain State children.

According to a report by WV MetroNews, there are approximately 6,000 children in state custody. Individuals who spoke during the first listening session were able to help turn that big number into a focus on individual families and kids.

It sounds as though a great deal of what foster families need from the state boils down to support and communication.

“From the beginning we felt like we didn’t get all of the information that we should’ve got,” one foster parent said, according to MetroNews. “You’re asked to have a child in your home, and you know absolutely nothing about them, and I know that’s what you sign up for, but we felt like a lot of the information that we did get wasn’t even the full truth. I don’t know if that was intentional, but I just think there needs to be better communication across the board.”

The same woman continued, “We feel like, sometimes, we are the only ones that are on her side and in her corner, and that’s really hard when she’s been in care for that long and you feel like you’re the only one for her.”

This foster parent should be applauded for her determination to speak up, as the Department of Human Services as a whole is supposed to also be working in the best interests of these children and be part of their support network.

As more such foster parents and other stakeholders speak up during this tour, agency officials must do what they set out to do — listen, learn and do better. Children who find themselves in the care of the state have already been through an ordeal. Good foster parents who have made the commitment to be part of what helps bring them out of that ordeal must know they are getting the information they need, and that they are not alone.