WV Voices Forges Long-Term Care Partnership
WV Community Voices obtained funding from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation for the West Virginia Long Term Care Partnership, which is comprised of professionals from a variety of fields who will work together to foster West Virginians' ability to age in place with improved economic security in a setting they choose. For its first year of work, the partnership, directed by Laura Boone, has launched four working groups to evaluate: home and community based services, elder economic security, long-term care workforce development, and health issues facing the aged and disabled.  Visit www.wvltcpartnership.org.  

Self Sufficiency Standard of West Virginia - Updated 2009
How much money is needed by families throughout West Virginia to sustain themselves independent of others? The information in this report provides a new measure of how much income is required for a family of a particular structure in a particular location to satisfactorily meet its fundamental needs without public or private assistance.

Although there have been different ways of quantifying poverty over the years, the most notable measuring stick has been the federal poverty measure. Over time, however, as the definition of what constitutes a family has changed, the federal poverty measure has remained the same. Families' needs for survival in the twenty-first century, compared to family necessities in 1960 when the federal measure was first implemented, have changed drastically. In addition, the federal poverty measure is the same for a family in Idaho as it is for a family in Maryland. While the federal measure has remained static over time, the data in this report provides a significant difference. Find the Standard for a WV family of any size by county of residence. 

Final Report on Community Voices Released
Community Voices began three years ago with funding and as a project of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. This publication is an overview of that effort and describes lessons learned and successes in bringing communities together to solve health care problems for underserved populations in West Virginia.

Final Report pt. 1 (pages 1-17)
Final Report pt. 2 (pages 18-32)
Final Report pt. 3 (pages 33-48)

Handbook for Youth in Foster Care Developed
A collaborative group of state organizations, foster care parents, and associations worked with an editorial board of youth in foster care to develop a foster care handbook for youth. The handbook describes the foster care system and informs youth of their rights in foster care.

Download pdf.

Communities Speak Out About the Governor’s Cabinet on Children and Families
Over 350 citizens and 27 legislators met in 11 separate community forums to discuss issues related to a legislative interim study of the West Virginia Governor’s Cabinet on Children and Families. This dialogue led to the introduction of legislation improving the Cabinet by putting a stronger community connection to the work. The final report on the forums also includes information about effective technical assistance and models of other state Cabinets.

Download the report.