If we want to understand what is happening in West Virginia jails and prisons, we must listen to the people inside them. The Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) has taken a step in that direction.
On Monday, the agency released a new policy that allows people behind bars to submit their grievances electronically. A grievance is a formal, written complaint made to DCR management about unfair treatment or some other wrong experienced behind bars.
Grievances can cover every aspect of a person’s life inside a facility: neglectful medical care; rotten or spoiled food; denial of hygiene supplies or menstrual products; broken toilets and showers; and more. Some grievances may report crimes like physical or sexual assault, or violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act or Prison Rape Elimination Act.
For years, DCR has required people to submit paper grievances directly to jail and prison employees in a complex process that can resemble a game of chutes and ladders. There are time limits, paper limits, and three levels of review before the grievance is considered complete. Along the way, a grievance can be rejected on technicalities because a person folded the form, used more than one staple, wrote on the back of a paper, or submitted a paper with marks or smudges.
The complexity of DCR’s grievance process is likely by design, thanks to a Clinton-era federal law intended to make it harder for incarcerated people to file and to win civil rights cases. The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) passed with overwhelming support in 1996, during the same period in which policymakers made deliberate decisions to increase the number of people behind bars.
The PLRA created multiple tripwires for incarcerated people attempting to litigate their civil rights in federal court: mandatory filing fees, regardless of poverty; compensation limits to deter lawyers from taking on civil rights cases; curbs on court oversight of jails or prisons; and more.
The most effective block has been the policy that allows civil rights lawsuits to be dismissed if the incarcerated person did not “exhaust” or complete the grievance process through the last level of review.
Notably, the rules and steps of the grievance process are created by the same jails and prisons that would be the target of any civil rights claims.
DCR gets to build the obstacle course incarcerated people must complete to file a civil rights claim against DCR. The more complicated the grievance process, the more likely people will not meet the PLRA’s exhaustion requirement.
Over the last two years, the WVCBP has had dozens of conversations with people behind bars, their loved ones, former jail staff, and people who provide legal or social services to those incarcerated. When asked about the grievance process, we heard a lot of the same things.
The spouse of a person in prison summed up the biggest barrier: fear of retaliation. “I think sometimes people are afraid to use it, because you get retaliated against. You get moved to another dorm, or you get your stuff searched.”
A person who spent three weeks in a regional jail recalled how a correctional officer threatened another jail resident with a discipline report if they filed a grievance.
Others we spoke to stressed the futility of filing paper grievances. One person told us, “I filed grievances, and nothing ever got done. I don’t think they even read it.” Several people believed paper grievances were simply thrown away by staff.
A recent federal case backed this up.
In October 2023, a federal magistrate issued an opinion in a class-action lawsuit against DCR regarding conditions at Southern Regional Jail. In unusually scathing language, the judge described how DCR had failed to preserve paper grievances made prior to pre-2022 despite internal policies that required preservation.
The state agreed to a $4 million settlement days later.
That case revealed how a vulnerable paper grievance system could obscure conditions in a jail where at least 27 people died over a three-year period.
For a system that controls the lives of roughly 10,000 people on any given day, electronic grievances are the obvious policy. And because every adult and child incarcerated in West Virginia is issued a tablet, it is also the easier policy.
This development could not have come at a better time. Just last week, a correctional officer at South Central Regional Jail was arrested and charged with imposing sexual acts on an incarcerated person. According to the complaint, the investigation started when an incarcerated person submitted a complaint electronically through a tablet.
One can expect that electronic grievances will be particularly useful regarding accountability in state jails. (Jails incarcerate people who are presumed innocent and awaiting trial, as well as those sentenced for misdemeanor convictions. By contrast, prisons incarcerate people convicted of felony offenses, which carry sentences longer than one year.)
Because of courts’ expansive use of money bail and pretrial detention, the regional jails house tens of thousands more people every year than the state’s prison system. In the past year, West Virginia’s 10 regional jails processed 35,887 admissions and 33,827 releases. The same year, the state’s 13 prison facilities admitted 2,539 people and released 2,884 people.
Jails and prisons have long been shielded from public view. The one legislative committee dedicated to jail oversight was scheduled to meet on December 10th, but then cancelled its meeting. (In spite of last week’s news that a correctional officer was accused of sexual abuse inside a Charleston jail.)
You can help change this. If you know someone behind bars who is experiencing mistreatment or harmful conditions, encourage them to use the electronic grievance system. It only works if we work it. Our loved ones inside should file their grievances electronically, make sure to complete the entire process, and do so as soon as possible.
If you get stuck, or if you want to help WVCBP track what’s going on inside, please visit the Community Collaborative Council or contact me directly at swhitaker@wvpolicy.org.
Read Sara’s full blog post.
In 2021, the West Virginia Legislature established the Hope Scholarship Program. West Virginia is one of many states offering school voucher programs, which divert public funds from public schools to private schools and other educational service providers. Extensive research supports that voucher programs have harmful impacts on funding for public education, but provides little evidence that these programs lead to improvements in student achievement and success. A recent article, featuring comment from WVCBP policy outreach director Seth DiStefano, provides further details on the consequences of the Hope Scholarship for West Virginia public schools. Excerpt below:
There are more concerns that schools closing and consolidations in West Virginia aren’t over yet.
The issue is likely going to be front and center when the legislature meets in February. A lot of people are putting the blame on one program in particular.
So far this year in West Virginia, school boards have voted to close or consolidate eight schools, and Nicholas County just increased that total to 11 on Monday night. But the state superintendent of schools says that number could rise to 26.
The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy is blaming the introduction of Hope Scholarships, where families can reclaim education tax dollars and pay for private education. While conservatives favor choice, critics say the scholarships have already drained away an estimated $50 million from public schools.
“Pulling public dollars out of the public school system and sending them to private schools or other educational alternatives. So, very concerning what you are seeing now, but it’s important to know, Mark, that if the legislature does not act to reign this in, it’s going to get a lot worse,” said Seth DiStefano, from the WV Center on Budget & Policy.
Critics say the legislature and Governor-elect Patrick Morrisey must address the funding shortfall when the legislative session begins in February. But Morrisey and the Republican supermajority are strongly in favor of keeping the Hope Scholarships.
Read the full article.
The latest financial trends indicate that West Virginia lawmakers will face difficult spending decisions next year given the expectation of a tight budget due to revenue decline compared to last fiscal year. This decline is in large part due to the personal income tax cuts that have been passed in recent years. A recent article, including comment from WVCBP executive director Kelly Allen, provides further details. Excerpt below:
Heading toward an incoming administration and a newly-seated legislature, West Virginia’s state revenue is just above water.
The latest state revenue figures show collections are just about $5 million ahead of projection. That is the margin for the $2.1 billion in general revenue that the state has collected for the fiscal year that started in July, and it’s just a sliver of the revenue estimate of $5.26 billion for the full fiscal year.
The current financial trend could give state officials a slim margin for any additional spending after Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, takes office Jan. 13 and after the Legislature gavels into regular session later than usual next year, Feb. 12.
Those officeholders could face some financial pressures from the jump. State workers, particularly educators, have been vocal already about rising costs of health insurance. In recent years, officials have held those rising insurance costs at bay or provided a financial cushion through pay raises. The average 5% pay raises approved earlier this year amounted to about $123 million altogether.
Morrisey, as he prepares to take office, has focused most of his comments about finances in terms of seeking “efficiencies.” “I want to make sure taxpayers get the value of every dollar that is spent,” he said last month while describing efforts toward “repurposing and resizing government.”
One way or another, the belt is tightening.
This time last year, the state’s revenue report just for the month of November, 2023, showed that collections exceeded estimates by $44 million. After five months of the last fiscal year, collections exceeded estimates by $286.2 million.
The state report released for this past November showed that revenues exceeded estimates by $18 million — a bounce-back from prior months that had been flat or down but low compared to the prior year’s incoming cash.
In large part, lower revenue was realistic after a series of personal income tax cuts. State officials agreed to put a 21.25% income tax cut into effect, and more tax cuts are impending.
Another 4% tax cut will kick in starting in January because the state hit an economic trigger. Just weeks ago, officials agreed to a 2% cut on top of all that.
The state faces additional spending commitments in coming months, like the continued rollout of the Third Grade Success Act and estimated additional costs for more Hope Scholarship enrollment. Expansion of the Hope Scholarship in 2026-27 for all eligible non-public school students could result in an additional state expenditure of $150 million to $200 million.
The flat pace of state collections is cause for concern in the face of the state’s many financial needs, said Kelly Allen, executive director of the left-leaning West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy think tank.
“It’s concerning to see state revenue collections five percent (or $113 million) below where they were at this point last year even before additional tax cuts begin impacting collections in January,” Allen said.
“State lawmakers are facing a myriad of needs in 2025 due to years of budget austerity including PEIA, public school funding needs, and a child care cliff, but with far fewer resources to address them due to tax cuts that were too deep, too fast.”
Read the full article.
West Virginia is experiencing an ongoing child care crisis, with care being unaffordable or otherwise inaccessible to families who need it in order for both parents to have the ability to work. Providers, families, and advocates have long demanded that this crisis be addressed, but the state has not meaningfully done so. As a result, more child care centers are expected to close in 2025. A recent article, including research from the WVCBP, provides further details. Excerpt below:
West Virginia child care advocates said they are bracing for more center closures in the new year.
There are more than 60,000 children in the state with both parents in the workforce, and only around 39,000 licensed center slots available, according to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
Kristy Ritz, executive director of the West Virginia Association for Young Children, said parents are running out of options.
“Our worry is that children are sometimes being placed in unsafe situations because they can’t afford registered or licensed child care programs,” Ritz explained. “They may be using the best they can find.”
Local Head Start programs can help fill gaps in child care. According to the Center for American Progress, the Trump administration has proposed cutting the early-childhood education initiative.
Anna Powell, senior research and policy associate at the Center for the Study of Childcare Employment at the University of California-Berkeley, said people who work with very young children are often paid significantly less than teachers of older kids.
“As a result, while about 13.1% of early care and education professionals are living below the federal poverty line, only 2.3% of elementary and middle school teachers are,” Powell outlined.
The average yearly salary for Mountain State child care workers is 29% below preschool teachers and less than half of kindergarten teachers. Ritz stressed she supports state policies aiming to keep existing centers afloat, rather than incentivizing businesses to open on-site ones.
“We have we’ve talked to people. Businesses, they don’t really want to open child care programs,” Ritz reported. “It makes more sense for them to help with the existing programs so that they can stay open.”
According to the Early Childhood Workforce Index, nationwide, nearly half of child care workers’ families survive on public assistance such as SNAP and Medicaid.
Read the full article.
The WV Criminal Law Reform Coalition is excited to invite you to their 2025 annual convening! The coalition is made up of organizations and people directly impacted who are working to reduce our reliance on incarceration and law enforcement in West Virginia. We work at the community and state levels to influence and enact policy that will break the school-to-prison pipeline, end the overpolicing of communities of color, stop the predatory practice of cash bail, confront the criminalization of poverty, and more.
Led by those with lived experience, this one-of-a-kind, in-person conference will be a shared space to connect and create winning criminal law reforms in West Virginia. The convening will take place January 13-15, 2025 at the John XXIII Retreat Center in Charleston.
You can register for the event here and learn more on the event landing page here.
Join the WVCBP for our second annual Budget and Bites event!
This convening will be held at the WV School Service Personnel Association Convention Center on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. Tickets include appetizers and drinks, available from 4:00-6:30 pm. Please note, registration is required. You can find event registration here.
The program begins at 5:00 with opening remarks by Kelly Allen, WVCBP’s executive director. Following, senior policy analyst, Sean O’Leary, will give a brief analysis of the Governor’s 2026 budget. You’ll also hear from other members of the WVCBP team and coalition partners about the budget impact on West Virginians.
Stay to mix and mingle, get information about upcoming budget priorities, and learn more about the Center and our team. Come and stay or drop in for short conversation in a laid-back pub atmosphere.
To become an event sponsor, email event coordinator, Krysta Rexrode Wolfe, or fill out the sponsorship form here.
The Black Voter Impact Initiative and Black by God, the founders of West Virginia’s Black Policy Day, are excited to invite you to their webinar series focused on specific aspects of the Black Policy Agenda. This is an excellent opportunity to deepen your knowledge and engage with experts across various issue areas ahead of the 2025 West Virginia legislative session.
You can register for the webinar series here.
You can share what you would like to see prioritized in the Black Policy Agenda by filling out this survey.
Mark your calendars for Black Policy Day 2025, which will take place on March 10, 2025. You can become a Black Policy Day sponsor here. Please see the yellow flyer below for further details.
