Barboursville School to reopen as a residential treatment facility for children, Morrisey announces

The former Barboursville School will reopen next year as a residential treatment facility, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Thursday. The state has entered a five-year lease with Youth Health Associates to operate the school. The facility plans to start accepting children in early 2027. 

“Bringing our children home has been one of my highest priorities since taking office,” Morrisey said in a news release. “For too long, our kids were sent hundreds or even thousands of miles away to receive the care they need. Reopening Barboursville is an important step toward changing that, and our goal is to replicate this approach across West Virginia so we can bring all our children home.”

The Cabell County facility closed earlier this year, decreasing the number of beds the state has available for children experiencing severe mental health crises. 

Youth Health Associates has hired a facility director and is recruiting additional staff, the governor’s office said. When it’s fully operational, the school will accommodate up to 36 children and employ 50 to 60 people. Many of the beds are projected to be filled by the end of March.

Morrisey said the Barboursville facility will be a model for similar facilities throughout the state, part of his A Home for Every Child initiative. Additional announcements are expected in the coming weeks and months, Morrisey’s office said. 

Foster care officials have said that West Virginia doesn’t have enough in-state treatment options for children in need of specialized mental health or behavioral care, leading the state to send hundreds of children out-of-state for help. It has also led to some children living in hotel rooms while in the state’s care.

As of early November, the number of West Virginia children receiving residential treatment outside the state was down from 400 earlier this year to 372 in early November, the governor’s office said.  

Morrisey also announced Thursday the state will end its longstanding practice of applying Social Security survivor benefits belonging to children in foster care toward the state’s foster care costs beginning Jan. 1, 2027. Instead, those funds will be preserved for the children who receive them to provide them a financial foundation as they transition into adulthood, the governor’s office said.

About 42 West Virginia children in foster care receive survivor benefits totaling about $402,700 annually.

“When a child loses a parent, the benefits they receive should help provide a foundation for their future,” Morrisey said in the news release. “We’re ending a longstanding practice and making sure those funds remain available to the children who need them. It’s another important step toward giving West Virginia’s children the support and opportunities they deserve.”