Settle believes that the most important policy initiatives West Virginia needs to focus on are addressing behavioral health and substance use disorder care needs .
“ These issues go hand in hand with the foster care crisis ,” says Settle . “ So many individuals grew up in a home where using drugs was the norm and history often repeats itself with the children growing up to become drug dependent also . We must intervene and break these cycles early to end years of family turmoil tied to drug use .”
Amjad echoed Settle ’ s sentiments about the mental health crisis and need for preventive care at a younger age .
“ West Virginia children have been mentally and physically impacted due to the loss of social interaction and disruption in education during the pandemic ,” Amjad says . “ Mental health is key to being able to adjust socially and enjoy life . Focusing on preventive holistic health care at a young age is extremely important . This includes physical health , nutrition and mental and environmental health . Working on policies to improve prevention will have long-lasting effects .”
To help provide better care for West Virginia , the DHHR promotes mental health resources , including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline , HELP4WV and its Children ’ s Crisis Referral Line and the Kids Thrive Collaborative , for behavioral health resources for children and families .
The cascading ripple effects of the pandemic have been widespread and deeply felt by almost everybody . While the public has felt the implications of the 8-9 % rise in inflation sparked by the economic downturn of the pandemic , hospitals are seeing significantly higher inflation rates . General supplies and staffing costs have increased by approximately 20 % and pharmaceutical costs have risen by as much as 40 %.
West Virginia Health Right — a free and charitable clinic providing more than 42,000 medically underserved , uninsured and underinsured adults in West Virginia with free comprehensive care — has seen the long-lasting hardships of the pandemic fall on the backs of its patients .
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