Our story, our mission, our impact
Discover the heart behind F.O.C.U.S. and our commitment to empowering families in West Virginia. Learn about our unique approach, our dedication to healing, and the positive change we're striving to create.
Why F.O.C.U.S. WV began
West Virginia (WV) stands at a critical intersection of public health crisis and child welfare emergency. The state records a foster care entry rate 2.5 times the national average, an opioid overdose mortality rate that leads the nation, and deeply entrenched cycles of intergenerational poverty and trauma that continue to separate children from their parents. Too often, families are not offered a meaningful, therapeutic pathway to healing and reunification. The system, as currently constituted, too frequently warehouses families in crisis rather than healing them. This dire situation inspired the founding of F.O.C.U.S. WV.
Our unique approach to family support
Our Family Preservation and Reunification Program responds to WV's child welfare crisis with an integrated, evidence-based, two-component model designed to keep families together whenever safe to do so, and to accelerate safe reunification when separation has occurred. We believe in genuine therapeutic partnership, focusing on healing and empowerment rather than surveillance.
Measuring success and fostering resilience
West Virginia's families are not broken — they are under-resourced, over-traumatized, and underserved by systems that were designed to monitor rather than heal. F.O.C.U.S. exists to change that equation. Our Family Preservation and Reunification Program offers a model that is clinically rigorous, financially responsible, deeply compassionate, and urgently needed in every corner of this state.
"We support FOCUS WV's approach to reunification through therapeutic, family centered care. When reunification is possible and safe, helping parents and children heal together and develop healthier ways of communicating, coping, addressing challenges can give families the tools they need to succeed beyond the immediate reunification process. We believe this approach can help reduce the likelihood of families re-entering the child welfare system by addressing underlying challenges and strengthening the family as a whole. Focus WV's emphasis on trauma-informed treatment, therapeutic parenting, addiction recovery, and ongoing support provides an important opportunity for families to build lasting stability."
~ Amber Fancher, Executive Director of Casa in Marion County
A F.O.C.U.S. Community Partner