CHARLESTON, W.Va. –The Kanawha County Commission made the decision at their meeting on Thursday to not approve the funding requests for Camp Virgil Tate.

Ben Salango

The camp’s Treasurer Oscar Hutchinson wanted the board to approve the flat budget of $60,000 dollars for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which is what they have approved for the past couple of years.

However, the commission had some concerns when it came to the budget and how they were using the money.

In recent weeks, it has come out that foster kids were being placed at the camps or hotel rooms. However, if the kids were put in hotel rooms they would be kicked out because they were destroying the rooms, so they resorted to placing them at the camps. After this came out, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers issued an administrative order, asking the Cabinet Secretary for the WV Department of Human Services Alex Mayer to come before her so he could answer some questions about placing those kids in hotels and 4-H camps.

Commission president Ben Salango was mainly concerned about the liability of having these kids placed at the camps, because while some kids were at the camp in February, the police were called multiple times on the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th,14th,15th, and 17th. On one occasion the police and emergency personnel were called more than once.

Salango also asked Hutchinson if he was aware that the cops were called multiple times to the camp.

Hutchinson said that he wasn’t aware until he was told at Thursday’s meeting by Salango.

He said that they have agreement with the CPS workers that they take care of the kids while they are living at the camp.

“We have no contact of them, we have no supervision of them. They at times will have their own security people blocking off that area of the campus, preventing any intrusion from we or outsiders,” Hutchinson said.

He asked Hutchinson if he had an indemnity agreement, which is compensation for damages or loss or an exemption from liability for damages, with the state. Hutchinson said that the camp did not have any agreement with the state, just with CPS workers.

Salango also asked if the camp’s board was ever notified of the foster children being placed at the camp, because he didn’t see it mentioned anywhere.

“I went back through the board minutes from the past year, and in fact I thought I must have overlooked it because I had two other people do the same, and we could not find a single board minute from the last year where this was discussed,” Salango said.

Hutchinson did say that they knew about the lodging of the foster kids at the camp, it was just never put in the official board minutes.

Lance Wheeler

Commissioner Lance Wheeler also wanted to err on the side of caution when it came to approving the funding requests for the campus because he wasn’t confident, he knew where the money was going. And Commissioner Natalie Tennant suggested that Camp Virgil Tate’s board get together and make an action plan, to show where the money would be used for.

Wheeler said that he would get behind that because he wants to see what the board wants to use the money for because the CPS issue is really concerning.

“I would like to see a little more due diligence in the work that you all provide, not from the 4-H or the Camp Virgil Tate side, but as a board and executive director,” Wheeler said. “That would give me more confidence coming into July that the $60,000 is going to be used to the best and most effective way.”

Hutchinson agreed to getting the board together and coming up with an action plan. Salango told Hutchinson that whenever they have it done, they can bring it back to the commission for approval.

Photo from Camp Virgil Tate’s Facebook