About Us

Disability Rights of West Virginia is the federally mandated protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities in West Virginia. DRWV is a private, nonprofit agency. Services are confidential and free of charge.

Fairness, West Virginia is a statewide civil rights advocacy organization dedicated to the fair and equal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender+ West Virginians. Their mission is to ensure LGBT+ people can be open, honest and safe at home, school, work, and in the community.

Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia (PCA-WV) works to give children good beginnings by strengthening families and communities. This is done by implementing innovative strategies in the areas of: effective programs, public engagement, and sound public policy.

Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia focuses on efforts in building awareness, providing education, and inspiring hope in everyone involved in the effort to keep children free from abuse and neglect.

West Virginia 21st Century Community Learning Centers. This program supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly those who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools. The program helps students meet state and local student standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math; offers students a broad array of enrichment activities that can complement their regular academic programs. Additionally, a family engagement program goal supports participating families and offers literacy and other educational services to the families.

West Virginia Center for Children’s Justice Handle with Care Program works to prevent children’s exposure to trauma and violence, mitigate negative affects experienced by children’s exposure to trauma, and to increase knowledge and awareness of this issue. The program offers an online training that will prepare adults to recognize and respond appropriately and legally when they encounter suspected cases of child maltreatment. Anyone who works with or supports children in any way has the ethical responsibility and the legal obligation to act when they suspect a child is being abused or neglected.

West Virginia Child Advocacy Network brings together passionate individuals through 21 child advocacy centers to ensure that the children of West Virginia have access to high-quality, evidence-based treatment services that put their wellbeing at the heart of abuse investigations.

A child advocacy center (CAC) is a safe, child-friendly facility where child protection, criminal justice, and child treatment professionals work together to investigate abuse, hold offenders accountable, and help children heal. CACs help, guide, and protect child victims of abuse and their families.

West Virginia Department of Education provides support and accountability for safe and supportive schools. They provide resources for staff and student education on policies, body safety and sexual abuse prevention.

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources provides numerous services to individuals and families in WV including, Adolescent Health Initiative, Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, Birth to Three, Help Me Grow, financial support, and more. WVDHHR also runs the statewide Abuse and Neglect Hotline for reporting to Child and Adult Protective Services. The  WV Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline is 1-800-352-6513.

Prevention First is a proactive, comprehensive stance to promote substance abuse prevention throughout West Virginia. This approach provides a clear, consistent, strong message to community members, lawmakers, and other key stakeholders that “prevention” is an integral part of the continuum of care and that prevention is a critical component of any thriving community. Visit the site to find your local lead organization.

West Virginia Developmental Disabilities Council is an organization, supported by WVDHHR, that provides training and technical assistance to assure that WV citizens with developmental disabilities receive the services, support, and other forms of assistance they need to exercise self-determination and achieve independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion in the community.

West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission develops and oversees a public policy agenda for West Virginia’s four-year colleges and universities and is a member of the WV Intercollegiate Council Against Sexual Violence (ICC).

The WV Intercollegiate Council Against Sexual Violence is a partnership comprised of WV colleges, universities, and rape crisis centers.

West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network (WVSAN) is one of fifty afterschool networks across the country funded in part by the C.S. Mott Foundation. The WVSAN works to sustain a statewide partnership to raise awareness of:

• the importance and accessibility of high-quality afterschool and summer learning programs for all school age children
• share criteria of effective programs and best practices among providers and the public, and
• promote the sustainability of such programs throughout the state.

WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities leads efforts to provide better services to West Virginians with disabilities through training, research and services. The CED works to improve the lives of West Virginians with disabilities by supporting more diverse, inclusive communities.