Continued - BARBARA'S LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Children's issues have always been quite high on Barbara Evans Fleischauer's priority list. She has been a champion for expansion of child care and early childhood education, helping to defeat legislation that would have terminated pre-K programs in the state of West Virginia. Serving on the Juvenile Task Force for eight years, Barbara Fleischauer served as Co-Chair for several years. In that capacity, she pressed Judges and the Department of Health and Human Resources to justify (and hopefully change)
decisions that result in out-of-state placement of juveniles, which costs the state millions yearly and removes local family and community supports for young children. Legislatively, the Juvenile Task Force has tried to increase pressure for in-state placement by stiffening procedural requirements and expanding the role of multi-disciplinary committees. Barbara Evans Fleischauer monitored the state's progress on this issue at monthly interim committee hearings, by insisting on strict documentation and accounting of out of state placements. Also under her leadership, the Task Force studied juvenile suicide, juvenile crime, bullying and gave greater statutory recognition to Child Advocacy Centers and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).
In a state with the highest number of citizens who die without any of their natural teeth, one of her top achievements in 2002 was passage of an Oral Health Bill, which required the Department of Health and Human Resources to set up a separate office of oral health to plan strategy to turn those numbers around. There is hope that there can be real change on this issue now that most children are eligible for CHIP coverage for dental cleanings and examinations.