West Virginia’s workforce and social services operate through a fragmented system of multiple agencies and caseworkers, forcing residents to navigate bureaucratic silos while the state faces a 16.7% poverty rate, below-average household income, and declining labor force participation rates that significantly trail national benchmarks.
The One Door to Opportunity report proposes consolidating these services into a single, integrated department, following Utah’s proven model, which achieved a 26% decrease in SNAP participation over 30 years.
With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act increasing state administrative costs and imposing error rate penalties, West Virginia’s current 9.43% SNAP error rate creates financial liability that integrated operations can address through streamlined eligibility processes, coordinated case management, and outcome-focused administration that prioritizes pathways to self-sufficiency over bureaucratic compliance.