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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was pressed Friday about what changes need to be made in light of this week’s findings related to the state’s interaction leading up to the death of Kyneddi Miller, a 14-year-old who deputies say died from neglect in Boone County.

State leaders released investigative findings Thursday, saying any prior contact the state had Miller involved unfounded allegations or concerns that did not rise to the level of neglect as set forth in state law, adding that education officials also did not receive an academic assessment required from homeschool students in West Virginia.

Leaders also announced Thursday changes already in place or in the works, but Justice did not attend that press briefing.

So Friday, WSAZ NewsChannel 3′s Curtis Johnson asked Justice what else needs to change and if he’s going to see it through.

“Governor, are you committed to pursuing legislative and/or policy changes related to those findings before you leave office?” he asked Justice. “I just wanted to know what kind of changes were you pursuing, if you’re committed, and will those involve the Legislature?”

“Curtis, I’m going to run through the finish line,” he responded. “You know me well enough to know, I’m not done. I want to make things better until the very last day that I’m your governor, and then I’ll try to make everything better in every way that I can the last days or all the last days of my life.”

Since Miller’s death, WSAZ has been asking what did the state know about Kyneddi before she died.

WSAZ Investigates | Deadly Details Denied

The governor and Department of Human Services Secretary Cynthia Persily initially said Child Protective Services had no previous knowledge of Kyneddi Miller.

“You’re saying there was no telephone calls about this kid? There was no referrals about this kid? There was no investigations about this kid? There was nothing with this kids name on it in your agency?” Johnson asked in May.

“That’s correct,” Persily replied.

But an anonymous letter from a whistleblower, received only by WSAZ just two days after that interview, tells a much different story. It details two referrals to CPS involving Kyneddi -- one in 2009 and another in 2017. The letter notes her name was listed in the system both times.

On that same day, West Virginia State Police released a call log and audio in response to a Freedom of Information Act request WSAZ submitted. The trooper can be heard talking with a dispatcher after a welfare check on the teen in March 2023.

“On that CAD call reference, that welfare check, I just made that CPS referral if you can just put it in the notes on it,” the radio traffic states.

Then Thursday, after weeks of a changing story, the administration shed new light on that whistleblower letter and State Police contact, and how the state can better handle cases of mental health concerns for children going forward.

The Governor’s Chief of Staff, Brian Abraham, confirmed aspects of the whistleblower letter, saying both cases did include Kyneddi’s name, but centered on allegations that involved other people and were unfounded.

Abraham also confirmed a state police trooper did go directly from that welfare check on Kyneddi to the local CPS office, saying the trooper told a worker in the office of his concern for Kyneddi’s mental health, saying she had a fear of COVID and germs and did not want to be around people.

But Abraham said those concerns alone would not meet the definition of abuse or neglect.

State leaders also used Thursday to announce changes, such as a requirement for all CPS referrals to be taken through the state’s hotline -- not in person.

Persily also spoke of her department’s work on a plan to widen the net for calls that come into the hotline.

“We are developing and we have contracted with a company to help build a differentiated response system,” she said Thursday. “What that will allow is that obviously if the referral meets the criteria set out in law for abuse or neglect, there will be an investigation as we currently do.

“If it clearly does not meet the criteria, it will be screened out, but there is this middle area and I will tell you that most often that’s related to poverty, and we do not equate poverty with abuse and neglect. But there is this middle area, and so what we will undertake is the referral of those cases to additional support.”

Justice also touched on changes already in place in his response to Johnson on Friday, but kept the door open for more change.

“The agencies are in charge of changes in a lot of cases, but absolutely, we are in discussion with the Legislature, and we’ll be in discussion with the Legislature and if need be, you know, if need be just for this, I would call, I would call a special session just for this. I mean, just because, this is not fair. I mean this is so monumental that it’s off the charts, " he said. “So I want to make things better, but we’ve got to work with some people and everything, you know, and try to get some type of format on what we’re going to do.”

Another area of change deals with improving regulations in the homeschooling system.

Senate President Craig Blair says he’s encouraging members of the House of Delegates to sit down with them as they work towards that end.

As for that expanded referral system, WSAZ has asked has asked Persily how that new system will work. She says they are working on the mechanics of it now.

Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest.