Federal judge denies West Virginia request to pause child welfare lawsuit 

A sweeping lawsuit over the state of West Virginia’s overburdened child welfare system can move forward, a federal judge ruled Thursday. 

U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin denied a request by Attorney General J.B. McCuskey for a stay in the case as the state asked the United States Supreme Court to weigh in. If the judge had granted the stay, it would have delayed a potential trial in the case, which was first filed in 2019.

“As already observed, this case began seven years ago and has been mired with delay. And while Defendants are certainly entitled to seek further review of important constitutional questions, they cannot continue to stall this litigation,” the judge wrote in the 13-page order. “Defendants’ speculation about the time necessary to review the petition and the likelihood of the Court granting the petition is guess-work at best and insufficient to justify a stay.”

The class-action lawsuit by foster children in the state sought to address pervasive issues, including a shortage of Child Protective Services workers and safe homes for children in and out of state. Children were left to linger in the system for years with no plans for permanent homes or ending up in abusive group homes, the lawsuit said. 

The plaintiffs are represented by A Better Childhood and Shaffer & Shaffer. With the stay denied, the case will continue and head towards a bench trial and final judgment in March 2027, according to the order.

“We are eager for the chance to prove that children’s basic, fundamental rights continue to be violated by the rampant and ongoing systemic problems in the state’s foster care system,” Marcia Lowry, executive director of A Better Childhood, said in a statement Thursday. “The district judge has recognized that a new standard needs to be applied, and the decision from the Appellate court has firmly made clear that federal courts have the mandate to act when those violations are proven.”

“The Court’s decision today sends a clear message to the Defendants that there will be no more delay while the children of West Virginia continue to suffer at the hands of the State,” Richard Walters, a partner with Shaffer & Shaffer, PLLC, said in a statement. “Judge Goodwin has also put the Defendants on notice that when the State takes a child into its custody that it has an affirmative duty to protect that child and ‘keep him reasonably safe from serious harm.’”

The state’s foster care system currently has 5,890 children. A four-month-old baby in foster care died last month in Mingo County, prompting renewed concerns about the vetting of child homes and high CPS caseloads. ”

In June, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a decision made last year by Goodwin dismissing the lawsuit meant to improve West Virginia’s long-troubled foster care system. 

When Goodwin dismissed the suit in 2025, he didn’t refute the lawsuit’s allegations against the state but said, “This court cannot take over the foster care system of West Virginia.” Goodwin wrote, “The blame squarely lies with the West Virginia state government.”

The appeals court ruled in June that Goodwin erred in ruling that federal courts did not have power to grant relief for systemic issues in foster care. 

The Attorney General’s office wants the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the role of courts in imposing systemic reform of the foster care system because it would amount “to complete federal control of the state foster care system,” according to their filing on June 26. The attorneys also have questions about the class-action certification, which was granted to the children suing the state in 2023.

The state attorneys also noted that state officials and staff would “need to devote substantial time, attention, and financial resources to the litigation rather than the important day-to-day management and operations of the child welfare system” should the stay in the case not be granted. 

Kallie Moore, a spokeswoman for McCuskey’s office, said Thursday that at this point, the office is “reviewing the order and evaluating for next steps.”