Charleston, West Virginia.  Charleston attorney, Charles R. “Rusty” Webb has filed a class action lawsuit in Kanawha County, West Virginia, on behalf of all children whose child support is collected through the West Virginia Bureau for Child Support Enforcement, a division of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

The lawsuit cites negligence against the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources for failing to renew child support judgments, costing the children whose child support is collected in and through the state of West Virginia hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost child support, which cannot now be collected.  The lawsuit also seeks damages against Policy Studies, Inc. a Colorado Corporation authorized to do business in West Virginia, and which is a subcontractor for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Child Support Enforcement Office in Kanawha and Clay counties.

Attorney Rusty Webb, who has practiced family law for the last twenty years, found a systemic and routine failure by the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement Office to renew judgments, therefore costing the children who rely on the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to collect their child support, hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost support.  Said Webb:  “Missing  the statute of limitations and the failure to renew judgments on behalf of children in West Virginia, is not only negligent but is unconscionable.  The Bureau for Child Support Enforcement was created such that the children of West Virginia could rely on professionals to collect their child support at no cost.  The so-called professionals have failed the children and their parents and guardians who rely on the services of the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement.” 

The Bureau for Child Support Enforcement was created in 1995, ”as a single and separate organizational unit within the state of West Virginia to administer the state plan for child and spousal support.”

Named as Defendants in the lawsuit are Patsy A. Hardy, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and also Susan Perry, recently retired Commissioner of the West Virginia Bureau for Child Support Enforcement.  Also named as a Defendant is Policy Studies, Inc., a Colorado Corporation authorized to do business in West Virginia and which subcontracts the collection of child support for Kanawha and Clay counties.

Charleston attorney, Rusty Webb, has set up a questionnaire on his website, rustywebb.com, where potential Plaintiffs can complete the questionnaire and give him information as to their child’s loss of child support back pay and/or arrearages as a result of the negligence of the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement.  Parents or guardians whose children have lost child support of any amount and do not have access to a computer may also contact Mr. Webb at 1-888-344-WEBB (9322), a statewide toll-free number.  A staff member will be available to take the information over the phone.

Webb went on to say, “It is our hope that the state of West Virginia and Policy Studies, Inc., will quickly accept responsibility for the negligence of their employees and pay to these innocent children the lost child support arrears and back pay that they would have had the opportunity to collect but for the negligence of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement and, in Kanawha and Clay counties, Policy Studies, Inc.”

 For additional information you may contact Charles R. “Rusty” Webb at The Webb Law Firm, PLLC, 108 ½ Capitol Street, Suite 201, Charleston, West Virginia 25301; by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; by telephone 304-344-WEBB (9322); or statewide toll free at 1-888-344-WEBB (9322).