West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, ex rel. Brenda Wright, Social Service Worker, Plaintiff…

Summary

The court affirmed termination of the parental rights of three adults after an infant died from violently inflicted injuries while in their home and none of them identified the perpetrator or provided an explanation consistent with the medical evidence. It held that a parent may be found to have knowingly allowed abuse without being present when the injury occurred, and that the failure to identify the abuser can demonstrate that the abuse cannot reasonably be corrected. The court also held that conditioning an improvement period on cooperation with law enforcement did not make the improvement period meaningless.