Bryant v. Department of Social & Health Services

111 Wash. App. 180
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 15, 2002
DocketNos. 48537-7-I; 48538-5-I; 48539-3-I
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 111 Wash. App. 180 (Bryant v. Department of Social & Health Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bryant v. Department of Social & Health Services, 111 Wash. App. 180 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

Per Curiam

In these consolidated appeals, Marcia Bryant challenges an order appointing dependency guardians for three of her children. She contends several of the court’s findings are not supported by the evidence. The State contends the appeal should be dismissed, arguing that the order is not appealable and does not warrant discretionary review. We hold that the order is appealable as a matter of right. We conclude, however, that the challenged findings are supported by substantial evidence. Accordingly, we affirm.

[182]*182FACTS

Marcia Bryant is the mother of seven children. This appeal involves her seven-year-old twins, J.W. and J.W., and four-year-old A.B.

With the exception of the twins, all of Bryant’s children have different fathers. Several of these men verbally and/or physically abused Bryant and the children. The twins’ father was addicted to crack cocaine. He beat and raped Bryant on a weekly basis, sometimes in front of the children. A.B.’s father had problems with alcohol and was mentally and verbally abusive to Bryant and her oldest child, S.

In 1992, Bryant self-reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) that she “spanked” S. and gave him a swollen eye. As a result of that contact, Bryant participated in a parenting class and a Homebuilders program. She and S. also received counseling related to incidents involving S. sexually acting out.

In August 1998, five of Bryant’s children, including the twins and A.B., resided with her. Bryant worked at night and left 10-year-old S. in charge of the children. In September 1998, police investigating 911 hang-up calls found Bryant’s children alone in the house. There were dog feces and urine on the floor. Bryant admitted to an investigating officer that she had hit S. The children were placed in protective custody.

In January 1999, the parties entered an agreed order of dependency for all five children. In addition to the facts surrounding the children’s placement in protective custody, the order recited that Bryant had reported a history of mental illness, had been hospitalized following suicide attempts, and was opposed to taking her prescribed medications. The order stated that there had been “10 CPS referrals” and that the family had been offered extensive services.

As of May 1999, Bryant had received family preservation services, drug and alcohol treatment, individual counseling, [183]*183parenting classes, anger management, home support services, psychiatric and psychological evaluations, and visitation with her children.

In March 2000, following a permanency planning hearing, the court found that Bryant’s counseling and substance abuse treatment had not been effective. Six months later, the court found that while Bryant had complied with a number of court ordered services, she had not complied with court ordered mental health counseling.

The Department of Social and Health Services filed dependency guardian petitions on behalf of the twins and A.B, and trial commenced in February 2001. Evidence presented at trial established that Bryant continued to have unsuccessful and unhealthy relationships with men after the children were removed from her home. One of these relationships resulted in pregnancy. Four months later, Bryant met another man and became engaged to him. In August 2000, she moved with her fiancé to Georgia, cutting off personal contact with her children until shortly before trial. The relationship ended in October 2000.

On her way to Georgia, Bryant dropped her daughter K. off with K.’s father in Ohio. Bryant did this despite the fact that the father had been abusive to Bryant and her children, had sexually abused S., and had gang raped Bryant with four other men.

Dr. Richard Borton testified that he conducted two evaluations of Bryant in April 1999 and March 2000. He diagnosed her as having a personality disorder with antisocial and borderline characteristics. People with such disorders typically refuse to acknowledge their problems and resist getting treatment. At the time of the 1999 evaluation, Dr. Borton “wasn’t sure” whether Bryant would be able to benefit from services. After the 2000 evaluation, however, he thought significant improvement was unlikely. He noted that Bryant had stopped going to counseling for four months and had failed to show up for roughly half of her scheduled visitations. She showed no concern over these missed appointments or their affect on the children. In [184]*184addition, the results of her most recent psychological tests were basically identical to earlier results, indicating little if any improvement in her personality disorder. Dr. Borton did see improvement in several areas. But ultimately, he felt that the missed visitation and counseling portended poorly for Bryant’s prospects and that the time frame for significant improvement was “so long that it. . . overwhelms the children’s best interest.”

The children’s Court Appointed Special Advocate, Joan Holliday, testified that Bryant typically did not call to cancel the visits she missed. When Bryant missed visits, Holliday sometimes received calls from teachers reporting that the children were acting out. In the visits Holliday observed, Bryant “was very indifferent to the children, little eye contact, very little touching.” She felt Bryant “had not internalized any of the service information” and was not capable of caring for the children’s financial, social, and emotional needs.

Carl Finch, a caseworker with the Department of Child and Family Services, described the various services Bryant received. They included one-on-one counseling for life issues, as well as in-home counseling for family and parenting issues. He testified that all services recommended in Bryant’s psychological evaluations were offered or provided. The service providers consistently reported that Bryant was unable to apply what she had learned to her life and failed to “put the children’s needs or safety first.” Finch felt there was little likelihood that conditions could be remedied so that the children could be returned to Bryant in the near future.

The trial court found the statutory prerequisites for a dependency guardianship had been proven. In its findings, the court emphasized that Bryant’s behavior before and during the dependency supported Dr. Borton’s conclusion that continued services were not likely to produce a significant change in the foreseeable future. The court found that a guardianship, rather than a termination of parental rights, was in the children’s best interest.

[185]*185DECISION

I

The Department contends Bryant’s appeal must be dismissed because the order is not appealable and does not warrant discretionary review. We conclude the order is appealable as a matter of right.

RAP 2.2 lists the decisions from which an appeal may be taken as a matter of right. The rule allows appeals from a “disposition decision following a finding of dependency”1 and a decision terminating parental rights2 but does not mention decisions creating dependency guardianships. Normally, the failure “to mention a particular proceeding in RAP 2.2(a) indicates [the Supreme Court’s] intent that the matter be reviewable solely under the discretionary review guidelines of RAP 2.3.”3

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
111 Wash. App. 180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bryant-v-department-of-social-health-services-washctapp-2002.