C.J.M. v. Cabinet for Health & Family Services

389 S.W.3d 155, 2012 WL 6633260
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedDecember 21, 2012
DocketNos. 2012-CA-000590-ME, 2012-CA-000591-ME
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 389 S.W.3d 155 (C.J.M. v. Cabinet for Health & Family Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
C.J.M. v. Cabinet for Health & Family Services, 389 S.W.3d 155, 2012 WL 6633260 (Ky. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

CLAYTON, Judge:

C.J.M. (“the mother”) and C.F.A. (“the father”) appeal in separate cases from the Garrard Circuit Court’s order and judgment terminating their parental rights. After a careful review, we affirm.

On June 1, 2011, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services of the Commonwealth of Kentucky (hereinafter “the Cabinet”) [157]*157filed a petition for involuntary termination of the parental rights of the mother and the father, to C.K.A. (“the child”), who was born on May 10, 2010. Although the parents lived together, they were not married.

The case commenced shortly after the birth of the child, when the Cabinet received a report alleging that the child tested positive for marijuana at birth. Based on this report, an investigative worker with the Cabinet conducted a home visit at the parents’ residence on May 19, 2010. At the residence, the worker and a colleague immediately saw as they walked up to the house a large amount of beer cans and beer cases — approximately five (5) feet tall and four (4) feet wide at the base — under the porch. While there, the Cabinet workers also determined that the child did not have a crib or bassinet and was sleeping on a couch.

The mother, who was at home, admitted that she used marijuana during and prior to the pregnancy. She also informed the Cabinet workers that she had two other children from a different relationship who were placed with their father in Ohio. The mother disclosed that she had not seen them in quite some time.

The father, who was also present, however, objected strenuously to taking a drug test, admitted that he smoked marijuana regularly, and stated that he was not going to stop. During his incantations, the Cabinet workers became concerned about their safety. Still, they advised the parents that they would be filing a petition in court but would not seek the child’s removal if the parents agreed to a prevention plan. The mother agreed to follow a prevention plan, but the father would not. The mother’s prevention plan required that she undergo a drug test that day, not leave the child alone with the father, and go to the Cabinet’s office later in the day.

On that same day, since the Cabinet workers believed that the child’s safety was jeopardized both because of the father’s erratic behavior and also because they believed that he might be driving with the child while under the influence, they arranged for law enforcement to be at their office when the couple arrived. Upon the mother’s arrival, she was arrested on an outstanding warrant for an unrelated charge. An attempt was made to locate a relative to care for the child but no one could be found. Thus, the child, pursuant to an emergency custody order, entered foster care.

A temporary removal hearing was held on May 21, 2010, in the family court division of Garrard Circuit Court. At the hearing, the court ordered that the child remain in the custody of the Cabinet. The mother was present at the hearing, but the father was not. The mother stipulated to the allegations in the petition.

A short time later, the Cabinet determined that B.A., the father’s aunt (“aunt”), was an appropriate relative to care for the child, and she was given temporary custody of the child. The aunt cared for the child for approximately a month but, ultimately, was unable to care for the child because of difficulties with the parents who lived on the same property as the aunt. The child was placed with a foster family with whom she still resided at the time of the trial.

An adjudication hearing was held on August 5, 2010. At this hearing, the family court found that the father, based on previous admissions, neglected the child. The mother had stipulated to neglect. The family court entered a disposition order, which adopted the Cabinet’s case plan.

As a result of the proceedings in family court, both parents and the child were appointed counsel. The parents, however, fired their appointed counsel during the [158]*158dependency proceedings. (Counsel was reappointed for the termination action.) Next, both parents, pro se, filed civil rights actions in both Garrard Family Court and United States District Court against various Cabinet employees. Eventually, all the civil actions were dismissed.

During the dependency action, the Cabinet prepared several case plans for the family. At the first case planning meeting in May 2010, the mother was the only parent who attended. Neither parent attended the next three case planning meetings despite being provided notice either verbally or by certified mail. The case plans were basically the same and required the following actions by the parents: attend parenting classes, submit to random drug screens, do not use illegal drugs or abuse alcohol, complete mental health and substance abuse assessments, attend court and comply with court orders, attend visitation with the child, and cooperate with scheduled home visits. Further, the mother and the father were each ordered to pay $60 per month in child support.

Next, during a routine home visit in September 2010, a Cabinet worker stated that she and another worker were confronted and threatened by the father. He told them not to come back until the parents’ aforementioned federal litigation was resolved. Further, he informed them that neither he nor the mother was going to work the case plan until the federal case was finished. The mother, who was present, did not dispute his statements. The father, in either December 2010 or January 2011, authored and submitted his own case plan. While the case plan was reviewed by the Cabinet, it did not respond nor accept it.

In fact, over the course of the case, the father became increasingly hostile. On that same day in September 2010, the family court observed that the father had requested to waive further appearances in court and upon his request, the court, pursuant to Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 610.127, waived reasonable efforts to reunite him with the child.

In October 2010, without notifying the Cabinet, the mother went to a domestic violence shelter. When the Cabinet spoke with her, she claimed that she was the victim of domestic violence. While at the shelter, the Cabinet made arrangements for the child to visit her mother at the shelter, but the Cabinet claims that the mother left the shelter before the visit could take place. On the other hand, the mother maintains that the visitation was canceled before she left the shelter. She stayed at the shelter for about a month.

Then, in early February 2011, the father was arrested and charged with terroristic threatening against a Cabinet worker and her supervisor. As noted above, his behavior toward Cabinet workers continued to become increasingly antagonistic. He pled guilty to these charges and was ordered to have no contact with the worker or her supervisor. The no contact orders were still in effect at the time of the termination trial. Moreover, the record indicates that both parents have other numerous criminal convictions in Kentucky.

On April 1, 2011, as required by KRS 610.125, the family court held the annual permanency planning hearing. After consideration of the parents’ progress on their case plans, the family court changed the goal for the child from reunification to adoption. Hence, on June 1, 2011, the Cabinet filed a petition for involuntary termination of the parental rights.

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Bluebook (online)
389 S.W.3d 155, 2012 WL 6633260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cjm-v-cabinet-for-health-family-services-kyctapp-2012.