G.C. v. Greene County Juvenile Office

332 S.W.3d 330
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 31, 2011
DocketNo. SD 30632
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 332 S.W.3d 330 (G.C. v. Greene County Juvenile Office) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
G.C. v. Greene County Juvenile Office, 332 S.W.3d 330 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

DON E. BURRELL, Judge.

G.C. (“Father”) appeals the termination of his parental rights to and over his now preschool-aged daughter, K.L.C. (“Child”).1 The judgment entered by the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court (“trial court”) terminated Father’s parental rights on the grounds of neglect and a failure to rectify the conditions that caused Child to come into alternative care (“failure to rectify”).

In three points relied on, Father claims: 1) the trial court’s findings of neglect and failure to rectify were not supported by substantial evidence and were against the weight of the evidence; and 2) the termination of Father’s parental rights was not in Child’s best interests. Finding no merit in Father’s claims, we affirm the portions of the judgment related to Father.2

Factual and Procedural Background

Our recitation of the relevant facts is based upon the evidence as viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court’s decision. See In re M.R.F., 907 S.W.2d 787, 789 (Mo.App. S.D.1995). Child is the fourth child born to Mother and Father (“the parents”), who are married to one another and have resided together for many years. This is not the first time the parents have had their parental rights involuntarily terminated. The trial court took judicial notice of a prior case in which their rights to and over Child’s three older siblings were terminated. That case file was not included in the record on appeal or otherwise deposited with this court. Respondent states in its brief that the prior involuntary termination occurred in 1999, and Father does not dispute this assertion in his reply brief. Father’s brief states that the “other children came into foster care in 1995 due to concerns of Mother’s mental condition and the condition of the home[.] Mother at that time reported thoughts of harming those children, including thoughts of cooking the youngest child in the oven[.]”3 Because the trial court’s findings in regard to Father are intertwined with and based in substantial part on Mother’s continuing struggles with mental illness, many of the relevant facts revolve around her condition.

Child was taken into protective care directly from the hospital a few days after [333]*333her birth in January 2008. Medical records admitted at trial indicated that various members of the hospital’s medical staff were concerned that the parents were not able to properly care for Child. The records indicated that Father could mix formula and provide some care for Child but had trouble recognizing Child’s “stress cues.” They also indicated that Mother used the dirty part of a wipe to clean Child when changing a diaper, wiped Child in the wrong direction, had trouble mixing formula, and could not determine how much formula Child had consumed by looking at the bottle. Before Child was taken into protective custody, an “Intensive In-home Services” (“IIS”) worker was assigned to make home visits in anticipation of Child going home with her parents. The IIS worker’s report stated that while the parents had made some improvements to their home, there was an ongoing problem with cockroaches.

On February 25, 2008, after a juvenile officer had taken Child into protective custody, the trial court conducted an eviden-tiary hearing and found that Child had been neglected by the parents and was thereby properly within the “jurisdiction” of the trial court.4 The trial court then approved a proposed treatment plan for the parents and ordered them to comply with its terms. For the next year-and-a-half, various service providers and Children’s Division employees worked with the parents in an attempt to allow Child to be safely returned to their care and custody. After eventually concluding that such a reunification would not be possible, on September 18, 2009, Respondent filed its petition to terminate parental rights. A trial on that petition was held on April 27 and 28, 2010, and May 17, 2010.

The Termination Trial

Mother’s treating psychiatrist testified that Mother suffered from schizoaffective disorder with a secondary diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder. She also felt that Mother was affected by borderline personality disorder. According to the psychiatrist, Mother scored a “GAF” [general assessment of functioning] level of “48/55.” She then testified that the level for someone “able to work and have ... an ability to function every day would be probably closer to 80, 90.” The psychiatrist had prescribed a number of medications for Mother and anticipated that Mother would need medication and psychiatric services on an on-going basis. And although she was unwilling to express a direct opinion about Mother’s specific ability to parent, Mother’s psychiatrist testified that “[a]t a period of exacerbation of the [schizoaffective] illness reality may not be fully intact, so yes, it would impact ability to parent.” She then testified that obsessive-compulsive disorder “could affect [Mother]’s ability to respond to the immediate needs” of a child.

During the time Child was in alternative care, Mother was also treated by a series of five counselors or psychologists. With the exception of the psychologist treating Mother at the time of trial, Mother had discontinued counseling with each of them. The psychologist treating Mother at the time of trial testified that she had seen Mother four times. In their sessions, Mother “acknowledge^] having a problem [334]*334with anger[,] [] admitted] getting angry during FST[5] meetings and getting angry at her parenting aide, but then [Mother] seem[ed] to feel that her anger [was] justified and at times [she] [did] not feel that it [was] a problem.” The psychologist observed that Mother “gets upset easily and [becomes] fairly defensive easily” but the psychologist did not think that they had reached a point in therapy where Mother could address some of her difficult issues. As a result, the psychologist opined that Mother’s prognosis for anger management was “guarded simply because it doesn’t seem that she fully acknowledges the extent to which her anger causes her a problem.” In addition, the psychologist noted symptoms of paranoia, anxiety and “instability of mood.”

In accordance with the opinion expressed by Mother’s psychiatrist, the psychologist also anticipated that Mother would need counseling on a “long term” basis. The psychologist also noted that Mother did not “fully acknowledge [ ] the reasons [] why [Child] came into care or at least has not verbalized them to me.” In the psychologist’s opinion, Mother’s condition could negatively affect her motivation and ability to make changes in response to services provided to her.

Dr. Mark Bradford, a clinical psychologist, completed psychological evaluations of both parents in February 2008, and those evaluations were admitted into evidence as Exhibits 13 and 14.6 Doctor Bradford determined that Mother suffered from mild retardation, depression, paranoia, and “a good deal of anger and resistance with minimal understanding and acceptance of the problems.”

Angela Wead, the family’s foster care case manager from July 2008 until the time of trial, testified that the parents lived in the same home throughout her time on the case.

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Related

In the INTEREST OF K.M.A.-B.
493 S.W.3d 457 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2016)
Greene County Juvenile Office v. K.J.C.
382 S.W.3d 193 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2012)
In Re Klc
332 S.W.3d 330 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
332 S.W.3d 330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gc-v-greene-county-juvenile-office-moctapp-2011.