In re Adoption of J.N.M.

177 A.3d 937
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 8, 2018
DocketNo. 1130 WDA 2017; No. 1131 WDA 2017
StatusPublished
Cited by168 cases

This text of 177 A.3d 937 (In re Adoption of J.N.M.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Adoption of J.N.M., 177 A.3d 937 (Pa. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

OPINION BY

STRASSBURGER, J.:

L.M.W. (Mother) appeals from the orders entered on June 30, 2017, involuntarily terminating her parental rights to J.N.M., born in August 2008, and C.R.S.J., born in December 2005 (Children, collectively). We affirm.

We summarize the findings of fact made by the orphans’ court as follows. On October 2, 2014, Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau (WCCB) removed Children, then ages eight and six, from Mother, and took them into emergency custody. Juvenile court later adjudicated Children dependent pursuant to the Juvenile "Act, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 6301-6375. The circumstances that necessitated the removal and dependency relating to Mother were deplorable conditions in Mother’s home, outstanding warrants for Mother’s arrest on three separate criminal charges, a history of domestic violence in Mother’s home and in Children’s presence, and Mother’s drug abuse.

After their rémoval, Children . were placed in a foster home for one month before moving into a kinship foster home with J.N.M.’s paternal great aunt. In'June 2015, after the great aunt requested Children’s removal, Children moved to a pre-adoptive foster home, ■ where they remained at the time of the termination hearings.

■ During the almost three years that Children were in foster care, Mother made little to no progress in rectifying the conditions that brought Children into care.1 Mother never had a residence of her own; she has been either homeless, incarcerated, or residing with a.paramour (including at least one with whom the relationship was fraught with domestic violence). In December 2014, Mother overdosed on drugs, resulting in her hospitalization. Mother attempted drug and alcohol treatment several' times, but never completed a program successfully. Mother also was unsuccessfully discharged from mental health treatment. She often missed drug screens, and also repeatedly refused to undergo screens or tested positive for alcohol and/or illegal drugs.

Mother’s criminal troubles intensified during the time Children were in foster care. Mother missed visits with Children to avoid being picked up on warrants. Mother was arrested four times, resulting in a brief incarceration the first three times, and, finally,' her current incarceration, which commenced on October 13, 2016. Mother entered a negotiated guilty plea for use/possession of drug paraphernalia in April 2017, and was sentenced to one year of probation. On June 29, 2017, Mother was sentenced to an aggregate term of four-and-a-half to ten years’ imprisonment due to burglary and criminal trespass convictions. At the time of the termination of parental rights (TPR) hear-mgs, Mother had five probation revocation hearings pending due to these convictions as • well as pending criminal charges for retail theft.

, Although Mother had the opportunity to visit Children anywhere from twice a week to twice a-month throughout their dependency, she attended slightly under half of the visits offered. On multiple occasions, Mother did not see Children for weeks or months at a time, with the longest gap lasting three months. Children have visited Mother in prison occasionally, but they were unable to visit for six weeks due to restrictions resulting from Mother’s conduct in prison. When Mother visited Children prior to her incarceration, she sometimes appeared to be under the influence of drugs; she was uncooperative, incoherent, and nodded off, all of. which impaired her ability to care for Children during the visit or receive parenting instruction.

Based upon Mother’s lack of progress, WCCB filed petitions to terminate involuntarily Mother’s parental rights to Children in February 2017..After appointing separate counsel for each child to represent their legal interests and Children’s dependency guardian ad litem to represent their best interests, the orphans’ court presided over two hearings in June 2017.2 Six witnesses testified, including Mother; Mother’s probation officer; Carol Hughes, a psychologist who conducted an evaluation of Children regarding their ability to bond; Kathy Menzler, who supervised visits and offered parenting instruction; Robert Gamble, the family’s WCCB caseworker; and C.R.S.J.’s father. On June 30, 2017, the orphans’ court terminated Mother’s parental rights to Children.3 This appeal followed.4

Mother presents six questions for this Court’s consideration, which we have reordered for ease of disposition..

[1.] Whether the [orphans’] court erred in finding by clear and convincing evidence that the moving party met its burden as to terminating the parental rights of Mother under 23 Pa.C.S, § 2511(a)(2).
[2.] Whether the [orphans’] court erred in finding by clear and convincing evidence that the moving party met its burden as to terminating the parental rights of Mother under 23 Pa.C,S. § 2511(a)(5).
[3.] Whether the [orphans’] court erred in finding by clear and convincing evidence that the moving party met its burden as to terminating the parental rights of Mother under 23 Pa.C.S. § 2511(a)(8). ■ . .
[4.] Whether the [orphans’] court erred in terminating Mother’s parental rights despite the lack of a bonding assessment in the record or testimony,
[5.] ■' Whether the [orphans’] court erred in terminating Mother’s parental rights when less drastic options; such as subsidized permanent - legal custodianship [(SPL'C)], were available, and would not require Children to suffer the sense of loss and grief accompanying an order of termination.
[6.] • Whether the [orphans’] court erred in finding by clear and convincing evidence that .the moving- party met its burden under 23 Pa.C.S. § 2511(b) that the best interests of Children are met by terminating Mother’s parental rights.

Mother’s Brief at 4' (suggested answers and unnecessary capitalization, articles, and emphasis omitted).

We begin with our standard of review.

The standard of review in termination of parental rights cases requires appellate courts to accept the findings of fact 'ánd credibility determinations'' Of "the trial court if they are supported by the record. If the factual findings are supported, appellate courts review to determine if the trial court made an error of law or abused its discretion. A decision may be reversed for an abuse of discretion only upon demonstration of manifest unreasonableness, partiality, prejudice, bias, or ill-will. The trial court’s decision, however, should not be reversed merely because the record would support a different result. We have previously emphasized our. deference to trial courts that often have first-hand observations of the parties spanning multiple hearings.

In re T.S.M., 620 Pa. 602, 71 A.3d 251, 267 (2013) (citations and quotation marks omitted).

Termination of parental rights is governed by Section 2511 of the Adoption Act, 23 Pa.C.S. §§ 2101-2938, which requires a bifurcated analysis.

Initially, the focus is on the conduct of the parent.

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Bluebook (online)
177 A.3d 937, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-adoption-of-jnm-pasuperct-2018.