In re A.R.

742 S.E.2d 629, 227 N.C. App. 518, 2013 WL 2395997, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 608
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedJune 4, 2013
DocketNo. COA12-1554
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 742 S.E.2d 629 (In re A.R.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re A.R., 742 S.E.2d 629, 227 N.C. App. 518, 2013 WL 2395997, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 608 (N.C. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

STROUD, Judge.

Respondents appeal adjudication and dispositional orders. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I. Background

On 14 June 2012, Wake County Human Services (“WCHS”) filed a petition alleging that respondents’ sons, Frank and Aaron,1 (collectively referred to as “the children”) were abused and neglected juveniles. On 13 September 2012, the trial court filed an adjudication order concluding that both the children were neglected and Aaron was abused. On 27 September 2012, the trial court filed a dispositional order concluding that it was not in the best interests of the children to return to their parents’ home. Respondents appealed.

II. Adjudication Order

Respondent-mother challenges three findings of fact or portions thereof as unsupported by the evidence and the trial court’s conclusion of law that the children were neglected as unsupported by the findings of fact.

The role of this Court in reviewing a trial court’s adjudication of neglect and abuse is to determine (1) whether the findings of fact are supported by clear and convincing evidence, and (2) whether the legal conclusions are supported by the findings of fact. If such evidence exists, the [520]*520findings of the trial court are binding on appeal, even if the evidence would support a finding to the contrary.

In re T.H.T., 185 N.C. App. 337, 343, 648 S.E.2d 519, 523 (2007) (citations, quotation marks, and brackets omitted), modified and aff’d, 362 N.C. 446, 665 S.E.2d 54 (2008). Findings of fact are also binding if they are not challenged on appeal. Koufman v. Koufman, 330 N.C. 93, 97, 408 S.E.2d 729, 731 (1991).

The unchallenged findings of fact establish that respondents’ family members have reported that over the course of two years that respondents have engaged in “multiple incidents of domestic violence [,]” including an altercation on 6 June 2012, where Frank was present and during which respondent-mother tried to hit respondent-father with a board, missed, and instead hit Aaron in the head; Aaron was two months old at the time. Aaron “sustained a bruise and cut on the right side of his head just above and outside his right eye.” Respondents did not seek medical treatment for Aaron. Respondent-mother informed a social worker that Aaron also has other serious health issues including cysts on his only kidney and an enlarged bladder. “The pediatrician’s office was contacted and expressed concern” because respondents cancelled two medical appointments within a period of two months despite the difficulties in rescheduling Aaron’s “specialized testing[.]” These unchallenged, binding findings of fact alone support the conclusion of law of neglect. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-101(15) (2011) (“A juvenile who does not receive proper care, supervision, or discipline from the juvenile’s parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker; or who has been abandoned; or who is not provided necessary medical care; or who is not provided necessary remedial care; or who lives in an environment injurious to the juvenile’s welfare; or who has been placed for care or adoption in violation of law. In determining whether a juvenile is a neglected juvenile, it is relevant whether that juvenile lives in a home where another juvenile has died as a result of suspected abuse or neglect or lives in a home where another juvenile has been subjected to abuse or neglect by an adult who regularly lives in the home.”). This argument is overruled.

III. Dispositional Order

Respondents challenge the trial court’s dispositional order. We review a trial court’s dispositional order for abuse of discretion. In re Pittman, 149 N.C. App. 756, 766, 561 S.E.2d 560, 567, disc, review denied, 356 N.C. 163, 568 S.E.2d 608, appeal dismissed, 356 N.C. 163, 568 S.E.2d 609 (2002). “A ruling committed to a trial court’s discretion is to be accorded great deference and will be upset only upon a showing that [521]*521it was so arbitrary that it could not have been the result of a reasoned decision.” White v. White, 312 N.C. 770, 777, 324 S.E.2d 829, 833 (1985).

A. Best Interests

Respondents contend that the trial court erred in ordering it was in the children’s best interests for them to be placed outside the home. The trial court incorporated the WCHS Court Summary into its dispositional order and found that “[t]his Court has considered the evidence in the afore described Court Summary . .. and finds credible and factually sufficient evidence to support the disposition herein.” As the Court Summary contained the facts as noted above regarding the incident in which Aaron was hit with a board by respondent-mother, and respondents’ decision to not seek appropriate medical treatment for either the injury or Aaron’s other medical conditions, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that it was not in the best interests of the children to return home. See id.

B. Conditions on Respondents

Respondents argue that the trial court erred by requiring them “to comply with a number of conditions which had nothing to do with the conditions which led to the children’s removal” from the home including: (1) following recommendations of mental health assessments and taking prescribed medications; (2) completing a substance abuse evaluation, submitting to random drug screens, and complying with any recommendations; (3) providing copies of any lease or deed of any new residence; (4) providing documentation of employment or income; (5) maintaining contact with WCHS and notifying the social worker of any change of circumstances within five days of any change; and (6) following the recommendations of a “CME” (child medical evaluation) completed on 3 July 2012. (Original in all caps.) Respondent-father goes so far as to contend that the trial court did not have jurisdiction for the conditions it imposed.

North Carolina General Statute § 7B-904 provides that

(c) At the dispositional hearing or a subsequent hearing the court may determine whether the best interests of the juvenile require that the parent. . . entrusted with the juvenile’s care undergo psychiatric, psychological, or other treatment or counseling directed toward remediating or remedying behaviors or conditions that led to or contributed to the juvenile’s adjudication or to the court’s decision to remove custody of the juvenile from [522]*522the parent . . . entrusted with the juvenile’s care. If the court finds that the best interests of the juvenile require the parent. . . entrusted with the juvenile’s care undergo treatment, it may order that individual to comply with a plan of treatment approved by the court or condition legal custody or physical placement of the juvenile with the parent... entrusted with the juvenile’s care upon that individual’s compliance with the plan of treatment....

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
742 S.E.2d 629, 227 N.C. App. 518, 2013 WL 2395997, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 608, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ar-ncctapp-2013.