In re C.L.

Ohio Court of Appeals

In re C.L.

2017 Ohio 7184

Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided August 11, 2017·No. C-170169·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

IN RE: C.L. : APPEAL NO. C-170169 TRIAL NO. F06-2680 Z

:

: O P I N I O N.

Appeal From: Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judgment Appealed From Is: Affirmed Date of Judgment Entry on Appeal: August 11, 2017 Laursen & Lucas, Eric W. Laursen, for Appellant Mother,

Joseph T. Deters, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and Amanda Tholke, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for Appellee Hamilton County Job and Family Services,

Marjorie Davis, Guardian ad Litem, for Appellee C.L.

ZAYAS, Judge.

{¶1} C.L.’s mother appeals from the juvenile court’s grant of permanent custody to Hamilton County Job and Family Services (“JFS”). Because we hold that the juvenile court did not err in its decision, we affirm its judgment.

Background

{¶2} C.L.’s mother has eight other children, all of whom have been removed from her care. Three of these children were committed to the permanent custody of JFS, most recently in 2012. Mother and father have a history of domestic violence, substance abuse, unstable housing and income, and mental-health issues. Mother and father also have a history of failing to comply with court-ordered case-plan services.

{¶3} C.L. was born on July 16, 2014. His meconium1 tested positive for marijuana. On July 23, 2014, JFS filed a complaint alleging that C.L. was a dependent child. The magistrate denied JFS’s motion for interim custody and returned C.L. to his parents. On September 5, 2014, JFS filed an amended complaint alleging that the parents did not have proper supplies including a bed, a refrigerator, or stove; the child was observed to be small, lethargic, pale, and sickly; the child was diagnosed with failure to thrive; mother was not properly feeding the child; and mother’s reports were inconsistent with the child’s lack of weight gain and physical progress. The magistrate held a hearing on September 5 and denied emergency custody to JFS, but upon review that same day, the trial court set aside the

1“A dark greenish mass that accumulates in the bowel during fetal life and is discharged shortly after birth.” Merriam-Webster, Meconium, https://www.merriamwebster .com/dictionary/meconium (accessed July 25, 2017).

magistrate’s order and placed C.L. into the interim custody of JFS. C.L. was placed in foster care where he remains.

{¶4} On June 6, 2015, the magistrate held a hearing where C.L. was adjudicated to be a dependent child. On August 18, 2015, C.L. was placed into the temporary custody of JFS, and the first extension of temporary custody was also approved. On December 9, 2015, the magistrate granted the second extension of temporary custody. On May 27, 2016, JFS filed a motion to modify the temporary custody to permanent custody.

{¶5} On September 14, 2016, the magistrate held a trial on the motion for permanent custody. The magistrate heard testimony from Christopher Deering, Autumn Caldwell, and Jamie Baird, all visitation facilitators at the Family Nurturing Center (“FNC”). The magistrate also heard testimony from Josh Cupps, the family’s JFS caseworker.

{¶6} Deering testified that he attended visitations with the family from November 2014 to October 2015. Father did not attend most of the visits. Deering testified that in the autumn of 2015, mother reported that she had broken her foot in a “slipping” accident. However, Deering suspected that the injury may have been related to domestic violence. Although JFS and FNC offered mother ride services so that she could attend the visits despite her injury, mother did not accept the ride services and began missing visits. Deering testified that when the mother’s visits ceased, so did the father’s, even though the father was not injured.

{¶7} Caldwell then testified that she attended two make-up visits with the family in September 2015. She testified that, before the second visit on September 22, 2015, began, she received a call from her supervisor, Zach Vargo, who told her that father had called him attempting to cancel mother’s visits because father and

mother had broken up. Caldwell arrived early to the visit to discuss the situation with mother, and mother told Caldwell that the father was being physically and emotionally abusive. Though Caldwell and mother discussed shelter options, mother ultimately chose not to go to a shelter and returned to the apartment she shared with father. Baird testified that he attended visits with mother and C.L. between May 3, and May 31, 2016. He testified that mother attended only three visits out of a total of eight scheduled.

{¶8} Cupps testified that visits with the parents were going well until September 22, 2015, when father told Cupps that mother was a “bad mom” and that “[JFS] should take [C.L.].” After mother injured her foot, she told Cupps that neither she nor father would be able to attend visits due to her injury. He testified that mother and father did not request any visitation or make any contact with JFS between October 2015 and January 2016. He conceded that he had not personally observed any domestic violence in the family.

{¶9} Cupps further testified that there had been little to no “consistency and visitation and bonding with [C.L.], and seeing [C.L.] on a consistent basis” from the parents, and that this inconsistency had “thrown off the completion of some of the other services.” He testified that he referred mother to Women Helping Women, but she did not attend any visits or assessments with them. He testified that mother was referred to Parent-Child Interaction Therapy in June 2016, and that she had made the first appointment but cancelled and rescheduled it twice. He testified that the parents completed the first phase of parenting classes, but the “domestic violence concerns” and mother’s foot injury occurred prior to scheduling the second phase, and, as a result, the parents were never referred for the second phase. He testified that while father had been recommended to participate in individual and couples

therapy, he had not attended either because he did not think he needed therapy. Cupps testified that he had scheduled the family for four visits in April 2016 at JFS, but the parents had only attended the first of the four. He also scheduled five visits at JFS in August 2016, but the parents only attended the first of those five.

{¶10} Following the testimony, mother stipulated that she had had several conversations with Vargo about her options for going to a domestic-violence shelter. Father stipulated that he had told Vargo to cancel the visitation because of mother’s extramarital affairs and told Vargo that it would be unsafe for visits to continue.

{¶11} Two exhibits were entered into evidence: mother’s Diagnostic Assessment Form (“DAF”), and father’s DAF and psychological evaluation. These assessments were completed in September 2014. Mother’s DAF stated that father had gone to jail for domestic violence against her and one of their other children. It also noted that both parents had previously been recommended for mental-health treatment but “they have either refused to participate or compliance has been poor.” Mother’s DAF noted that [mother] sees herself as a responsible and caring parent even though she has not raised any of her nine children. She perceives that others are to blame for the children being removed from her care. She is reluctant to admit to any personal shortcomings or personal limitations when it comes to parenting * * * [and] sees little need for changes in her behavior.

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