In re: C.L.S.

781 S.E.2d 680, 245 N.C. App. 75, 2016 N.C. App. LEXIS 96
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedJanuary 19, 2016
Docket15-613
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 781 S.E.2d 680 (In re: C.L.S.) 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: C.L.S., 781 S.E.2d 680, 245 N.C. App. 75, 2016 N.C. App. LEXIS 96 (N.C. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

McGEE, Chief Judge.

*76Respondent-Father ("Respondent") appeals from an order terminating his parental rights1 as to his minor child, C.L.S. We affirm the trial court's order.

New Hanover County Department of Social Services ("DSS") filed a petition on 20 September 2013, alleging that C.L.S. was a neglected and dependent juvenile. DSS alleged that C.L.S. tested positive for cocaine and PCP at birth, and that C.L.S.'s mother tested positive for cocaine. The mother further admitted to using cocaine and marijuana while pregnant with C.L.S. DSS alleged that C.L.S.'s mother "ha[d] a long history with [DSS] dating back many years," noting that she had relinquished her parental rights to another child who also tested positive for cocaine at birth. DSS also alleged that the mother had "a long history of substance abuse, and mental health issues and a drug-related criminal history," and was unemployed and living with her mother, who "also ha[d] a long history of involvement with DSS and would not [be] recommended for placement" of C.L.S. DSS further alleged that the mother reported that C.L.S. was "the product of a one night stand and the father [wa]s unknown."

The trial court adjudicated C.L.S. neglected and dependent on 15 November 2013 based upon the mother's stipulations to the allegations in DSS's petition. At the time of the adjudication, the identity of C.L.S.'s father was still unknown. Paternity tests in May 2014 determined Respondent was the father of C.L.S. The trial court ceased reunification efforts and changed the permanent plan for C.L.S. to adoption on 29 September 2014.

DSS filed a petition to terminate parental rights as to C.L.S. on 14 October 2014 on the grounds that both the mother and Respondent neglected C.L.S., had willfully abandoned C.L.S. for more than twelve months without showing reasonable progress in correcting the *77conditions of neglect which led to his removal, and that Respondent had failed to take steps to legitimize C.L.S. In its petition, DSS alleged that Respondent failed to enter into a Family Services Agreement when requested on 7 April 2014 indicating that "he did not wish to pursue a plan of reunification." Although Respondent then "indicated his willingness" to enter into a case plan on 26 June 2014, Respondent "declined to sign his case plan which included requests to submit to a Comprehensive Clinical Assessment and follow any recommendations, submit to random drug screens, complete a parenting assessment and comply with any recommendations, and obtain and maintain stable housing and employment." Respondent was also incarcerated in May *6822014 on pending charges said to have included attempted first- or second-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping, breaking or entering, misdemeanor larceny, false fire alarm, resisting, delaying, or obstructing public officers, and for being a habitual felon. The trial court terminated both the mother's and Respondent's parental rights as to C.L.S. on 4 March 2015. Respondent appeals.

Respondent first contends the trial court erred by concluding that there was clear, cogent, and convincing evidence to support the trial court's conclusion that C.L.S. was neglected by Respondent at the time of the hearing, and thus asserts that there was no evidence to terminate his parental rights on this statutory ground. We disagree.

N.C. Gen.Stat. § 7B-1111 sets out the statutory grounds for terminating parental rights. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 7B-1111 (2013). A finding of any one of the separately enumerated grounds is sufficient to support termination. See In re Taylor, 97 N.C.App. 57, 64, 387 S.E.2d 230, 233-34 (1990). "The standard of appellate review is whether the trial court's findings of fact are supported by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence and whether the findings of fact support the conclusions of law." In re D.J.D., D.M.D., S.J.D., J.M.D., 171 N.C.App. 230, 238, 615 S.E.2d 26, 32 (2005).

In the present case, the trial court first concluded that grounds existed to terminate Respondent's parental rights to C.L.S. based upon neglect in accordance with N.C. Gen.Stat. § 7B-1111(a)(1). A "neglected" juvenile is defined in N.C. Gen.Stat. § 7B-101(15) as

[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 *78environment injurious to the juvenile's welfare; or who has been placed for care or adoption in violation of law.

N.C. Gen.Stat. § 7B-101(15) (2013). Thus, "[n]eglect is more than a parent's failure to provide physical necessities and can include the total failure to provide love, support, affection, and personal contact." In re D.J.D., 171 N.C.App. at 240, 615 S.E.2d at 33 (internal quotation marks omitted).

Additionally, "[i]ncarceration alone ... does not negate a father's neglect of his child," Whittington v. Hendren, 156 N.C.App. 364, 368, 576 S.E.2d 372, 376 (2003), because "[t]he sacrifices which parenthood often requires are not forfeited when the parent is in custody." Id. Thus, while incarceration may limit a parent's ability "to show affection, it is not an excuse for [a parent's] failure to show interest in [a child's] welfare by whatever means available, [because a] father's neglect of his child cannot be negated by incarceration alone." In re D.J.D., 171 N.C.App. at 240, 615 S.E.2d at 33 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

Further, "[a]s always, the best interests of the children and parental fitness at the time of the termination hearing are the determinative factors." Id. at 239-40,

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Bluebook (online)
781 S.E.2d 680, 245 N.C. App. 75, 2016 N.C. App. LEXIS 96, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cls-ncctapp-2016.