In re E.Z.-S.

2019 Ohio 1177
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 29, 2019
DocketF-18-006
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2019 Ohio 1177 (In re E.Z.-S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re E.Z.-S., 2019 Ohio 1177 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

[Cite as In re E.Z.-S., 2019-Ohio-1177.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT FULTON COUNTY

In re E.Z.-S. Court of Appeals No. F-18-006

Trial Court No. 19318

DECISION AND JUDGMENT

Decided: March 29, 2019

*****

Autumn D. Adams, for appellant.

Scott A. Haselman, Fulton County Prosecuting Attorney, and Todd Guelde, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

OSOWIK, J.

{¶ 1} This case began with the filing of a complaint by the Fulton County

Department of Job and Family Services (“FCDJFS”) in the Fulton County Court of

Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, on March 15, 2018. FCDJFS requested jurisdiction

over E.Z.-S., aged eight, whom it alleged was a “dependent” child, as defined by R.C. 2151.04(C). At the time, E.Z.-S. lived with his mother, “E.Z.” (hereinafter “Mother”).

The complaint alleged that Mother had recently overdosed, and was addicted to drugs,

including heroin.

{¶ 2} According to the complaint, Mother and E.Z.-S. returned to Archbold, Ohio

from Texas in January of 2018, and E.Z.-S. enrolled in the public elementary school

there. Mother’s boyfriend lived with them. On February 18, 2018, E.Z.-S. could not

wake his Mother and called a family member, who contacted rescue services. At the

hospital, Mother was given a “small dose of Narcan, which increased her alertness.”

Mother told authorities that she had taken “a muscle relaxer [and] an edible.” She

admitted to previous heroin use but denied using it that day. Mother’s boyfriend

allegedly experienced his own non-fatal overdose earlier in the week.

{¶ 3} According to the complaint, FCDJFS contacted E.Z.-S.’s elementary school

counselor, who reported that, in the short time E.Z.-S. had been enrolled there, he had

soiled himself four times, most recently while not wearing any underwear and that

E.Z.-S. wore the same clothes every day. E.Z.-S. told the school counselor that he was

“scared at home with his family”; that mother’s boyfriend “watches bad movies and

smokes bad things”; that “there was no food in the house”; and that Mother “never knows

what’s going on [and] doesn’t know where she is when she wakes up.” E.Z.-S. told his

counselor that he needed “a break” and “to get away from mom.”

{¶ 4} The complaint further alleges that E.Z.-S. told a FCDJFS caseworker

(identified in the complaint as “cw”) that he found needles in the house; that Mother

2. hides drugs in a shed outside or in a crawlspace in the house; that mother’s drug dealer is

a woman named “Shawn”; and that he had witnessed Mother and boyfriend put belts on

their arms and then insert needles. A police search of Mother’s home on March 6, 2018,

revealed a used marijuana joint.

{¶ 5} On April 3, 2018, “B.S.,” the Father of E.Z.-S. (hereinafter “Father”) filed a

motion requesting that the court award him legal custody of E.Z.-S.

{¶ 6} An adjudicatory hearing was held on April 25, 2018. Mother attended the

hearing and was represented by counsel. Father, who is a resident of Fayetteville,

Georgia, attended the hearing by telephone and was also represented by counsel. At the

hearing, Mother admitted to a substance abuse problem, and both parents consented to a

finding of dependency. The court set the matter for a dispositional hearing on June 13,

2018, and it explained that possible dispositions included, but were not limited to, Mother

retaining custody of E.Z.-S., with protective services being provided by FCDJFS, or

Father gaining legal custody of E.Z.-S.

{¶ 7} At the dispositional hearing, the ongoing caseworker, Jessica Buhrman,

testified that Mother tested positive for Heroin Metabolite, Morphine, Fentanyl, and

Tramadol on February 22, 2018, four days after her overdose. Mother tested positive

again for Fentanyl on February 27, 2018. Mother attended a ten day “partial

hospitalization” and then began drug treatment at the ZEPF Center in Bowling Green.

According to Buhrman, Mother attended two group sessions at ZEPF, but missed four.

There was then a lapse of services “for about a month or so” when Mother “moved back”

3. to Archbold. Mother told Buhrman that she “didn’t really have a good reason [for the

lapse] other than just feeling down and depressed.” Mother had a “positive screen” on

March 13, 2018. Mother sought drug treatment at Recovery Services in Archbold, but

she had “multiple no-shows” in May and June 2018. Similarly, Mother had “off and on”

contact with the FCDJFS, which she blamed on transportation problems. Mother had

another positive drug screen on June 7, 2018.

{¶ 8} Father also attended the dispositional hearing. He testified that he is the

operations manager at a sporting goods company in Fayetteville, Georgia where he lives

with M.S., his 12-year-old son. M.S. is a full-blooded brother to E.Z.-S. Father also

lives with his wife of five years, F.S. (hereinafter “Stepmother”). Father, Stepmother and

M.S. have lived in Fayetteville for about a year and one-half, in a home that they own.

Father serves as an assistant pastor in his church and as chairman of religious affairs for

the NAACP in Fayetteville.

{¶ 9} Father testified that before he and Mother split up, they lived in Atlanta with

their two boys. When E.Z.-S. was six months old, Mother moved back to Archbold to

help care for her own father. Father followed a short while later and got a job as a

manager at Sauders Furniture in Archbold. After about nine months together in

Archbold, Mother attacked Father, putting a “hole in [his] leg with her boots” and

scratching his neck. Mother was arrested and spent three days in jail. Father then

returned to Atlanta with M.S., but without E.Z.-S. According to Father, he wanted to

bring E.Z.-S., who was quite young at the time, but Mother disapproved. They agreed

4. that E.Z.-S. would spend the summers in Atlanta with Father once the boy turned three or

four, but Mother never allowed it to happen, despite Father’s request “every summer.”

Accordingly, Father would return to Ohio (or Texas where Mother lived for a time) “at

least twice a year, in addition to holidays to visit with [E.Z.-S.].” The visits typically

lasted three to five days, and he would normally bring M.S. and Stepmother with him.

On those visits, Father would take E.Z.-S. shopping for clothes because he was dressed in

“dirty [and] rag like clothes.” When they were apart, Father tried to maintain consistent

telephone contact, but, according to him, Mother made that difficult. After the complaint

was filed, Father contacted E.Z.-S.’s school and was able to talk to his son with the help

of the school guidance counselor.

{¶ 10} Father has four other children (besides M.S. and E.Z.-S.): a daughter with

a master’s degree, a son with a degree in biology, and two more sons who are college

seniors. Father also helped to raise his sister’s three sons (for six years), all of whom he

helped graduate from high school. Father testified that he has made his children’s

education a priority and would do the same for E.Z.-S.

{¶ 11} Father also met with E.Z.-S.’s school counselor and principal who told him

that E.Z.-S. initially misbehaved at school but responded well to a reward system and that

he was in need of “structure at home, discipline and stability,” all of which Father

testified he could provide. As for reports that E.Z.-S. was soiling his pants and “needed a

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2019 Ohio 1177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ez-s-ohioctapp-2019.