In Re JJ

682 S.E.2d 349, 299 Ga. App. 271, 2009 Fulton County D. Rep. 2653, 2009 Ga. App. LEXIS 870
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJuly 17, 2009
DocketA09A1330
StatusPublished

This text of 682 S.E.2d 349 (In Re JJ) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re JJ, 682 S.E.2d 349, 299 Ga. App. 271, 2009 Fulton County D. Rep. 2653, 2009 Ga. App. LEXIS 870 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

682 S.E.2d 349 (2009)
299 Ga. App. 271

In the Interest of J.J. et al., children.

No. A09A1330.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

July 17, 2009.

*350 Flint, Connolly & Walker, John F. Connolly, Canton, for appellant.

*351 Thurbert E. Baker, Atty. Gen., Shalen S. Nelson, Senior Asst. Atty. Gen., Kathryn A. Fox, Asst. Atty. Gen., Susan C. Stanton, Marietta, Richard A. Jones, Atlanta, for appellee.

BERNES, Judge.

Following the grant of her application for discretionary appeal, the biological mother of J.G.J. and J.W.J. appeals from the juvenile court's order terminating her parental rights.[1] She contends that the juvenile court erred by refusing to provide a copy of the termination hearing transcript to her counsel for use in her application for discretionary appeal. She further contends that there was insufficient evidence that the children were deprived or that the deprivation was likely to continue, and that inadequate consideration was given as to whether the children should be placed with the paternal grandmother. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.

On appeal from an order terminating parental rights, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the juvenile court's determination. In the Interest of T.J., 281 Ga.App. 308, 636 S.E.2d 54 (2006). So viewed, the evidence showed that on May 24, 2006, the minor children J.G.J. and J.W.J. came into the emergency care of the Cherokee County Department of Family and Children Services ("DFCS") after their paternal grandmother reported to the police that the mother and father were abusing illegal drugs. The grandmother suspected illegal drug activity in part because the parents had left J.G.J. and the grandmother at Wal-Mart at 10:00 p.m. and had not returned until the following morning. At the time of their removal from their parents' custody, J.G.J. was four years old and J.W.J. was one year old. The family was living in one-half of a mobile home with one room and two beds and lacked their own means of transportation. The children appeared dirty and hungry.

Both parents admitted to recent use of cocaine, and the mother tested positive for marijuana and cocaine at the inception of the case. The mother later admitted that she had a history of using marijuana that dated back several years. The father by his own admission had a chronic unrehabilitated drug and alcohol problem.

The juvenile court entered an order finding the children deprived based upon substance abuse by the parents, lack of stable and suitable housing, and physical neglect. The mother consented to the order finding the children deprived and later consented to an extension order that included the same finding. She did not appeal either order.

DFCS developed a reunification case plan that was reviewed by the mother. Among other things, the plan required the mother to obtain and maintain a stable source of income to support her children; pay $20 per month in child support; obtain and maintain stable housing adequate for herself and her children; obtain a substance abuse assessment and follow all treatment recommendations; submit to random drug screens; and remain drug free for six consecutive months. The juvenile court entered a supplemental order incorporating the terms of the case plan.

Initially, DFCS placed the children with the paternal grandmother, but the grandmother surrendered them to DFCS the next day after the case manager learned that the grandmother lived in a tractor-trailer that she drove cross-country. While the grandmother later purchased a home, she ultimately was not approved as a placement for the children because of her job as a long-distance truck driver that kept her on the road for three months at a time. After the grandmother surrendered the children back to DFCS, the children were placed in foster care, where they remained as the mother attempted to comply with her reunification case plan.

After more than a year had passed and the mother still had not completed her case plan, DFCS petitioned to terminate her parental rights in August 2007. The hearing on the termination petition was conducted in February 2008. The DFCS case manager, the professional counselor who assessed the *352 mother, and the mother herself testified at the hearing, among other witnesses.

The DFCS case manager testified that the mother had failed to complete many of her case plan goals despite repeated efforts by DFCS to assist her. Specifically, the mother had not achieved stable employment and had failed to pay child support. The mother had started several different jobs over the course of time her children had been in DFCS custody, but she never remained at any one job for more than a few months. At the time of the hearing, the mother was unemployed. Nor could the mother rely upon a steady income from the father, whose own work history was sporadic and who had been employed in a new waiter job for a little over a month. Additionally, the mother had paid a total of only $40 in child support since her children entered foster care.

The case manager further testified that the mother had not achieved stable housing adequate for herself and her children. The mother and father had lived at six different residences since the children had been placed in DFCS custody, none of which had been approved for children. Two weeks before the hearing, the mother signed a month-to-month lease and moved into a private residence with the father, but the case manager opined that the residence would not be approved for children based on its outside appearance and the extensive amount of debris and overgrown vegetation surrounding it.

With respect to substance abuse issues, the case manager testified that the mother did not complete a substance abuse assessment until six months after the children entered foster care. The professional counselor who performed the assessment recommended that the mother participate in 12 substance abuse group sessions and submit to random drug screens at least twice per month. According to the case manager, the mother had only attended two group sessions. Furthermore, while the mother had consistent negative drug screen results when she agreed to cooperate, she had refused to submit to hair follicle tests on several occasions. The mother also continued to reside with the father, who had tested positive for cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine while the children were in foster care, and who tested positive for marijuana on the day of the termination hearing.

Lastly, the case manager advised that the children had been in the same foster care placement since October 2006. The children were doing well and their foster parents wished to adopt them. Based on her training and experience, the case manager believed that termination of parental rights was in the children's best interests because they needed stability and parents who could provide for their basic needs.

The professional counselor who performed the substance abuse assessment testified that his treatment recommendations were based upon the mother's admission to a history of marijuana use and to having tested positive for marijuana and cocaine at the beginning of the case. He also opined that a refusal to submit to drug screens indicates resistance to treatment and the need for additional intervention to prevent relapse.

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Bluebook (online)
682 S.E.2d 349, 299 Ga. App. 271, 2009 Fulton County D. Rep. 2653, 2009 Ga. App. LEXIS 870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-jj-gactapp-2009.