In re L.D.

2023 Ohio 4052
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 8, 2023
Docket30705, 30706, 30742, & 30743
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2023 Ohio 4052 (In re L.D.) 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 L.D., 2023 Ohio 4052 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

[Cite as In re L.D., 2023-Ohio-4052.]

STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS )ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COUNTY OF SUMMIT )

IN RE: B.D. C.A. Nos. 30705 L.D. 30706 30742 30743

APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT ENTERED IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO CASE Nos. DN 21 03 0179 DN 21 03 0180

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY

Dated: November 8, 2023

CARR, Presiding Judge.

{¶1} Appellants, H.D. (“Mother”) and L.D. (“Father”), appeal from a judgment of the

Summit County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, that placed their two minor children

in the permanent custody of Summit County Children Services Board (“CSB”). This Court

affirms.

I.

{¶2} Mother and Father have been married for many years and are the biological parents

of L.D., born February 27, 2011; and B.D., born May 27, 2016. The family has a lengthy history

with CSB, including one prior case in which L.D. was adjudicated neglected and dependent; and

later cases in which L.D. was adjudicated abused, neglected, and dependent, and B.D. was 2

adjudicated abused and dependent. Only cursory details about CSB’s prior cases with this family

are included in the record.

{¶3} The record does reveal that the parents have historically had problems maintaining

a safe and sanitary home and meeting their children’s significant medical and developmental

needs. Both children have been diagnosed with Sox2 anophthalmia syndrome, a rare genetic

disorder that causes developmental delays and abnormal development of the eyes and other parts

of the body. The disorder will impair the children throughout their lives and require ongoing

treatment by various medical specialists and developmental therapists. Additionally, B.D. has

been diagnosed with epilepsy, which requires ongoing treatment by a neurologist and that his

caregivers regularly administer and monitor his seizure medication and symptoms. Both children

have also been diagnosed with multiple mental health disorders and will require ongoing

counseling for the foreseeable future to address their mental health and resulting behavioral

problems. Throughout the children’s lives, however, the parents have not been consistent in

getting them to their required appointments.

{¶4} Mother has numerous mental health diagnoses, including major depressive

disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and borderline personality disorder, which impair her

ability to care for herself and her children. Mother has a pattern of engaging in mental health

treatment for a while, but later withdrawing from treatment and becoming unable to care for herself

or her children. While not engaged in mental health treatment, Mother would admittedly stay in

bed for days or weeks at a time. She also suffers from significant knee, hip, and ankle problems

that limit her mobility and ability to care for her two active children. Mother has not followed up

with consistent medical treatment to address her physical problems. Father has attempted to help

care for Mother and the children but has been unable to consistently meet their needs. 3

{¶5} The parents also have a history of struggling to meet their financial needs. Neither

parent has been employed throughout CSB’s involvement with this family. The family’s only

sources of income were the disability benefits received by Mother and both children. In addition

to their limited financial means, the parents often spent their money unwisely. For example, Father

is a collector of movie memorabilia and sometimes spent a significant portion of their limited

financial resources to build his collection, rather than paying for necessities including the family’s

monthly rent.

{¶6} This family’s first juvenile case predated the birth of B.D. L.D. was removed from

the parents’ custody for approximately one year, and the court later returned him to their home and

closed the case. During the children’s 2018 cases, it is unclear from the record whether only L.D.

or both children were removed from their home, but the family worked on another case plan and

those cases were eventually closed with both children in their parents’ custody.

{¶7} During December 2019, CSB again began working with the family on a voluntary

basis because the home was filthy, Mother was sleeping most of the day, and neither parent was

regularly getting the children to school or their frequent appointments with their medical and

developmental specialists. After more than one year working on a voluntary case plan, the home

continued to be filthy and filled with bugs and animal feces, the children continued to miss crucial

medical and therapy appointments, and Mother was not addressing her mental or physical health

problems. Service providers worked with the parents to develop a reasonable budget, but the

family continued to struggle financially.

{¶8} The children were removed from the home pursuant to Juv.R. 6 and CSB filed

complaints to commence this case on March 17, 2021, alleging that both children were neglected

and dependent. After the parties agreed that CSB would dismiss the allegations of neglect and the 4

parents would waive their rights to a contested hearing, the trial court adjudicated L.D. and B.D.

as dependent children. The trial court later placed the children in the temporary custody of CSB.

In its dispositional order, although the trial court referred to the case plan that CSB filed and began

implementing, the trial court did not explicitly adopt the case plan as an order of the court.

Nevertheless, no one raised this omission during the trial court proceedings and all parties

proceeded as if they were bound by the case plan that CSB had filed.

{¶9} During the first year of the case, both parents worked on the reunification goals

intermittently. Upon CSB’s motion, the trial court granted a first six-month extension of

temporary custody. During the extension period, however, Father stopped cooperating with CSB

to work toward reunification. Mother changed mental health providers multiple times, sometimes

by choice and sometimes because the provider terminated her for missing too many appointments.

They also missed many scheduled visits with the children. Mother told the caseworker that

transportation was sometimes a problem, or they overslept, or simply forgot about scheduled visits

or appointments.

{¶10} The parents also failed to maintain clean and safe housing or demonstrate that they

could meet the family’s basic needs. Although Father had received a $7,000 inheritance, he spent

that financial windfall on movie memorabilia, including a hearse that he planned to convert into a

Ghostbuster’s vehicle. The parents had no other vehicle at that time and owed a substantial balance

to their landlord for several months of unpaid rent.

{¶11} CSB eventually moved for permanent custody of both children. Mother and Father

moved for legal custody or, alternatively, for a second six-month extension of temporary custody.

The final dispositional hearing was held before a visiting judge on February 16 and 17, and March

31, 2023. After the hearing concluded, the trial court terminated parental rights and placed L.D. 5

and B.D. in the permanent custody of CSB. Mother and Father separately appealed and their

appeals were later consolidated for review. Mother raises three assignments of error and Father

raises two.

II.

MOTHER’S ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I

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