In re L.P.

2015 Ohio 4164
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided October 7, 2015·No. 27792·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

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

IN RE: L.P. C.A. No. 27792 L.P.

APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT

ENTERED IN THE

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO

CASE Nos. DN12-10-0677

DN13-10-0679

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY Dated: October 7, 2015

HENSAL, Presiding Judge.

{¶1} Appellant, L.P. (“Father”), appeals from a judgment of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, that terminated his parental rights to two of his minor children and placed them in the permanent custody of Summit County Children Services Board (“CSB”). This Court affirms.

I.

{¶2} Father is the biological father of five minor children with three different women.

Although the trial court dependency proceedings involved several parents and children, this appeal does not. Father is the only parent who is a party to this appeal and he confines his assigned errors to the trial court’s termination of his parental rights to two of his children.1 Consequently, this Court will limit its review to the final disposition of those two children: L.P.,

1 At the time Father appealed, his two youngest children remained in the temporary custody of CSB. Although his oldest child was placed in the legal custody of a relative, he has not challenged that disposition on appeal.

born July 27, 2004; and L.P., born May 26, 2006. Their mother, R.D., did not participate in the trial court proceedings and is not a party to this appeal.

{¶3} CSB first became involved with L.P. and L.P. during June 2009. At that time, they were living with R.D. (their mother) and B.D., their older half-sibling who is the child of R.D. and another father. CSB filed a complaint to remove the children from R.D.’s custody, alleging that they were neglected and dependent because R.D. often left them alone or at the home of Father or others who did not consistently supervise the children or meet their basic needs. L.P., L.P., and B.D. were later adjudicated dependent children by stipulation of the parties.

{¶4} CSB’s reunification efforts during that case initially focused on R.D., who had been the sole residential parent of all three children. R.D. failed to comply with the requirements of the case plan, however, so Father became the focus of CSB’s reunification efforts. Because Father had a criminal history that included multiple charges for domestic violence, the case plan required him to complete anger management classes and demonstrate that he was able to control his anger. After approximately one year, during which Father completed anger management and parenting classes and participated in other case planning services, L.P., L.P., and their older half- sister, B.D., were placed in Father’s legal custody under an order of protective supervision by CSB. The trial court eventually terminated protective supervision and closed that case in February 2011.

{¶5} During October 2011, CSB filed a dependency case involving Father’s oldest child, A.S., who was then almost 10 years old and living with her mother, J.S., and two other half-siblings who are not Father’s children. It is unclear from the record whether Father had much involvement with A.S. before the 2011 dependency case. Because J.S. had serious

substance abuse problems, A.S. was later placed in the temporary custody of Father. During the temporary placement, the guardian ad litem and the magistrate expressed concerns about Father’s history of domestic violence, that he was stressed emotionally and financially by providing care for several children, and that A.S. spent extended periods of time with her aunt and expressed a desire to live with her. In addition to providing a home for L.P., L.P., B.D., and A.S., Father’s then live-in paramour, S.B., gave birth to a child in January 2012 and another child in December 2012. A.S. was placed in Father’s full legal custody, however, and that case was later closed.

{¶6} When the current case began in October 2013, Father was the custodial caregiver of six children ranging in age from ten months to 13 years old. CSB removed A.S. from Father’s home after she disclosed to school personnel that she and the other children lived in a home without hot water or adequate food and that they were often exposed to marijuana use and domestic violence between Father and S.B. She allegedly later explained that she had not spoken to authorities sooner because she was afraid that Father would retaliate by beating her. The other children were later removed from Father’s home based on the same concerns.

{¶7} All six children were adjudicated dependent and placed in the temporary custody of CSB. The original case plan was later agreed to by all parties and adopted by the trial court on January 24, 2014. The case plan required trauma assessments for the children followed up by ongoing counseling. Father was required to obtain and maintain stable housing and employment and to complete anger management and parenting classes and demonstrate an ability to appropriately supervise and discipline the children and consistently meet their basic needs.

{¶8} Father failed to obtain most of the required reunification services and refused to accept any responsibility for his family’s situation. On September 9, 2014, CSB moved for

permanent custody of L.P. and L.P. Following a hearing on the motion, the trial court found that the children could not be placed with Father within a reasonable time or should not be placed with him and that permanent custody was in their best interests. Father appeals and raises six assignments of error.

II.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I

THE COURT OF APPEALS LACKS JURISDICTION TO HEAR THIS APPEAL BECAUSE THE TRIAL COURT HAS NOT ISSUED A FINAL, APPEALABLE ORDER FROM THE ORIGINAL ADJUDICATORY AND DISPOSITIONAL HEARINGS.

{¶9} Father’s first assignment of error is that the trial court failed to issue a final, appealable order after the adjudicatory and dispositional hearings. The record reveals that a magistrate adjudicated the children dependent and placed them in the temporary custody of CSB and that the trial court adopted the magistrate’s decisions and later overruled Father’s objections. Father does not challenge the merits or validity of the adjudicatory or dispositional decisions. Instead, he argues that the trial court did not issue a final, appealable order after the adjudication and disposition of the children and, for that reason, this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear this appeal.

{¶10} Any lack of finality in that prior judgment would have no bearing on this Court’s appellate jurisdiction, however, because Father has not appealed from the adjudication and initial disposition of his children, nor does he attack its merits in this appeal. Instead, Father appeals from the termination of his parental rights, which has long been recognized as an order that is final and appealable by a parent. See In re Masters, 165 Ohio St. 503 (1956), paragraph one of the syllabus. Father fails to cite legal authority, nor is this Court aware of any, to support the underlying premise of his argument that the finality of a permanent custody judgment hinges

upon whether the prior adjudication and disposition of the children was final and appealable. Father’s first assignment of error is overruled.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR II

THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE AND PLAIN ERROR WHEN IT ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE JOURNAL ENTRIES OF CONVICTIONS WHEN THE EXHIBITS DID NOT COMPLY WITH [CRIMINAL RULE] 32(C) AND THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO ESTABLISH THAT FATHER WAS THE DEFENDANT IN THOSE PRIOR CASES.

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