In re the Welfare of R. M. M.

316 N.W.2d 538, 1982 Minn. LEXIS 1481
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 5, 1982
DocketNo. 52081
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 316 N.W.2d 538 (In re the Welfare of R. M. M.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Welfare of R. M. M., 316 N.W.2d 538, 1982 Minn. LEXIS 1481 (Mich. 1982).

Opinion

WAHL, Justice.

This is an appeal by E. A. M. from an order of the Ramsey County District Court, Juvenile Court Division, terminating her parental rights to her son, R. M. M. III. Because E. A. M. is an Indian and R. M. M. Ill is an Indian child, the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1901-1963 (Supp.1981), applies to this case. That act requires the state to notify an Indian child’s tribe of any proceedings involving the custody of that child. 25 U.S.C. § 1912(a) (Supp.1981). Since E. A. M. is a member of the Fon Du Lac Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, the Chippewa Tribe was informed of these proceedings by certified mail on October 5, 1979. When the Tribe did not elect to exercise its jurisdiction, the Ramsey County District Court proceeded on the matter.

The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 provides that parental rights to an Indian child will be terminated only when it is established beyond a reasonable doubt that continued custody by the parent is “likely to result in serious emotional or physical damage to the child.” 25 U.S.C. § 1912(f) (Supp.1981). E. A. M. challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to meet this stringent standard of proof. We affirm the trial court.

E. A. M., at 31 years of age, has a long and sad history of chemical abuse and instability. She has been institutionalized numerous times, including 10 to 15 stays at Hastings State Hospital, and has attempted suicide several times. In 1970, she tried to set fire to herself after she had been raped. On another occasion she tried to hang herself, and twice she took overdoses of drugs. As recently as July 13, 1980, she tried to jump from a bridge in downtown St. Paul.

E. A. M. voluntarily terminated her parental rights to her first three children. R. M. M. Ill, her fourth child, was born on April 30, 1977, after E. A. M. had been living with the child’s father, R. M., for about a year. After the first 2 years of the child’s life, the family situation seemed relatively stable. However, in 1979, the Ramsey County Human Services Department learned that E. A. M. was going off and leaving R. M. M. Ill for periods of time and that the father felt he was not able to cope with the child during those absences.

In February 1979, R. M. placed R. M. M. Ill in a shelter during one of E. A. M.’s absences. Although E. A. M. took her son back upon her return, she asked to have him put in a shelter home about a month later. At that time she said that she could not provide for his care because of conflicts in her relationship with R. M., that she did not want the responsibility of parenting, and that she wanted to terminate her parental rights.

R. M. M..III was placed in shelter care on May 1, 1979, and, with the exception of a brief time in August 1979, has remained under the care of Ramsey County since that date. In August 1979, E. A. M. took R. M. M. Ill to live with her; however, she dropped him off at a nursery 2 weeks later and did not return for him. Ramsey County then filed a petition to have R. M. M. Ill adjudicated dependent and neglected and placed in the legal custody of the Human Services Department. The petition for custody was granted on November 29, 1979, after a hearing at which both E. A. M. and R. M. admitted that they had abandoned R. M. M. Ill and that he was without proper care because of their emotional and mental disabilities and psychiatric problems.

E. A. M. expressed little interest in R. M. M. Ill while he was in foster care. She visited him in January 1980 but did not request another visit until June of that year. Meanwhile, on February 12,1980, she again told her social worker that she wanted to terminate her parental rights to R. M. M. III. On May 7, 1980, the County filed a Petition for Termination of Parental Rights, which E. A. M. then denied.

[540]*540Dr. John Seanlan, the psychiatrist who had treated E. A. M. when she was hospitalized after her most recent suicide attempt, testified at the termination hearing, on October 13, 1980, that E. A. M. suffers from alcohol abuse, antisocial personality, and situational depression. He believes that E. A. M.’s ability to parent is severely impaired and that R. M. M. Ill’s emotional and physical health will be jeopardized if he is placed with her. Scanlen does not anticipate a significant change in E. A. M.’s condition in the foreseeable future and believes that treatment for chemical dependency will not, by itself, cure her problems.

Two of E. A. M.’s social workers also believe that her condition is prolonged and indeterminate. Lynn Beutel, who worked with E. A. M. around the time of R. M. M. Ill’s birth and again in the early months of 1979, stated that there was no indication of abuse when R. M. M. Ill was in his mother’s care but that E. A. M. is ambivalent about her parental role. Douglas Johnson, who began working with E. A. M. in March 1979, indicated that she relies on chemicals whenever her life becomes stressful and that this adds to her dysfunction, which he defines as her' inability to make good decisions for herself and to make plans for more than a few days at a time.

Both Johnson and Michael G. Finnegan, R. M. M. Ill’s guardian ad litem, believe that R. M. M. Ill needs long-term attachments, security and stability which E. A. M. cannot provide because of her instability, relationship conflicts, use of alcohol and prolonged absences. Finnegan stated at oral argument before this court that he has encouraged E. A. M. to go to Genesis 2, a program where she would learn parenting skills. She could not go there, however, because Genesis 2 would not take her until she did something about her chemical dependency, and she refused to enter treatment.

E. A. M. testified at length on the subject of her use of chemicals. She stated that she would not want her son back while she was using chemicals and that she would be willing to go through any treatment program that is necessary. However, when asked why she did not go into treatment in the summer of 1980, as she had indicated she would, E. A. M. said she had changed her mind because she “wanted to drink some more.” She also recalled a conversation in which Johnson urged her to go into treatment. When Johnson indicated that she would not get her son back because she had not gone into treatment, E. A. M. said she didn’t “like to be pushed into anything because it has to look good for somebody in the courtroom.” At another point in the proceedings, E. A. M. was asked if she would voluntarily enroll in a treatment program the following week. She responded, “Hopefully I will, yes.”

The issue presented on appeal is whether the evidence is sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt to support the findings of the trial court and to uphold its decision terminating E. A. M.’s parental rights to R. M. M. III.

This case is governed by Minnesota’s termination statute, which provides that:

The juvenile court may, upon petition, terminate all rights of a parent to a child * * * (b) if it finds that one or more of the following conditions exist:
(2) That the parents have substantially and continuously or repeatedly refused to give the child necessary parental care and protection; or
* * * * * *■

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Bluebook (online)
316 N.W.2d 538, 1982 Minn. LEXIS 1481, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-welfare-of-r-m-m-minn-1982.