In re Troy C.

196 A.3d 452
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedNovember 13, 2018
DocketDocket: Han-18-95
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 196 A.3d 452 (In re Troy C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Troy C., 196 A.3d 452 (Me. 2018).

Opinion

PER CURIAM

[¶ 1] The mother and father of the child appeal from a judgment of the District Court (Ellsworth, Roberts, J. ) terminating their parental rights to their son pursuant to 22 M.R.S. § 4055(1)(A)(1)(a) and (B)(2)(a), (b)(i)-(iv) (2017). The father contends that the court erred in its parental unfitness finding and that he was denied due process. The mother contends that the court erred in its determination that termination of her parental rights is in the best interest of the child. We affirm the judgment.

*454I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] The following facts, which are supported by the evidence, are drawn from the court's judgment and the procedural record. See In re Dominyk T. , 2017 ME 222, ¶ 5, 173 A.3d 1065.

[¶ 3] The Department of Health and Human Services (the Department) became involved with this family in February 2015 following reports of domestic violence and substance abuse. On the Department's petition, the court (Mallonee, J. ) issued a preliminary protection order on February 20, 2015. After the opportunity for a summary preliminary hearing, the court awarded the father custody of the child with several conditions imposed, including that the father participate in a substance abuse assessment and education program, and that the father have no contact with the mother in the child's presence.

[¶ 4] The court returned the child to the Department's custody in April 2015, following the Department's second request for a preliminary protection order, in which the Department alleged that the child was present in the father's home when the mother assaulted the father.

[¶ 5] The Department petitioned to terminate both parents' parental rights on March 10, 2016. Following a hearing, the court (Roberts, J. ) denied the petition. In denying the petition, the court found that the mother, who had been unable to provide care of the child for nine months due to substance abuse, met all four statutory definitions of parental unfitness. See 22 M.R.S. § 4055(1)(B)(2)(b)(i)-(iv). Based on evidence that he had not attended medical appointments and had missed several scheduled visits with the child, the court found that the father had not made a good faith effort to rehabilitate and reunify with the child. See 22 M.R.S. § 4041(1-A)(B) (2017). The court also found that the father did not understand the risk that the mother's substance abuse posed to the child. Nevertheless, because the court found that the Department had not given the father "a clear indication of the steps he must take to rehabilitate and reunify," the court did not find that the father was unfit. The court denied the Department's petition with respect to both parents, determining that it would not be in the child's best interest to terminate the mother's parental rights when reunification with the father remained a possibility.

[¶ 6] The court, therefore, denied the petition for termination and issued a judicial review order clearly setting out the responsibilities of the father in the upcoming reunification process. The court ordered that the father "shall participate in random drug screening and abstain from use of any non-prescribed mood altering substances; ... [and] shall participate in an updated substance abuse evaluation and follow all recommendations." Following this order, the Department sent several letters to the father expressing concerns about positive results on drug tests.

[¶ 7] On June 19, 2017, the Department filed a second petition for termination of parental rights. Following a two-day hearing, the court made the following findings of fact, all of which are supported by competent evidence in the record:

[The mother's] relationship with [the father] was marred by domestic violence to a degree which would jeopardize [the child's] safety. [The mother] was unable to provide safe care for [the child] for a period of 9 months preceding the first Termination hearing due to substance abuse .... [The mother] acknowledges that she is unable to provide for [the child] at this time ....
....
[The father] began counseling ... in April of 2017....
*455... Unfortunately, [the father] was discharged from [counseling] on July 19, 2017, due to repeated, unexcused absences.
... He has not demonstrated an understanding of the impact his drug usage will have on [the child].
....
... [The father] deserves credit .... He has recently purchased a new home suitable for [the child's] care. [He] has been responsive in counseling ..., aside from the substance abuse issues. He is making progress ....
The difficulty for the parents is one of timing. [The child] is 4½ years old .... He is smart and articulate and wants to know where he will be living permanently. He cannot continue to wait for his parents to do all the things necessary to set up a stable, consistent and safe life. [The child] has established a strong bond [in his current placement and] is very happy in [that] home. He needs a permanent home now. This is a particularly troubling case because it is clear to this court that [the parents] love [the child] dearly. Despite that love, they are unable to take full responsibility for [the child] at this time. The Court does not believe that they will be able to take responsibility for him within a time reasonably calculated to meet his needs.
....
Finally, the Court finds that it is in the best interest of [the child] that the parental rights be terminated so as to allow [adoption]. The Court has considered the parents' proposal that a permanency guardianship would be in [the child's] best interest. The Court disagrees. [The child] has been asking where he will go permanently for some time now. He needs to have a definitive answer to his question. A guardianship cannot give [the child] the permanency that he needs.

Based on these findings and others, the court entered an order terminating both parents' parental rights, with a permanency plan of adoption. The parents timely appealed. See M.R. App. P. 2B(c).

II. DISCUSSION

[¶ 8] The father challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the court's unfitness findings, and he contends that he was denied due process because he was not notified that his use of unprescribed drugs would be considered in making a determination regarding his parental unfitness. The mother does not challenge the court's findings of unfitness as to her, but she contends that the court erred in its determination that termination of her parental rights is in the child's best interest. We review the court's factual findings related to parental unfitness and the best interest of the child for clear error, and we review the ultimate decision to terminate parental rights for an abuse of discretion. See In re Child of Ronald W. , 2018 ME 107

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Bluebook (online)
196 A.3d 452, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-troy-c-me-2018.