in the Interest of L.R.R. and A.P.R., Children

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided December 7, 2022·No. 04-22-00357-CV·Published

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals

San Antonio, Texas

MEMORANDUM OPINION

No. 04-22-00357-CV

IN THE INTEREST OF L.R.R. and A.P.R., Children

From the 37th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2021-PA-00430 Honorable Linda A. Rodriguez, Judge Presiding

Opinion by: Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice

Sitting: Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice Irene Rios, Justice

Beth Watkins, Justice

Delivered and Filed: December 7, 2022 AFFIRMED In this parental rights termination case, the trial court terminated Mom’s rights to her children L.R.R. and A.P.R. i on three grounds: (D), (E), and (O). On appeal, Mom challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence for the trial court’s findings on statutory grounds (D) and (E) and the best interests of the children.

Having reviewed the evidence under the elevated standards, we conclude it was legally and factually sufficient to support the trial court’s findings on grounds (D) and (E) and the best interests of the children. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order.

i We use aliases to protect the children’s identities. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 109.002(d); TEX. R. APP. P. 9.8.

BACKGROUND

In this case, Mom is the only appellant, and we limit our recitation of the facts to those relating to Mom, the children, and Mom’s conduct with respect to statutory grounds (D) and (E) and the best interests of the children. See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 161.001(b)(1)(D), (E). A. History of Alcohol Abuse, Children’s Births In 2014, Mom was arrested for DWI. She was put on probation in August 2014. Mom and Dad started living together in about 2015. That same year, Dad was arrested for DWI; his blood- alcohol content was “close to three times the legal limit.” Dad was placed on probation in 2016. In February 2016, Mom pled true to violating her probation, and she was sentenced to thirty days in jail. In early 2017, L.R.R. was born. In December 2018, after repeatedly violating his probation conditions, Dad was sentenced to ninety days in jail. In late 2019, A.P.R. was born. B. First Department Case In March 2020, the children were taken into care for the first time due to an incident of family violence and drug and alcohol abuse. At that time, L.R.R. was three years old, and A.P.R. was five months old.

When police arrived at the home, A.P.R. was covered with Mom’s blood, L.R.R. had a parent’s blood on her clothing, and L.R.R. had a hand-shaped bruise on her upper hip area. Mom and Dad were both intoxicated from alcohol and drugs, and Dad had assaulted Mom. He bruised both of her eyes and cut the bridge of her nose. Mom was admitted to a psychiatric care facility, and the children were removed by the police.

The Department created service plans for Mom and Dad, and they worked their services.

In November 2020, the children were returned to them. On March 5, 2021, their legal case was closed.

C. Second Department Case 1. Drugs and Alcohol Five days later, on March 10, 2021, Mom and Dad decided to celebrate the closing of their Department case. They left the children with Mom’s sister, and they went out to go drinking. After they visited and drank alcohol at three different bars, Dad bought some cocaine, which Mom and Dad used. Thereafter, they went to Mom’s sister’s house to pick up their children, and they brought the children home.

2. Children Removed, Service Plan Created On March 12, 2021, the Department received a referral alleging neglectful supervision of the children. Based on its investigation, the Department removed the children, and it created service plans for Mom and Dad. Mom admitted—and regretted—drinking alcohol and using cocaine on the night of March 10th. She recognized that drinking alcohol led her to use drugs.

3. Dad’s Continued Drug Abuse During this second Department case, Dad continued to struggle with drug abuse, and Mom knew that Dad was continuing to use drugs. Dad attended some Narcotics Anonymous meetings and an intensive outpatient treatment program. But despite participating in treatment programs, he relapsed with alcohol and methamphetamine in June and November 2021.

4. Mom’s Progress Mom completed a substance abuse treatment program and a parenting course. She participated in therapy sessions, attended some Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and submitted to random drug tests—which were all negative.

5. Home Conditions On November 19, 2021, when the Department case worker visited, Mom and Dad’s apartment was cluttered and dirty: there were empty beer cans on the coffee table, on the living

room floor, and on the bedroom floor. Mom denied that the beer cans were hers. There were also shattered plastic pieces and empty pill bottles on the floor, a pile of clothing on the bed, leftover food in the bedroom, dirty dishes stacked in the sink, and lots of trash on the floor. The case worker was concerned about the conditions, including trash and broken pieces of plastic on the floor—which a young child might put into its mouth. On November 28, 2021, the case worker again met with Mom in the home, and the home “was still the same way, dirty.”

6. Mom’s Relationship with Dad At trial, Mom testified that she had ended her relationship with Dad about three weeks earlier. She wanted to have Dad in the children’s lives, but she insisted she had ended her relationship with Dad because of his ongoing drug use.

7. Trial Court Judgment, Mom’s Appeal The trial court found that Mom engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the children with a person who endangered the children and that terminating Mom’s and Dad’s parental rights to their children was in the children’s best interests.

Mom challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting statutory grounds (D) and (E), but not (O). She also challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence on the best-interests-of-the-children findings.

Before we address the sufficiency issues, we briefly recite the applicable evidentiary and appellate review standards.

EVIDENCE REQUIRED, ELEVATED STANDARDS OF REVIEW “[I]n a bench trial, the judge as the trier of fact weighs the evidence, assesses the credibility of witnesses and resolves conflicts and inconsistencies.” In re S.J.R.-Z., 537 S.W.3d 677, 691 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2017, pet. denied); accord In re F.M., 536 S.W.3d 843, 844 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2017, no pet.).

On review, an appellate court must not “substitute its own judgment for that of a reasonable factfinder.” In re Commitment of Stoddard, 619 S.W.3d 665, 668 (Tex. 2020); accord In re H.R.M., 209 S.W.3d 105, 108 (Tex. 2006).

The evidentiary standard 1 the Department must meet and the statutory grounds 2 the trial court must find to terminate a parent’s rights to a child are well known, as are the legal 3 and factual 4 sufficiency standards of review. We apply those standards here.

STATUTORY GROUNDS FOR TERMINATING DAD’S PARENTAL RIGHTS A. Statutory Grounds Findings Mom challenges the trial court’s findings on only grounds (D) and (E). A single statutory ground finding, accompanied by a best interest of the child finding, when both are supported by sufficient evidence, is sufficient to support terminating a parent’s rights under section 161.001. In re A.V., 113 S.W.3d 355, 362 (Tex. 2003); In re R.S.-T., 522 S.W.3d 92, 111 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2017, no pet.).

But where a parent’s rights have been terminated on grounds (D) or (E), we must provide the details of our analysis supporting those grounds. See In re N.G., 577 S.W.3d 230, 237 (Tex. 2019) (“We hold that due process and due course of law requirements mandate that an appellate court detail its analysis for an appeal of termination of parental rights under section 161.001(b)(1)(D) or (E) of the Family Code.”).

We turn to the law and the evidence supporting the trial court’s challenged findings, beginning with grounds (D) and (E). See TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 161.001(b)(1)(D), (E). B. Section 161.001(b)(1)(D)

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