In the Interest of S. W. J. R D.

630 S.E.2d 824, 279 Ga. App. 226
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMay 5, 2006
DocketA06A0607
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 630 S.E.2d 824 (In the Interest of S. W. J. R D.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In the Interest of S. W. J. R D., 630 S.E.2d 824, 279 Ga. App. 226 (Ga. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Mikell, Judge.

The mother of S. W. J. P. D. Ill, and D. L. L., Jr., appeals from the juvenile court’s order terminating her parental rights. She contends that the juvenile court erred because there was a lack of clear and convincing evidence (i) of current deprivation or the likelihood of deprivation in the future, and (ii) that termination of her parental rights was in the children’s best interests. We disagree and affirm.

In considering a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting an order terminating parental rights, this Court is required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee, here the [Glynn County Department of Family and Children Services (the “Department”)], and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found by clear and convincing evidence that the natural parent’s rights have been lost. We do not weigh the evidence or determine the credibility of the witnesses but defer to the trial court’s factfinding and affirm unless the evidence fails to satisfy the appellate standard of review.

(Footnotes omitted.) In the Interest of S. T., 244 Ga. App. 86, 87 (1) (534 SE2d 813) (2000).

[227]*227So viewed, the evidence shows that on December 13, 2000, the Department received a complaint from police that the almost two-year-old S. W. J. P. D. had been found alone near a public street while the mother was at home in bed. The next day, the Department took S. W. J. P. D. into protective custody and filed a deprivation petition. The juvenile court issued a consent order on January 2, 2001, reflecting that the mother had stipulated to S. W. J. P. D.’s deprivation by reason of neglect and inadequate supervision. The child was placed in the temporary custody of the Department. The juvenile court also found S. W. J. P. D. to be deprived in its orders of January 30, 2003, and April 13, 2004, in which the cause of deprivation was determined to be the “mental/physical impairment of parent.”

D. L. L. was born in August 2004. Shortly thereafter, the Department took the child into protective custody and filed a deprivation petition. The mother stipulated to the petition’s allegations, and in an order dated September 2, 2004, the juvenile court found D. L. L. to be deprivedforreasonsof “neglect/inadequate housing” and “mental/physical impairment of parent.” The juvenile court placed D. L. L. in the temporary custody of the Department. On September 8, 2004, the Department filed a petition to terminate the mother’s parental rights to the children.

At the termination hearing on November 10, 2004, the Department’s case manager testified that the primary obstacle to the mother’s reunification with the children was her mental health. Evidence of the mother’s mental health problems was introduced through a psychological evaluation performed by Dr. Krop, a licensed psychologist. According to Dr. Krop, the mother showed a high “probability of dysfunctional behavior,” appeared to be “blaming the child,” and had developed “an excessive degree of detachment” with respect to S. W. J. P. D. Dr. Krop diagnosed the mother with

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Major Depression, Recurrent, Severe. Overall, this woman presents as a severely disturbed individual totally lacking in insight as to how her long-standing maladaptive behavior pattern and personality traits will impact on her parenting. Although this woman would not likely engage in behavior to intentionally harm her children, [her disorder] would significantly interfere with her capacity to provide for the needs of a child.

Dr. Krop described the mother’s prognoses in therapy to be poor.

The mother’s caseworker testified that one of the mother’s goals under her reunification plan was to consistently follow treatment recommended by physical and mental health providers. However, the [228]*228mother’s attendance at scheduled therapy sessions was sporadic, and the mother did not consistently take her prescribed medication.

The mother’s caseworker also testified that under the mother’s reunification plan the mother was required to maintain safe and appropriate housing. During visits to the mother’s apartment, however, the caseworker observed newspapers and advertisements stacked on the floor and on the sofa and boxes in the kitchen. She saw spider webs on the walls and in the corners, mold and mildew on the bathroom walls, bags of garbage in the kitchen, and a “big container” on the coffee table full of different medications.

The caseworker further testified that S. W. J. P. D. had made tremendous improvements in foster care, and that he had been placed with foster parents who had expressed an interest in adoption. According to the caseworker, the foster parents had also expressed an interest in adopting D. L. L.1 The caseworker testified that S. W. J. P. D. was bonded with his foster parents and knew the mother only as “the lady that comes to see him.”

The mother’s cousin testified that she and other family members had taken care of the mother because the mother did not take care of herself. The grandmother had previously paid the mother’s rent and managed her bills, although the grandmother had “cut [the mother] off” several months before the hearing. According to the cousin, the mother is a “pack rat” who keeps newspapers and other material piled up in her apartment to the extent the cousin believed it to be a fire hazard.

D. L. L.’s father testified that he had been living with the mother for the past seven to nine months, and that she had gotten “behind” in paying the bills. According to the father, the mother had a habit of accumulating things, and although he did as much as he could to clean the apartment, “stuff” kept reappearing after it was cleaned away. The father believed the mother’s apartment was not a suitable environment for a child. The mother’s cousin and D. L. L.’s father both testified that in their opinion the mother could not take care of her children.

Following the termination hearing, the juvenile court entered an order on December 14, 2004, terminating the mother’s parental rights to the children. In In the Interest of S. W. J. P. D., 275 Ga. App. 272 (620 SE2d 497) (2005), we vacated that order and remanded the case with direction that the juvenile court make appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law and enter a judgment based thereon. Id. [229]*229at 273. On October 6, 2005, the juvenile court entered a new order terminating the mother’s parental rights to the children, and the mother appeals from this order.

1. The mother claims that the juvenile court erred in terminating her parental rights because there was a lack of clear and convincing evidence showing that the children were currently deprived and that they would likely be deprived in the future. We disagree.

Termination of parental rights is a two-step process requiring that the juvenile court determine (1) that there is present clear and convincing evidence of parental misconduct or inability; and (2) that termination of parental rights is in the best interest of the children. OCGA § 15-11-94 (a).

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Bluebook (online)
630 S.E.2d 824, 279 Ga. App. 226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-s-w-j-r-d-gactapp-2006.