In the Interest of S.L.

140 S.W.3d 208, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 922, 2004 WL 1418077
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 25, 2004
DocketNo. 25855
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 140 S.W.3d 208 (In the Interest of S.L.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals 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.L., 140 S.W.3d 208, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 922, 2004 WL 1418077 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

JAMES K. PREWITT, Judge.

D.L.J. (“Mother”) brings this appeal following an order from the Circuit Court of Greene County (“trial court”) terminating her parental rights to three female, minor children, S.L., L.L., and R.L., on the bases of abuse and neglect (§ 211.447.4(2), RSMo) and failure to rectify or remedy (§ 211.447.4(3), RSMo). Parental rights of the children’s father were previously relinquished separately. This appeal involves only the parental rights of Mother.

In November of 1990, Mother adopted S.L., L.L., and R.L. from an adoption facility in Romania. In February of 2000, Mother and the children’s father separated.

The Division of Family Services (“DFS”) received referrals alleging child abuse and neglect in February of 2000 and again in April of 2000. Intensive in-home and family-centered services were provided to Mother and the children, however, the situation did not stabilize for any extended period of time. In October of 2000, a request for intervention was made to the [210]*210juvenile officer. The family situation continued to deteriorate, and on February 22, 2001, upon a recommendation from the DFS citing Mother’s inability to parent her children’s emotional and psychological needs, the juvenile officer petitioned for and received an order granting protective custody of the minor children.

The petition for removal set forth two counts, the first count alleging that:

Said juveniles have been subjected to a chaotic and unstable lifestyle by their mother as demonstrated by her use of both medical as well as psychiatric diagnoses of her children for purposes of secondary gain, [i.e.], to allow her to rework and undo her own childhood history of abandonment by her parents and specifically by fostering an excessive dependency of her children upon her so as to prevent her being left again, which jeopardizes the safety and general well-being of said juveniles[.]

The allegations contained in the second count of the petition pertained to the children’s father. Also alleged in the petition for removal was the following:

The juveniles are in such condition or surroundings that their welfare requires that their custody be immediately assumed by the court, for the reason that said juveniles are otherwise without proper care, custody, or support and are otherwise legally neglected as defined by Chapter 210 and 211 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri as amended to date, and [are] in need of the care, treatment and services of this Court.

An order for temporary legal custody was issued on February 22, 2001. Further family-centered services, including psychological and psychiatric treatment and counseling, were provided to the children and Mother following the children’s removal from Mother’s home. However, the record indicates that Mother failed to make any significant progress. She ceased participating in individual therapy, was not consistent in attending meetings with the Family Support Team, failed to maintain consistent contact with DFS, and failed to participate in parenting classes. In addition, Mother’s behavior at parent-child visitations was described as “grossly inappropriate” on the occasions she did attend, which resulted in visitation being suspended.

Termination of parental rights was recommended and a petition for termination was filed on March 1, 2002. Hearings were held on April 21 and 22, 2003. The trial court entered its order terminating Mother’s parental rights on June 13, 2003.

Mother appeals, presenting two points relied on. We will address Mother’s second point first, as its resolution aids in the disposition of point one. Point two states:

The trial court erred in finding, as a basis for terminating Mother’s parental rights, that the conditions leading to the assumption of jurisdiction remain or conditions of a potentially harmful nature continue to exist because said finding was not based upon substantial evidence and was against the weight of the evidence in that:
a. The conditions which led to the assumption of jurisdiction in February of 2001 were a chaotic and unstable environment in Mother’s home due to a pending divorce action from the children’s father as well as severe behavioral problems with the children which required numerous hospitalizations of the children; and
b. Since the assumption of jurisdiction in February of 2001:
i. Mother has remarried and maintained a stable home for over a year;
[211]*211ii. Mother has been in therapy since February of 2001 for depression with Doctor Alok Jain and has made a substantial improvement in her ability to handle her affairs and the children;
iii. Mother’s visits with the children were terminated by the Division of Family Services in November of 2001, thus preventing her from maintaining a relationship with the children; and
iv. Mother attempted to support the children while they were in the custody of the Division of Family Services by providing cash and in-kind support even though her only source of income was $800.00 per month in maintenance from her ex-husband, which terminated in December of 2001, and Social Security disability benefits.

Appellant contends that “the question that was presented to the trial court, and now to this Court, is whether these conditions, which primarily revolve around Mother’s mental state, still exist and still endanger the welfare of the children.”

Appellant cites the following examples to demonstrate an improvement in Mother’s conditions: that Mother’s treating psychiatrist testified “that he has seen considerable improvement in Mother’s condition [and] does not see her condition as permanently irreversible”; that Mother’s treating psychologist testified “that Mother came across as concerned for the children and dedicated to them[,]” and that Mother’s disorder is not a permanent condition; that Mother has remarried and now resides in a home in Taney County; that Mother’s “sporadic” contact with the children was due, in part, to problems she experienced obtaining transportation for the visits and that ultimately DFS terminated those visits in November of 2001; and, that Mother’s lack of attendance at parenting programs was “apparently due to transportation problems” and DFS’s refusal to pay for one such class.

Appellant summarizes these examples in the following manner:

It appears that all of the concerns alleged by the Greene County Juvenile Office and found by the trial court as a ground for terminating Mother’s parental rights were in fact caused either by Mother’s disabilities, which resulted in Mother’s experiencing very strained financial circumstances, or road blocks put in her way by the Missouri Division of Family Services in denying her access to services and the opportunity to maintain a relationship with her children.
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Contrary to the trial court’s findings, the conditions outlined in the original abuse/neglect petition have been remedied and the children should be returned to Mother in the near future.
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Bluebook (online)
140 S.W.3d 208, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 922, 2004 WL 1418077, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-sl-moctapp-2004.