In the Interest of V.L.R.

507 S.W.3d 788, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 11848, 2015 WL 7280987
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 18, 2015
DocketNo. 08-15-00250-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 507 S.W.3d 788 (In the Interest of V.L.R.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas 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 V.L.R., 507 S.W.3d 788, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 11848, 2015 WL 7280987 (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Chief Justice

S.H.R. is appealing a judgment terminating her parental rights. Finding that the evidence is legally insufficient to establish the finding required by Section 1912(f) of the Indian Child Welfare Act,1 we reverse the termination order and render judgment denying the petition for termination of S.H.R.’s parental rights.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

On July 29, 2014, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (TDFPS) filed a petition seeking to take possession and be appointed the temporary managing conservator of a fourteen-year-old child, V.L.R., because she had been the victim of neglect or sexual abuse. The petition also sought to terminate the parental rights of the child’s mother, the presumed father, and the alleged father.2 On July 29, 2014, the trial court entered emergency temporary orders appointing TDFPS as the temporary managing conservator of V.L.R.

The original petition expressly alleged that V.L.R. is an Indian child. At the time the original petition was filed, V.L.R. was living with J.M.R., her permanent legal guardian. In the petition’s supporting affidavit, investigator Jessica Rodriguez averred that J.M.R. informed her that V.L.R. is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. According to Rodriguez, the Oglala Sioux tribe had participated in prior child custody proceedings in Nebraska involving V.L.R. S.H.R.’s parental rights were not terminated, but V.L.R. was eventually placed with J.M.R., the child’s paternal aunt, when she was approximately two and a half years of age. Less than one week before TDFPS filed the original petition, Rodriguez contacted the Oglala Sioux tribe about V.L.R. and spoke to William Cross who confirmed that V.L.R. is a tribal member. Mr. Cross informed Rodriguez that “the tribe would not be stepping in” and he authorized TDFPS to proceed with the necessary actions. The clerk’s record includes copies of the notices sent by TDFPS to the Oglala Sioux Tribe and to the Bureau of Indian Affairs-Southern Plains Region informing them that a custody suit involving an Indian child, V.L.R., had been filed. The notices sent to the Oglala Sioux tribe are addressed to the attention of William Cross. There is noth[791]*791ing in the record indicating that the Oglala Sioux tribe made any written response to these notices.3

Under the third amended petition, TDFPS sought to terminate S.H.R.’s parental rights under Section 161.001(b)(1)(D), (E), (N), and (0) of the Texas Family Code. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 161.001(b)(1)(D), (E), (N), (O) (West Supp.2015). The parties tried the case in a bench trial on July 1, 2015, and TDFPS announced that it was abandoning the allegations based on Section 161.001(1)(D) and (E). S.H.R. was served with the petition on October 8, 2014 while she was in jail in Denver, Colorado, but she did not appear at trial. The Oglala Sioux tribe removed V.L.R. from S.H.R.’s custody when she was two-and-one-half years of age and placed her with J.M.R. V.L.R. was fourteen years of age when TDFPS filed the original petition. S.H.R. did not visit with V.L.R. during the entire time she lived with J.M.R., and she did not have any contact with the child except through Facebook. Further, S.H.R. did not visit or maintain contact with V.L.R. during the eleven month period after TDFPS became temporary managing conservator.

Applying the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard required by Section 1912(f) of the Indian Child Welfare Act, the trial court made the following findings in the order terminating S.H.R.’s parental rights:

2.4. The Court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that active efforts have been made to provide remedial services and rehabilitative programs designed to prevent the breakup of the Indian family and that these efforts have proved unsuccessful, and the continued custody of the child by the parent or Indian custodian is likely to result in serious emotional or physical damage to the child.
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6.1. The Court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that termination of the. parent-child relationship between [S.H.R.] and the child the. subject of this suit is in the child’s best interest.
6.2. Further, the Court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that [S.H.R.] has:
6.2.1. constructivély abandoned the child who has been in the permanent or temporary managing conservator-ship of the Department of Family and Protective Services or an authorized agency for not less than six months and: (1) the Department or authorized agency has made reasonable efforts to return the child to the mother; (2) the mother has not regularly visited or maintained significant contact with the child; and (8) the mother has demonstrated an inability to provide the child with a safe environment, pursuant to § 161.001(Z )(N), Texas Family Code;
6.2.2. failed to comply with the provisions of a court order that specifically established the actions necessary for the mother to obtain the return of the child who has been in the permanent or temporary managing conservator-ship of the Department of Family and Protective Services for not less than nine months as a result' of the child’s removal from the parent under Chap[792]*792ter 262 for the abuse or neglect of the child, pursuant to § 161.001(J )(0), Texas Family Code.

INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA or the Act) applies to an involuntary child custody proceeding pending in a state court when the court knows or has reason to know that an Indian child is involved in a child custody proceeding. 25 U.S.C.A. § 1912(f); In re R.R. Jr., 294 S.W.3d 213, 217 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 2009, no pet.); Doty-Jabbar v. Dallas County Child Protective Services, 19 S.W.3d 870, 874 (Tex.App.—Dallas 2000, pet. denied). Under ICWA, a “child custody proceeding” includes a termination of parental rights action. 25 U.S.C.A. § 1903(1)(ii).

Congress enacted ICWA in 1978 in response to a rising concern over the consequences to Indian tribes, Indian families, and the children of abusive child welfare practices that resulted in the separation of Indian children from their families and tribes. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, 490 U.S. 30, 32, 109 S.Ct. 1597, 1599-1600, 104 L.Ed.2d 29 (1989); In re R.R., Jr., 294 S.W.3d at 217. Congress included the following three findings in the Act:

(3) that there is no resource that is more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children and that the United States has a direct interest, as trustee, in protecting Indian children who are members of or are eligible for membership in an Indian tribe;

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
507 S.W.3d 788, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 11848, 2015 WL 7280987, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-vlr-texapp-2015.