In the Matter of the Term. of the Parent-Child Rel. of J.C., Et.C. & El.C. S.C. v. Indiana Department of Child Services

994 N.E.2d 278, 2013 WL 2285345, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 246
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 24, 2013
Docket29A02-1210-JT-833
StatusPublished
Cited by138 cases

This text of 994 N.E.2d 278 (In the Matter of the Term. of the Parent-Child Rel. of J.C., Et.C. & El.C. S.C. v. Indiana Department of Child Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana 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 Matter of the Term. of the Parent-Child Rel. of J.C., Et.C. & El.C. S.C. v. Indiana Department of Child Services, 994 N.E.2d 278, 2013 WL 2285345, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 246 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

MAY, Judge.

S.C. (Mother) appeals the involuntary termination of her parental rights to J.C., Et.C, and El.C., and presents three issues:

1. Whether the Department of Child Services (DCS) presented sufficient evidence there was a reasonable probability that the conditions that resulted in the children’s removal would not be remedied;
*282 2. Whether DCS presented sufficient evidence involuntary termination of Mother’s parental rights was in the children’s best interests; and
3. Whether DCS presented sufficient evidence there existed a satisfactory plan for the care and treatment of the children.

We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Mother and V.C. (Father) are the parents of Et.C., born July 26, 2006; J.C., born December 21, 2008; and El.C., born February 23, 2011. On March 18, 2010, DCS detained Et.C. and J.C. after Mother was arrested for theft and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Father could not be located at the time of Mother’s arrest. On March 22, the juvenile court held a hearing to determine if Et.C. and J.C. were Children in Need of Services (CHINS) and should be removed from the family home. The court determined Et.C. and J.C. were CHINS, but did not order removal, as Father was able to care for them.

On July 26, the court ordered Mother and Father to participate in a variety of services; to maintain contact with DCS and the Guardian ad Litem (GAL); to keep all appointments with service providers; to allow announced and unannounced visits by DCS or the GAL; to maintain suitable housing and sources of support and income sufficient for the safe upbringing of Et.C. and J.C.; to participate in home-based therapy, counseling, and case management; to participate in and successfully complete a parenting assessment; and to abstain from the use of drugs and alcohol. That order left Et.C. and J.C. in Mother’s care, as Father was incarcerated.

On September 13, 2010, the court removed Et.C. and J.C. from Mother’s care because Mother had been arrested for neglect of a dependent and public intoxication after she fell asleep at a restaurant due to intoxication and then attempted to walk herself and the children across a busy highway. Et.C. and J.C. were placed in foster care.

On December 22, the court held a review hearing. It noted Mother was compliant with many requirements of the CHINS case plan, including that her drug screens had been negative and she had completed an Intensive Outpatient Program for substance abuse. Et.C. and J.C. could not be placed with Mother, however, because she was serving a sentence in a work-release facility.

On February 23, 2011, while still at the work release facility, Mother gave birth to El.C. DCS immediately filed a CHINS Petition because both parents were incarcerated. The court adjudicated El.C. a CHINS and ordered Mother to complete the services consistent with the other CHINS adjudication.

By May 2011, Mother had successfully completed all services required by the CHINS case management plan. The court ordered preparation for a trial home placement of the children with Mother to begin on July 1. In September 2011, things were going so well that Mother, Mother’s fiancé, and DCS service providers met to discuss full reunification and possible closing of the CHINS cases in the near future.

On October 7, 2011, the children were removed from Mother’s care for a final time after Mother battered her fiancé in the presence of the children because he would not give Mother more than the prescribed amount of her prescription medication. The children initially were placed in foster care, then were transferred to the care of paternal grandmother, where they have remained. On December 15, the ju *283 venile court held a CHINS compliance hearing, changed the permanency plan from reunification to termination of parental rights, and suspended all of Mother’s services because of her arrest.

On February 29, 2012, DCS filed petitions to involuntarily terminate Mother’s parental rights. After hearing evidence, the trial court terminated Mother’s parental rights. 1

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

We review termination of parental rights with great deference. In re K.S., D.S., and B.G., 750 N.E.2d 832, 836 (Ind.Ct.App.2001). We will not reweigh evidence or judge credibility of witnesses. In re D.D., 804 N.E.2d 258, 265 (Ind.Ct. App.2004), trans. denied. Instead, we consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences most favorable to the judgment. Id. In deference to the juvenile court’s unique position to assess the evidence, we will set aside a judgment terminating a parent’s rights only if it is clearly erroneous. In re L.S., 717 N.E.2d 204, 208 (Ind. Ct.App.1999), reh’g denied, trans. denied, cert. denied 534 U.S. 1161, 122 S.Ct. 1197, 152 L.Ed.2d 136 (2002).

When, as here, a judgment contains specific findings of fact and conclusions thereon, we apply a two-tiered standard of review. Bester v. Lake Cnty. Office of Family & Children, 839 N.E.2d 143, 147 (Ind.2005). We determine first whether the evidence supports the findings and second whether the findings support the judgment. Id. “Findings are clearly erroneous only when the record contains no facts to support them either directly or by inference.” Quillen v. Quillen, 671 N.E.2d 98, 102 (Ind.1996). If the evidence and infer-enees support the juvenile court’s decision, we must affirm. In re L.S., 717 N.E.2d at 208.

“The traditional right of parents to establish a home and raise their children is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.” In re M.B., 666 N.E.2d 73, 76 (Ind. Ct.App.1996), trans. denied. A juvenile court must subordinate the interests of the parents to those of the child, however, when evaluating the circumstances surrounding a termination. In re K.S., 750 N.E.2d at 837. The right to raise one’s own child should not be terminated solely because there is a better home available for the child, id., but parental rights may be terminated when a parent is unable or unwilling to meet his or her parental responsibilities. Id. at 836.

To terminate a parent-child relationship in Indiana, the State must allege and prove:

(A) that one (1) of the following is true:
(i) The child has been removed from the parent for at least six (6) months under a dispositional decree.

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994 N.E.2d 278, 2013 WL 2285345, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 246, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-matter-of-the-term-of-the-parent-child-rel-of-jc-etc-elc-indctapp-2013.