In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: E.B., K.B., T.B., and M.J., (Minor Children) and J.W., (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 18, 2013
Docket10A05-1303-JT-108
StatusUnpublished

This text of In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: E.B., K.B., T.B., and M.J., (Minor Children) and J.W., (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: E.B., K.B., T.B., and M.J., (Minor Children) and J.W., (Mother) v. The 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 Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: E.B., K.B., T.B., and M.J., (Minor Children) and J.W., (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services, (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of Dec 18 2013, 10:49 am establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

CRAIG W. GRAHAM GREGORY F. ZOELLER Jeffersonville, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

ROBERT J. HENKE AARON J. SPOLARICH Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

IN THE MATTER OF THE TERMINATION OF ) THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP OF: ) E.B., K.B., T.B., and M.J., (Minor Children), ) ) and, ) ) J.W., (Mother), ) ) Appellant-Respondent, ) ) vs. ) No. 10A05-1303-JT-108 ) THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF CHILD ) SERVICES, ) ) Appellee-Petitioner. )

APPEAL FROM THE CLARK CIRCUIT COURT The Honorable Daniel F. Donahue, Senior Judge The Honorable William A. Dawkins, Magistrate Cause Nos. 10C04-1207-JT -20; 10C04-1206-JT-16, JT-17, JT-18

December 18, 2013

MEMORANDUM DECISION – NOT FOR PUBLICATION

BARNES, Judge

Case Summary

J.W. (“Mother”) appeals the termination of her parental rights to her four children:

E.B., K.B., T.B., and M.J. We affirm.

Issues

The restated issues before us are:

I. whether the trial court held a timely termination hearing with respect to E.B., K.B., and T.B.; and

II. whether there is sufficient evidence to support the termination of Mother’s parental rights to M.J.

Facts

Mother has four children: E.B., born in 2005, K.B., born in 2007, T.B., born in

2009, and M.J., born in 2011. The father of E.B., K.B., and T.B. is deceased. DCS first

became involved in Mother’s life on April 1, 2010. On that date, Mother was arrested on

multiple counts of prescription fraud, and the Department of Child Services (“DCS”)

removed E.B., K.B., and T.B. from Mother’s care and placed them with a relative because

of Mother’s subsequent incarceration. The children were found to be CHINS. After

Mother received a sentence of probation and home detention for the criminal charges, DCS

arranged to provide services at Mother’s home due to her lack of transportation, but her

2 compliance with the services was “hit or miss.” Tr. p. 200. Mother’s visitation with the

children also “was not consistent.” Id. at 201. In August 2010, the children were placed

back with Mother because she was complying with her supervised probation, and her drug

screens during this time were negative. DCS closed this CHINS case in November 2010.

On April 5, 2011, DCS went to Mother’s home, where she was living with her

boyfriend, and discovered that the house had no electricity, very little food, and was

cluttered with trash and clothing. Mother was pregnant with M.J. at the time. Mother also

submitted to a drug screen on that date and, although Mother had told the DCS caseworker

that her problems with drug addiction were in the past, the screen revealed the presence of

methamphetamine, amphetamine, and methadone. On April 12, 2011, Mother was arrested

after failing to appear in court to answer ten new charges of prescription fraud. DCS

removed E.B., K.B., and T.B. from Mother’s care on that date and initiated new CHINS

proceedings. These children later moved in with their paternal grandparents in Alabama,

where they continue to reside. On July 11, 2011, Mother submitted to another drug screen

that revealed the presence of amphetamines, oxycodone, and oxymorphone; Mother did

not have a valid prescription for any of these drugs.

M.J. was born on July 20, 2011. She tested positive for opiates and was removed

from Mother’s care at the hospital and placed in foster care, where she has continuously

resided. Like her half-siblings, M.J. was found to be a CHINS.

Mother was sentenced through a drug court for her April 2011 prescription fraud

charges. She was subjected to regular drug screening. Between May 2011 and March

2012, Mother tested positive for illicit drug use on nine occasions, primarily for

3 hydrocodone and other opiates, as well as amphetamines. In December 2011, she was

temporarily incarcerated for multiple drug court violations but apparently was released in

January 2012. In March 2012 Mother was ordered to participate in an inpatient treatment

program, but she left the program without permission. On May 7, 2012, Mother’s drug

court placement was revoked, and she was incarcerated until December 20, 2012. Mother

thereafter was placed in a halfway house.

Before Mother was re-incarcerated in May 2012, she did not consistently participate

in DCS-ordered services, nor did she visit consistently with any of the children. For

example, Mother was supposed to meet with a family counselor weekly, but she failed to

meet with the counselor at all in September 2011, and met just once in October 2011, just

once in November 2011, and never in December 2011. When Mother was taken into

custody, the counselor closed the case. The counselor attempted to restart sessions with

Mother in February 2012; at first, Mother attended regularly, but she stopped attending

entirely after making only one visit in March 2012. Mother also frequently cancelled

scheduled supervised visits with the children or was late to them. Her last visit with E.B.,

K.B., and T.B. took place in February 2012, and her last visit with M.J. took place in March

2012.

On June 19, 2012, DCS filed a petition to terminate Mother’s parental rights as to

E.B., K.B., and T.B. On July 10, 2012, DCS filed a petition to terminate Mother’s and

M.J.’s father’s parental rights as to M.J. The trial court scheduled a final termination

hearing as to all of the children for August 8, 2012. On August 7, 2012, the CCS for M.J.’s

case indicates that Mother moved to continue the final termination hearing, which was

4 granted over DCS’s objection.1 The trial court conducted a hearing on September 13, 2012,

at which opening remarks regarding termination were made but no evidence was presented,

and the matter was continued. The trial court held another hearing on October 11, 2012,

at which time Mother again moved for a continuance, and the matter was continued until

October 25, 2012 over DCS’s objection. On that date, Mother again moved for a

continuance, and the final TPR hearing was rescheduled for January 17, 2013 over DCS’s

objection. The trial court did hold a hearing on that date, after denying another continuance

request made by Mother at the beginning of the hearing. At the end of the day on the 17th,

the trial court continued the hearing until January 31, 2013, and concluded the hearing on

that date.

At the termination hearing, Mother admitted she never completed a substance abuse

program nor a parenting class, she did not visit her children consistently, and she did not

participate in offered DCS services. She also testified that she was unemployed and

expected to be in the halfway house for six to nine months and that she could not care for

her children at that time. She planned on moving to Alabama with M.J. and M.J.’s father

after she left the halfway house, although she had no living plans there, and M.J.’s father

had a positive drug screen in December 2012.

1 The CCS for E.B., K.B., and T.B.’s case is less clear than M.J.’s CCS as to whether Mother moved for a continuance of the August 8, 2012 hearing, or whether that hearing was even intended to be a final termination hearing.

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In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: E.B., K.B., T.B., and M.J., (Minor Children) and J.W., (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-matter-of-the-termination-of-the-parent-child-relationship-of-eb-indctapp-2013.