In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: E.S. (Minor Child) and H.S. (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)

Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided November 22, 2019·No. 19A-JT-1063·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION FILED

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as Nov 22 2019, 8:38 am

precedent or cited before any court except for the CLERK purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals

collateral estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Kyle D. Gobel Curtis T. Hill, Jr. Collier Gobel Homann, LLC Attorney General of Indiana Crawfordsville, Indiana Katherine A. Cornelius

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

In the Matter of the Termination November 22, 2019 of the Parent–Child Relationship Court of Appeals Case No. of: E.S. (Minor Child) 19A-JT-1063 and Appeal from the Warren Circuit Court

H.S. (Mother),1 The Hon. Hunter Reece, Judge Appellant-Respondent, Trial Court Cause No.

86C01-1810-JT-58

v.

The Indiana Department of Child Services, Appellee-Petitioner.

1 The parental rights of the biological father of E.S. are not at issue in this appeal because he has voluntarily relinquished his parental rights to her.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-JT-1063 | November 22, 2019 Page 1 of 18

Bradford, Judge.

Case Summary

[1] H.S. (“Mother”) gave birth to E.S. (“Child”) in September of 2016, and, in

August of 2017, brought her to an emergency room, near death. Child had multiple drugs in her system and was on the brink of respiratory arrest when a dose of Narcan was administered, saving her life. The Indiana Department of Child Services (“DCS”) removed Child from Mother’s care and petitioned to have her declared a child in need of services (“CHINS”), which petition was granted. Over the next few months, Mother tested positive for myriad drugs, failed to complete court-ordered services, and was charged with, inter alia, the crimes of neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. In July of 2018, Mother was sentenced to a period of incarceration, with her earliest possible release date in January of 2020. In October of 2018, DCS petitioned to terminate Mother’s parental rights to Child. In April of 2019, the juvenile court granted DCS’s petition. Mother contends that the juvenile court’s termination of her parental rights to Child is clearly erroneous. Because we disagree, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [2] In mid-2016, while approximately seven months pregnant with Child, Mother

ended her romantic relationship with Father, later explaining that Father had been incarcerated at the time and was therefore unavailable to parent. On September 4, 2016, Child was born with multiple drugs in her system, and Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-JT-1063 | November 22, 2019 Page 2 of 18

Mother tested positive for morphine and hydrocodone. DCS, however, did not remove Child because it was unable to rule out the possibility that morphine had been administered to Mother during the birth of the Child, and Mother had a prescription for hydrocodone.

[3] On August 3, 2017, at 1:30 p.m. Child arrived at St. Vincent Hospital in Williamsport. Child was lethargic to the point of being lifeless; had shallow, agonal, breathing; and was cyanotic, i.e., her lips, face, legs, and arms were blue in color. Dr. Hector Torres, the emergency-room physician on call, recognized that Child was suffering an overdose of some sort and was on the verge of respiratory arrest and death. When Child was within thirty to sixty seconds of death, Dr. Torres and his team administered Narcan in a last-ditch attempt to reverse the effects of whatever Child had ingested. The Narcan relieved Child’s symptoms. Dr. Torres ordered Child transferred to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis because she needed special respiratory care. As it happened, Child tested positive for methamphetamines, opiates, amphetamines, methadone, and tricyclic antidepressants.

[4] Dr. Torres spoke to Mother multiple times the day of Child’s incident and found her answers to be vague. DCS Family Case Manager Joshua DeZarn (“FCM DeZarn”) was present at the hospital to assess the allegations of neglect and found Mother’s behavior to be very erratic. Mother would alternate between being calm, crying hysterically, and screaming in anger. Mother told FCM DeZarn that she had gone to the kitchen to get Child a bottle and when she came back Child had something in her mouth. Mother claimed to have

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-JT-1063 | November 22, 2019 Page 3 of 18 fished the pill out of Child’s mouth and insisted Child had not swallowed anything. Mother eventually told FCM DeZarn that there may have been methadone in her pill-keeper. Later still, Mother admitted there also may have been hydrocodone in her purse from an expired prescription.

[5] Williamsport Deputy Town Marshal Sean Briles came to the hospital to assist DCS. Mother consented to a search of her home to determine how Child found drugs. Deputy Briles told Mother to stay out of the home until he arrived, but when he arrived at the home, Mother was walking out the front door. Deputy Briles did not bother to search the home because he assumed Mother had already destroyed anything in the home that might have been incriminating.

[6] On August 4, 2017, DCS filed a petition to have Child adjudicated a CHINS. On August 10, 2017, Mother submitted to a drug screen and tested positive for amphetamines, methamphetamines, hydrocodone, and oxycodone. Mother also admitted she was using methadone to self-medicate herself because she was addicted to hydrocodone and suggested that Child’s exposure to methadone might have come from her friend T.P.’s home surroundings and not from her methadone pills. On August 28, 2017, Mother was charged with neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury and possession of a controlled substance.

[7] On September 20, 2017, the juvenile court found Child to be a CHINS. On October 25, 2017, the juvenile court appointed Jenna Beckett as Child’s special advocate (“CASA Beckett”). On November 21, 2017, the juvenile court issued a dispositional order in which it ordered Mother to complete several services, Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-JT-1063 | November 22, 2019 Page 4 of 18 including individual counseling, a parenting assessment, substance abuse assessment, random drug screens, a psychological evaluation, and supervised visitation. Between October 5, 2017, and the end of the year, Mother tested positive for amphetamine five times, methamphetamine twice, and THC once. Between January 5 and 17, 2018, Mother submitted to five drug screens, all of which were positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine. The screens also indicated the use of Xanax, oxazepam, methadone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, noroxycodone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, THC, and clonazepam.

[8] FCM Lindsey Winger received Mother’s case from FCM DeZarn in August of 2017 and worked with Mother until May 23, 2018. FCM Winger referred Mother to a substance abuse assessment, an intensive outpatient program for substance abuse, home-based case management, supervised visits, a psychological examination, and individual therapy. Mother did not immediately attend the substance-abuse assessment. Once completed, the assessment recommended Mother complete an intensive outpatient program for substance abuse, and it was referred. Mother failed to appear or came late to the treatment sessions and was discharged for non-compliance. Mother also refused to submit to several drug screens and denied that she used methamphetamine.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: E.S. (Minor Child) and H.S. (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.), (Ind. Ct. App. 2019).

In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: E.S. (Minor Child) and H.S. (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.) (In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: E.S. (Minor Child) and H.S. (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Bester v. Lake County Office of Family & Children
839 N.E.2d 143 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2005)
Campbell v. Bartholomew County Department of Public Welfare
534 N.E.2d 273 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1989)
Rowlett v. Vanderburgh County Office of Family & Children
841 N.E.2d 615 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2006)
McBride v. Monroe County Office of Family & Children
798 N.E.2d 185 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2003)
Egly v. Blackford County Department of Public Welfare
592 N.E.2d 1232 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1992)
R.C. v. Indiana Department of Child Services
989 N.E.2d 1225 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2013)