J.S. v. Etowah County Department of Human Resources

72 So. 3d 1212, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 51, 2011 WL 340587
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedFebruary 4, 2011
Docket2091152 and 2091183
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 72 So. 3d 1212 (J.S. v. Etowah County Department of Human Resources) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.S. v. Etowah County Department of Human Resources, 72 So. 3d 1212, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 51, 2011 WL 340587 (Ala. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

THOMAS, Judge.

J.S. (“the father”) appeals the juvenile court’s judgment terminating his parental rights to C.S., H.S., and W.S. L.S. (“the mother”) appeals the juvenile court’s judgment terminating her parental rights to A.S., C.S., H.S., and W.S. R.S. (“the paternal grandmother”) also appeals the juvenile court’s judgment terminating the parents’ parental rights. We affirm the juvenile court’s judgment as to the father and the mother, and we dismiss the paternal grandmother’s appeal.

Facts and Procedural History

On June 10, 2010, the Etowah County Department of Human Resources (“DHR”) filed in the juvenile court its petition to terminate the father’s and the mother’s parental rights to the children. On July 28, 2010, the paternal grandmother filed a motion styled “motion to intervene and motion for custody of minor child”; the paternal grandmother sought custody of A.S. The paternal grandmother’s motion to intervene was granted. The matter went to trial on August 4, 2010. The juvenile court entered a judgment on August 24, 2010, terminating the father’s and the mother’s parental rights to all the children and denying the paternal grandmother’s motion for custody of A.S.

The trial court set forth the pertinent facts in its August 24, 2010, judgment:

“There are four children who are the subject of the Petition seeking Termination of Parental rights. The children are [A.S.], born April 29, 2000, [C.S.], born August 26, 2003, [H.S.], born February 3, 2006 and [W.S.] born September 5, 2008. [The mother] is the mother of all four children. [T.D.] is the alleged father of [A.S.]. [The father] is the father of [C.S.], [H.S.], and [W.S.]. Everyone entitled to Notice of said Petition and Hearing received notice.
“This family has a long history of instability, domestic violence, and drug abuse. Over the past 10 to 11 years, [DHR] has received multiple reports, conducted multiple investigations, and offered multiple services in regard to this family. In 1999, a Child Abuse/Neglect report of physical abuse was made to Marshall County Department of Human Resources listing [the mother] and her siblings as persons at risk. At the age of 14, [the mother] gave birth to her first child, [A.S.] on April 29, 2000. In 2001, a report was made to [DHR] that [the mother] was responsible for the physical abuse of [A.S.] [DHR] attempted to work with the mother without success. At [DHR’s] request, custody of [A.S.] was granted to the maternal grandmother ... in 2002.
“[The mother] was 16 years old and [the father] was 28 years old when they began dating. [The mother] and [the father] married and their first child, [C.S.], was born August 26, 2003. Within two months of [C.S.’s] birth, [DHR] received a report that the baby had been physically abused by the parents. [The parents] voluntarily gave custody of [C.S.] to the paternal aunt and uncle ... through a private attorney. [DHR] offered [the parents] services which they refused.
“Another report was made regarding [the parents] in 2004 to the Marshall County Department of Human Resources regarding an issue of domestic [1215]*1215violence. [DHR] again offered [the parents] services which [the parents] accepted. The services were continued in Etowah County. In September of 2004, [the parents] regained custody of [C.S.] with [DHR] having protective supervision. [DHR] closed the case in early 2006.
“[DHR] received two more reports in 2007. In April of 2007 a report alleged there was another episode of domestic violence and that the children were living in an unsanitary condition. [The mother] denied the allegations, however[;] she admitted that following the April 2007 report the children were placed outside the home in a safety plan until the home was cleaned. In December of 2007, [DHR] performed a prevention assessment following a report that [the mother] was medicating [A.S.] to make her sleep. [The mother] denied the allegation.
“In November 2008, [DHR] received a report alleging [the parents] were arguing at the children’s school. [The mother] denied this allegation. [The father] testified that an incident did occur at the school but that he was arguing with another family member, not [the mother],
“The current case began on April 19, 2009 when [DHR] received a report alleging [the parents] had been arguing and that [the mother] had threatened to kill her children. The children were placed with [the mother’s] sister ... through a safety plan and the case was opened to services. Although [the mother] denies she violated the safety plan, [DHR] requested and received a pick-up order on May 4, 2009 and a 72 hour Shelter Care hearing was held on May 5, 2009. [DHR] was awarded custody of the children and the children were placed with their paternal aunt and uncle.... An Adjudicatory Hearing was held on June 10, 2009 and custody of the minor children was transferred to [DHR]. In July of 2009 a report was made that there had been sexual behavior between the [paternal aunt and uncle’s] son and [A.S. and C.S.]. The children were interviewed by the Barrie Center for Children. No charges were filed and Beth Hughes testified that in her opinion the behavior was nothing more than normal exploratory behavior. The children were removed from the [paternal aunt and uncle’s] home and placed into foster care on August 21, 2009 following a hearing on a motion filed by the mother. The mother’s motion alleged, in part, that the children were not safe in the [paternal aunt and uncle’s] home and that [DHR] had refused to provide her services to assist her in being reunified with her children.
“The children have been in [DHR’s] custody since May 4, 2009. [DHR] has had multiple Individual Service Plan [ (TSP’) ] meetings with this family and repeatedly has offered the parents services. Although each denies responsibility, both parents admit to a history of domestic violence. The parents have divorced. [The mother] obtained a felony warrant against [the father] for domestic violence and that case currently is pending in Etowah County. Both parents also admit to a long history of drug abuse. Services offered by [DHR] have included individual counseling, psychological assessment, parenting classes, anger management classes, drug screens, and supervised visitation.
“Dr. Dennis Sizelove performed a psychological evaluation on [the father] on May 6, 2009. Dr. Sizelove’s diagnoses for [the father] included polysubstance dependence, undifferentiated somato-form disorder, and adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood. [1216]*1216Dr. Sizelove recommended, in part, that [the father] participate in counseling or therapy and in anger management classes. During his testimony at this hearing, [the father] agreed that he currently is not ready or able to provide a home for his children. Soon after the children were placed in [DHR’s] custody, [the father] allowed a female friend to stay at his home. While [the father] was at work on August 19, 2009, a methamphetamine lab exploded at [the father’s] house and the woman was transported by Lifesaver helicopter to UAB hospital to be treated for severe burns sustained in the explosion. [The father] did not begin to participate in the color code drug screen program until May 27, 2010 at which time he tested positive for methadone and marijuana. [The father] began but did not finish counseling with Dr. Bill Green. [The father] did complete anger management classes in April of 2010.

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

Related

Dubose v. Dubose
230 So. 3d 1138 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2016)
Kimbrough v. Door Components, LLC
171 So. 3d 18 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2014)
Limestone County Department of Human Resources v. Long
182 So. 3d 541 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2014)
S.G. v. Barbour County Department of Human Resources
148 So. 3d 439 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
72 So. 3d 1212, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 51, 2011 WL 340587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/js-v-etowah-county-department-of-human-resources-alacivapp-2011.