Matter of JH

468 N.E.2d 542
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 17, 1984
Docket1-184A21
StatusPublished

This text of 468 N.E.2d 542 (Matter of JH) 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
Matter of JH, 468 N.E.2d 542 (Ind. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

468 N.E.2d 542 (1984)

In the matter of J.H., a Child Alleged to Be in Need of Services.
D.H., Natural Mother, Respondent-Appellant,
v.
BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE, Petitioner-Appellee.

No. 1-184A21.

Court of Appeals of Indiana, First District.

September 17, 1984.
Rehearing Denied October 24, 1984.

*543 Chris D. Monroe, Jurgemeyer, Voelz & Monroe, Columbus, for respondent-appellant.

Donald J. Dickherber, Lawson, Pushor, Mote & Coriden, Columbus, for petitioner-appellee.

NEAL, Presiding Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Respondent-appellant, D.H., the mother of J.H., appeals the decision of the Bartholomew Circuit Court terminating the child/parent relationship existing between the parents D.H. and M.H. and their child, J.H.

We affirm.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

The trial court made the following findings of fact, which are supported by the evidence and not challenged:

"The Court, after hearing evidence herein and taking the matter under advisement, now finds as follows:
1. That the natural mother of J.H. is D.H. and the natural father is M.H. That the child, J.H., was born November 14, 1972.
2. That the initial contact concerning this child was on an allegation of physical abuse of the child. Subsequently, the mother admitted punching the child in the stomach and head and whipping the child with a belt, which whippings the child indicated were in the genital area.
3. The child had earlier been placed in wardship in the State of Mississippi.
4. This child was placed in the care of the Bartholomew County Department of Public Welfare in May of 1981 and he continued under their care until the summer of 1982, at which time the child was placed in the home of the mother. While in the mother's home, the child regressed into previously practiced unacceptabel [sic] behavior and was removed from the mother's home in August of 1982 and placed in the Delta Treatment Center in Bloomington, Indiana where the child presently resides.
5. At the early stages of involvement of the Welfare Department, it was determined that the mother was very dependent and incapable of being a parent to the child. That the mother was incapable of maintaining a suitable home for *544 the child, and was incapable of dealing with the simplest of financial matters. At the time of this hearing, the mother was living at 713 1/2 Reed Street, Columbus, Indiana, her rent being paid by the Columbus Housing Authority and she was not employed.
6. The Bartholomew County Department of Public Welfare from July of 1981 to the date of this hearing provided numerous services to the mother which included 19 visits with a counselor at Family Services and a similar number of visits with and without the child to a counselor at Quinco Consulting Center.
7. The Counselor at Family Services does not recommend the return of the child to the mother and the counselor is not encouraged by the progress made by the mother since engaging in the counseling in September of 1982.
8. The counselor at Quinco Consulting Center, upon the starting of the counseling sessions in July of 1981, saw the child as needing a stable home situation and the child was demonstrating his insecurity and lack of a proper home environment by engaging in eccopresis [sic] and enuresis. The two problems were resolved when the child was placed in foster care but the problems returned when the child was placed with his mother in the summer of 1982. This activity was a way the child controlled his mother. The interaction of the mother with the child was inappropriate and the mother did not interact with the child like that of a normal mother. While in the home of the mother during the summer of 1982, the child's condition deteriorated and he became agressive [sic] again to adults and to other children which was inappropriate behavior. The Quinco counselor felt that as of August, 1982, and after 13 months of work with the child and his mother, that little or no progress had been made and that the child should be placed for adoption.
9. Upon entering the Delta Treatment Center, the child displayed characteristics of a physically abused child and he was diagnosed as being a bright child with emotional and behavioral problems. The child manipulated other people by encopresis and enuresis, but these problems were solved within the first several months at Delta Treatment Center.
10. Delta Treatment Center emphasizes maintaining contact between the parents and child, but because of inappropriate behavior on the part of the mother, the phone contact and visits were terminated and the mother was asked to engage in individual and group psychotherapy, before future visits would commence, to which the mother agreed, but has not pursued. The child has been out of the mother's home since August of 1982, and the father has not had any substantial contact with the child for several years.
11. The child has progressed well in the Delta Treatment Center, but now needs to be placed for adoption so he can be in a stable home environment.
12. A representative of Delta Treatment Center related the child desired the termination of his mother's parental rights. Other than a phone conversation with the child, the child has corresponded with his mother only four times within the past year.
13. The mother is unable to relate to her child as an adult and when observed with the child, the child assumes the role of the adult. At these times, the child becomes physically abusive to his mother.
14. Within the last year, the mother has displayed inappropriate behavior by contacting a welfare worker and indicating she would kill herself and it would be that welfare worker's fault.
15. The mother genuinely loves the child and desires to have the child in her home, but admits she cannot financially care for the child, but will care for him in other ways.
16. The mother indicates she does not need any further therapy in spite of the fact that she has not made progress in the counseling extended to her up to the time of this hearing.
*545 17. The mother admitted that she has had 12 to 15 jobs over the past two years, with the longest terms of employment being two (2) to three (3) months.
18. The Petitioner has developed a satisfactory plan of care and treatment for the child, being placement for adoption.
19. It is in the best interest of the child that the parental rights of D.H., the natural mother, and M.H., the natural father, be terminated as to J.H."

Based upon the above findings, the court terminated the parent/child relationship existing between D.H., M.H. and their child, J.H., and ordered him placed for adoption. The father did not appear and is not a party to the appeal.

ISSUES

D.H. presents to the court for review the question of sufficiency of the evidence to establish:

I. Reasonable probability that the conditions which resulted in the child's removal from the home would not be remedied.
II. That termination was in the best interest of the child.

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Related

Wallman v. State
419 N.E.2d 1346 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1981)
Perkins v. Allen County Department of Public Welfare
352 N.E.2d 502 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1976)
E.S. v. Bartholomew County Department of Public Welfare
446 N.E.2d 632 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1983)
Sidle v. Majors
341 N.E.2d 763 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1976)
Matter of Lozier
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Matter of Miedl
425 N.E.2d 137 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1981)
D.H. v. Bartholomew County Department of Public Welfare
468 N.E.2d 542 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1984)

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468 N.E.2d 542, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-jh-indctapp-1984.