People ex rel. M.C.C.

641 P.2d 306, 1982 Colo. App. LEXIS 694
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 28, 1982
DocketNo. 81CA0375
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 641 P.2d 306 (People ex rel. M.C.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. M.C.C., 641 P.2d 306, 1982 Colo. App. LEXIS 694 (Colo. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

KIRSHBAUM, Judge.

Respondent, R. C., appeals the trial court’s order terminating the parent-child relationship between him and M.C.C., an infant child. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

The record reveals the following facts. On October 11, 1979, R. C., his wife, and M.C.C. resided at a motel in Lakewood, Colorado. That evening, R. C. asked the motel manager to babysit. When the manager refused, R. C. and his wife left M.C.C. unattended. The manager reported this incident to police officials, and, upon finding M.C.C. alone in the motel room, police officers removed the child and notified the Jefferson County Department of Social Services (the Department). A caseworker observed that the infant had bruises on his buttocks, leg, elbow, and chest; that he suffered from a severe diaper rash; that he was underweight; and that the hair on the back of his head was thin. The caseworker concluded the child’s thin hair was a result of prolonged periods of lying in one position.

At a dependency hearing held October 15, 1979, the Department was awarded temporary custody of M.C.C. During the next two weeks, R. C. visited the child twice. He then departed for California without notifying the Department. In November 1979, R. C. was arrested and imprisoned several times in California, and in December 1979, he was extradited to Wisconsin where he remained incarcerated during the proceedings involved in this case.

On February 1,1980, R. C. sent a letter to an assistant county attorney in Jefferson County, Colorado, informing her of his whereabouts since late October 1979; of his reasons for failing to appear at a hearing on alleged criminal child abuse and neglect related to the circumstances of this case; and of his desire to attend a dependency and neglect hearing on February 8, 1980, regarding M.C.C. R. C. did not attend the February 8 hearing, and at its conclusion M.C.C. was adjudicated neglected and dependent as to R. C.

On August 11, 1980, R. C. sent another letter to the same assistant county attorney, expressing concern for M.C.C.’s well-being. The letter requested that either R. C.’s mother or his sister be given legal custody of the child. Subsequent investigation revealed that neither of those relatives was willing to care for M.C.C.

In September 1980, R. C., through his court-appointed attorney, asked the Department and the trial court to adopt a treatment plan for the purpose of maintaining and nurturing the relationship between R. [308]*308C. and M.C.C. The court and the Department refused to adopt a treatment plan. On February 24,1981, the trial court terminated the parent-child legal relationship between R. C. and M.C.C.

R. C. contends that the legal relationship between him and M.C.C. was erroneously terminated because the trial court failed to apply the appropriate statutory standards for termination of parental rights. We agree.

The termination of parental rights is a decision of paramount gravity, and the state must exercise extreme caution in terminating such rights. People in Interest of E. A., Colo., 638 P.2d 278 (1981); People in Interest of B.J.D., Colo.App., 626 P.2d 727 (1981); see generally Lassiter v. Department of Social Services, 452 U.S. 18, 101 S.Ct. 2153, 68 L.Ed.2d 640 (1981); Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 31 L.Ed.2d 551 (1972). Hence, strict compliance by the trial court with the appropriate standards for termination of a parent-child relationship is an absolute necessity. People in Interest of E. A., supra; In re Petition of F.J.H., Colo.App., 628 P.2d 159 (1981). A trial court must adequately address and resolve each specific requirement for termination. People in Interest of E. A., supra. Such detailed resolution of all issues essential to a decree of termination substantially lessens the risk that a parent-child relationship will be severed erroneously-

Section 19-11-105, C.R.S.1973 (1978 Repl. Vol. 8) of the Parent-Child Legal Relationship Termination Act of 1977 authorizes a trial court to terminate the legal relationship between a parent and the parent’s child only if one of two sets of circumstances is found to exist. If a child has been adjudicated neglected because the child has been abandoned by the parent, termination is permitted if the trial court additionally finds that the parent’s identity is unknown or that

“the parent or parents having custody have surrendered physical custody for a period of six months and during this period have not manifested to the child or the person having physical custody a firm intention to resume physical custody or to make permanent legal arrangements for the care of the child .... ” Section 19-3-lll(3)(a), C.R.S.1973 (1981 Cum.Supp.).

A trial court may also terminate parental rights if it finds that a child has been adjudicated dependent or neglected on any ground and that, in addition, all of the following facts exist:

“(I) That an appropriate treatment plan approved by the court has not been reasonably complied with by the parent or parents or has not been successful;
(II) That the parent is unfit;
(III) That the conduct or condition of the parent or parents is unlikely to change within a reasonable time.” Section 19-ll-105(l)(b), C.R.S.1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8).

The trial court here purported to terminate the parent-child relationship between R. C. and M.C.C. pursuant to § 19-11-105(l)(b), C.R.S.1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8). We conclude that the findings of the trial court are not sufficient to sustain its order on the basis of this statute.

In § 19-ll-105(l)(b)(I), C.R.S.1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8), the General Assembly has required that before the legal relationship between a parent and a dependent or neglected child may be terminated in Colorado, the court must find that an “appropriate” treatment plan previously approved by the court has not been successful or has not been reasonably complied with by the parent. Contrary to the People’s argument, the requirement of an “appropriate” plan does not signify a legislative intent to permit the termination of a parent-child relationship without formulating any treatment plan. Such interpretation would allow courts to create exceptions to the General Assembly’s express requirement whenever it appears that no treatment plan could be negotiated successfully by a particular parent. We find no indication of any intent by the General Assembly to so undermine the policy of § 19-11-105(l)(b)(I), C.R.S.1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8) of permitting any parent [309]*309of a child already adjudicated dependent or neglected to demonstrate both willingness and ability to remain that child’s parent.

The fact that a particular parent is incarcerated at the time of an adjudication of dependency or neglect may often render more difficult the crafting of a meaningful and workable plan. However, such single circumstance does not per se

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Related

K.D. v. People
139 P.3d 695 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2006)
People in Interest of MCC
641 P.2d 306 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1982)

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641 P.2d 306, 1982 Colo. App. LEXIS 694, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-mcc-coloctapp-1982.