P.H. v. Colbert Cnty. Dep't of Human Res.

239 So. 3d 1158
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedDecember 16, 2016
Docket2150863, 2150864, 2150865, 2150866
StatusPublished

This text of 239 So. 3d 1158 (P.H. v. Colbert Cnty. Dep't of Human Res.) 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
P.H. v. Colbert Cnty. Dep't of Human Res., 239 So. 3d 1158 (Ala. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

MOORE, Judge.

P.H. ("the mother") appeals from a judgment entered by the Colbert Juvenile Court ("the juvenile court") in four separate actions terminating her parental rights to T.B., H.B., C.B., and C.H. ("the children"). We affirm the juvenile court's judgment.

Procedural History

On January 26, 2016, the Colbert County Department of Human Resources ("DHR") filed separate petitions to terminate the parental rights of the mother to the children.1 The mother answered the petitions on June 6, 2016. After a trial, the juvenile court entered a judgment terminating the mother's parental rights to the children. The mother filed her notices of appeal on July 15, 2016.

Facts

Mary Ellen Mayfield, a caseworker for DHR, testified that the children had previously been placed in foster care in August 2013. The record indicates that DHR had removed the children from the mother's care at that time based on the mother's drug use and her allowing individuals who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol to supervise the children. On August 18, 2015, the juvenile court entered an order, over the objection of DHR, returning custody of the children to the mother. The juvenile court specifically found that the mother had obtained stable housing and transportation, had maintained *1160employment, had completed intensive outpatient drug treatment and parenting classes, had maintained consistent visitation with the children, and had tested negative on all drug screens. The juvenile court also noted that the mother had denied a current relationship with B.P., who had been reported to be a drug addict and to be abusive toward the mother, and had denied that B.P. had had access to the children.

The mother testified that, in August 2015, when the children were returned to her care, she was living in a mobile home. She testified that, within a week after the children were returned to her, one of the children had informed her that a DHR worker had spoken to her at school. The mother testified that she had decided to hide from DHR and that she had taken the children to Mississippi where, she said, they had stayed in various hotels until she ran out of money. The mother testified that, at that point, she and the children went to stay with B.P.'s grandmother. She testified that, once DHR found out where she was staying, she, B.P., and the children moved to another house in an effort to hide from DHR. She admitted that the weather had been cold and that the only source of heat in the house was a space heater in one room.

Ariel Brown, another DHR caseworker, testified that, on November 24, 2015, DHR had located the mother, B.P., and the children in the house and that the house had had no heat at that time. She testified that there also was no running water or furniture in the house, that the children were dirty, and that three of the children had had severely matted hair. The mother disputed that testimony. The mother admitted that she had refused to submit to a drug screen and that B.P. had tested positive for marijuana and alcohol. The evidence also indicated that three of the children had tested positive for methamphetamine; the mother testified that the children had taken cold medicine. Brown and Mayfield testified that the mother had been arrested for minor traffic offenses at that time and that the children had been placed in foster care.

Mayfield testified that when the children were taken back into DHR's custody, DHR had asked the mother to complete a substance-abuse assessment, to attend counseling, and to submit to a mental-health evaluation. The mother had not submitted to the mental-health evaluation; she had attended counseling for only one month and was not attending counseling at the time of the trial. Mayfield also testified that DHR had recommended that the mother submit to a domestic-violence assessment and that the mother had made an appointment for a domestic-violence assessment in January 2016 but had failed to attend that assessment. Mayfield testified that the mother had completed a substance-abuse assessment that had resulted in a recommendation that the mother attend inpatient drug treatment. She testified that she had informed the mother that DHR would pay for that treatment but that the mother had failed to complete that treatment because, she stated, the mother had not felt like she needed it. The mother admitted that, after completing outpatient drug treatment, she had been able to maintain her sobriety only three or four months. Indeed, the mother tested positive for marijuana in January and May 2016.

Mayfield testified that DHR had set up weekly visitations for the mother but that the mother had failed to visit between February 10, 2016, and May 4, 2016. The mother testified that, during that time, she had been held captive by B.P. She specifically testified that she had been allowed to leave his home only to go to work cleaning houses. She also testified that B.P. had *1161severely abused her during that time, including having broken her jaw. Mayfield testified, however, that the mother had previously told her that she had broken her jaw in a fall. The mother testified that B.P.'s grandmother had eventually telephoned the police and that she had then gone to Safeplace, a domestic-violence shelter, for one month; the mother received counseling during the time she was at Safeplace

The mother admitted that, since November 2015, she had lived at eight places and that she had been in jail on two separate occasions. She testified, however, that a day before the trial, she had signed a lease on a house and that she had recently been hired to work at a gas station. She admitted that, at the time of trial, there were no utilities at the house and that there were no beds set up for the children.

Standard of Review

A judgment terminating parental rights must be supported by clear and convincing evidence, which is " ' "[e]vidence that, when weighed against evidence in opposition, will produce in the mind of the trier of fact a firm conviction as to each essential element of the claim and a high probability as to the correctness of the conclusion." ' " C.O. v. Jefferson Cty. Dep't of Human Res., 206 So.3d 621, 627 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016) (quoting L.M. v. D.D.F., 840 So.2d 171, 179 (Ala. Civ. App. 2002), quoting in turn Ala. Code 1975, § 6-11-20(b)(4) ).

" '[T]he evidence necessary for appellate affirmance of a judgment based on a factual finding in the context of a case in which the ultimate standard for a factual decision by the trial court is clear and convincing evidence is evidence that a fact-finder reasonably could find to clearly and convincingly ... establish the fact sought to be proved.'
" KGS Steel[, Inc. v. McInish,] 47 So.3d [749] at 761 [ (Ala. Civ. App. 2006) ].
"To analogize the test set out ... by Judge Prettyman [in Curley v. United States, 160 F.2d 229, 232-33 (D.C. Cir.

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Bluebook (online)
239 So. 3d 1158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ph-v-colbert-cnty-dept-of-human-res-alacivapp-2016.