Roseann R. v. Dcs

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedOctober 22, 2020
Docket1 CA-JV 20-0109
StatusUnpublished

This text of Roseann R. v. Dcs (Roseann R. v. Dcs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roseann R. v. Dcs, (Ark. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.

IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE

ROSEANN R., ANTHONY F., SERGIO M., Appellants,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF CHILD SAFETY, A.C., M.S., K.F., K.F., Appellees.

No. 1 CA-JV 20-0109 FILED 10-22-2020

Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. JD14966 The Honorable Sara J. Agne, Judge

AFFIRMED

COUNSEL

John L. Popilek, P.C., Scottsdale By John L. Popilek Counsel for Appellant Roseann R.

Denise L. Carroll, Esq., Scottsdale By Denise Lynn Carroll Counsel for Appellant Anthony F.

Robert D. Rosanelli, Attorney at Law, Phoenix By Robert D. Rosanelli Counsel for Appellant Sergio M. Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Tucson By Autumn Spritzer Counsel for Appellee Department of Child Safety

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Chief Judge Peter B. Swann delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Jennifer B. Campbell and Judge Lawrence F. Winthrop joined.

S W A N N, Chief Judge:

¶1 Roseann R. (“Mother”), Anthony F., and Sergio M. appeal the juvenile court’s order terminating their respective parental rights to A.C.- R., M.S., K.G.F., and K.C.F. (the “Children”). For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2 In October 2018, fourteen months after successfully reunifying with the Children after a prior dependency, Mother was evicted from her home, left five-year-old A.C.-R. and three-year-old M.S. with Dolores S., left two-year-old twins K.G.F. and K.C.F. with their maternal grandmother, and disappeared.1 The Department of Child Safety (“DCS”) filed various petitions and amendments, ultimately alleging the Children were dependent as to Mother on the grounds of neglect, substance abuse, and failure to protect from sexual abuse; M.S. was dependent as to his father, Sergio M., on the grounds of neglect and abandonment; and the twins were dependent as to their father, Anthony F., on the grounds of neglect and substance abuse.2 The juvenile court eventually determined the Children were dependent and adopted case plans of family reunification.

1 We view the evidence in the light most favorable to upholding the juvenile court’s order terminating parental rights. Titus S. v. Dep’t of Child Safety, 244 Ariz. 365, 369, ¶ 15 (App. 2018).

2 DCS also alleged A.C.-R. was dependent as to her father on the grounds of neglect. The juvenile court terminated his parental rights in March 2020, but he did not challenge the order and is not a party to this appeal.

2 ROSEANN R. et al. v. DCS, et al. Decision of the Court

¶3 Mother has a long history of substance abuse and neglect, having given birth to substance-exposed newborns in 2004, 2006, 2015, and 2016. Her parental rights to four children separate from those in this appeal were terminated as a result of her substance abuse. The earlier dependency, to which the Children at issue here were subject, was also based on substance abuse. She did not complete a urinalysis test after the Children were removed in this case because she “ran out of time,” but later admitted she relapsed on methamphetamine before leaving A.C.-R., M.S., K.G.F., and K.C.F. with other caregivers.

¶4 Once the Children were removed, Mother began using methamphetamine every day; DCS referred her for substance abuse treatment and testing, transportation assistance, visitation, and parent-aide services. She attended an intake for substance abuse treatment, where she reported first using methamphetamine around 2003 and last using the day before the assessment, but never returned for services. Substance abuse testing and parent-aide services were closed in January 2019 after Mother failed to engage.

¶5 In December 2018, DCS visited Anthony F.’s home in the hopes of placing the twins in his care, but found he did not have a safe place for them to sleep, appropriate food, car seats, or clothing for them. He had only six diapers and denied having the resources to purchase more. Anthony F. declined in-home services, would not provide information about or contact with the adult son living in his home, and refused to sign a safety plan requiring contact with Mother be supervised. Thus, DCS and the juvenile court remained concerned about Anthony F.’s ability to provide a safe home, adequate food, and protection from Mother’s substance abuse. Anthony F. was evicted from the residence in January 2019. He eventually gave DCS information to perform a background check on his adult son in October 2019.

¶6 DCS later learned Anthony F. had a drug-related criminal history and was required to participate in substance abuse testing through the adult probation department. But he denied any substance abuse history, recanted on an agreement to participate in substance abuse testing, and failed to follow through on four separate appointments for DCS to reassess his living situation. Although Anthony F. was compliant with his probation and participated appropriately in supervised visitation, he had extremely limited experience caring for the twins and failed to engage in parent-aide services. And after evaluation, when it was recommended the twins attend a developmental preschool, both Mother and Anthony F. refused to grant permission until the juvenile court strongly encouraged it.

3 ROSEANN R. et al. v. DCS, et al. Decision of the Court

Both parents also refused permission for K.C.F to undergo a recommended medical procedure.

¶7 By March 2019, Mother had yet to demonstrate consistent sobriety or engage in substance abuse treatment. She missed two-thirds of her scheduled visits—once because she “didn’t feel like seeing her children”—and occasionally arrived at the visits late and unprepared. This pattern disappointed the Children. Anthony F. had likewise “essentially done no services” and either arrived late or left early from the majority of his scheduled visits.

¶8 Mother continued to use methamphetamine daily until July 2019, when she enrolled in a ninety-day inpatient substance abuse treatment program. She attended visitation but struggled to supply appropriate food and diapers during visits. Around Mother’s completion of her inpatient program—nearly a year after the Children’s removal—DCS re-referred Mother for substance abuse testing and treatment and parent- aide services. She was compliant and tested negative for substances. Meanwhile, Anthony F. was again referred for parent-aide services, which he attended, and substance abuse testing, which he did not. Because he never demonstrated sobriety, DCS did not refer Anthony F. for a psychological evaluation.

¶9 In September 2019, the juvenile court changed the case plan to severance and adoption. DCS then moved to terminate Mother’s parental rights to the Children, Anthony F.’s parental rights to K.G.F. and K.C.F., and Sergio M.’s parental rights to M.S. The DCS caseworker expressed an ongoing concern that Mother displayed a pattern of increasing participation when termination was imminent, in an attempt to “check the boxes” for requested services without appreciating their intended purposes, but then repeatedly relapsing when transitioning from treatment to living independently with the Children.

¶10 By the time of the January 2020 termination hearing, Mother and Anthony F. had improved on roughly half the diminished caregiver protective capacities identified during each of their parent-aide services. Mother had been substance-free for six months and compliant with services. She was employed but did not have independent or appropriate housing.

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Bluebook (online)
Roseann R. v. Dcs, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roseann-r-v-dcs-arizctapp-2020.