South Carolina Department of Social Services v. M.R.C.L.

701 S.E.2d 757, 390 S.C. 329, 2010 S.C. App. LEXIS 207
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedSeptember 22, 2010
Docket4744
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 701 S.E.2d 757 (South Carolina Department of Social Services v. M.R.C.L.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
South Carolina Department of Social Services v. M.R.C.L., 701 S.E.2d 757, 390 S.C. 329, 2010 S.C. App. LEXIS 207 (S.C. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

KONDUROS, J.

M.R.C.L. (Mother) appeals the termination of her parental rights to her minor child (Child) pursuant to sections 20-7-1572(3) and (4) of the South Carolina Code (2007) (current version at 63-7-2570(3) & (4) (2010)) (willful failure to visit and willful failure to support, respectively). We reverse and remand to the family court for a permanency planning hearing.1

FACTS

On May 25, 2007, after Mother and R.L. (Father) tested positive for cocaine, Child was removed from their home.2 Child was one year old at the time of removal. Child was placed in a pre-adoptive foster home with two of her sisters.

Following a merits hearing on October 22, 2007, the family court ordered Mother and Father to complete a treatment plan including mental health assessments, parent evaluations, alcohol and drug assessments, and other recommendations. In addition, the family court ordered them to provide Child with safe and appropriate housing,3 report their legal income, pay child support, and complete “an extensive parenting course.” Mother and Father failed to complete the alcohol and drug assessments, parenting classes, and home safety [332]*332improvements necessary for DSS to return Child to them.4 Although Father paid some child support from his Social Security disability benefits, Mother, a homemaker, paid nothing.

In April 2008, DSS initiated termination of parental rights (TPR) proceedings. The complaint for TPR alleged as statutory grounds meriting TPR (1) willful failure to visit, (2) willful failure to support, (3) failure to remedy the condition leading to removal, (4) a diagnosable condition that was unlikely to change and that prevented Mother from providing Child with “minimally acceptable care,” and (5) harm or neglect of Child from which the home cannot likely be made safe within twelve months. Moreover, the complaint indicated Child had remained in foster care continuously since her removal from Mother. Both parents testified at the November 3, 2008 TPR hearing. Mother stated they lived in a two-bedroom trailer home. According to Father, their income consisted of his Social Security disability benefits of approximately $689 per month and occasional income he earned by doing odd jobs and lawn care. In addition to everyday expenses, Father had recently purchased new cell phones for himself and Mother at a cost of $100 each. Their monthly expenses included approximately $50 per month for food and healthcare for their ten dogs and $30 per month for cellular telephone service.5 An unspecified amount of Father’s Social Security disability benefits went to support Child.

When Mother last worked in April 2004, she held three jobs. Mother suffered from diabetes during her pregnancy with Child. A degenerative disk disease prevented her from doing jobs that included lifting heavy objects. At the time of the TPR hearing, Mother had applied unsuccessfully for approximately thirty jobs. She was on probation for assault on a child, and she admitted driving while her driver’s license was [333]*333suspended. However, Mother denied doing drugs, including smoking crack cocaine.

Mother testified she visited Child in foster care fourteen times. However, a court order prevented her from visiting Child for two or three months during the seventeen months between Child’s removal and the TPR hearing. According to Kathleen Spell, the DSS case manager, Mother and Father took snacks, drinks, toys, lotion for Child’s skin issue, and antibiotics to Child. Mother also testified they provided toys, food, clothes, diapers, wipes, medication, and lotion. In anticipation of Child returning home, Mother redecorated the smaller bedroom for Child by painting, installing curtains and carpet, and rearranging furniture.

Spell testified she attempted to evaluate improvements to the home on several occasions, but Mother and Father prevented her from entering. The last time she visited, they permitted her to enter the house, but she left before completing her evaluation because Father cursed at her, yelled, and slammed doors.

Wendy May of South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation (SCVR) testified she saw Mother on June 12, 2007. May offered Mother guidance counseling, GED preparation classes, and job readiness training. SCVR offered Mother van transportation to its GED classes and job readiness training sessions, but she declined. Mother attended a few classes but did not complete any of the programs within the first year. On the date of the TPR hearing, Mother had been re-enrolled for approximately one month.

Maria Royle, Child’s guardian ad litem (GAL), testified Child appeared reluctant to spend time with Mother and Father, and they had to “bribe” her with treats. According to Royle, Child bonded with her foster family and called her foster mother “Mommy.” Royle believed it was in Child’s best interest to terminate Mother’s and Father’s parental rights so Child and her siblings could be adopted by their foster family. She expressed concern that despite being “in the system” since 1991, Mother and Father had failed to rehabilitate themselves from their history of drug use and arrests.

[334]*334The family court terminated Mother’s and Father’s parental rights pursuant to sections 20-7-1572(3) and (4) of the South Carolina Code (2007) (willful failure to visit and willful failure to support, respectively). The family court also found TPR was in Child’s best interests. Mother now appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

“A ground for [TPR] must be proved by clear and convincing evidence.” Richland County Dep’t of Soc. Servs. v. Earles, 330 S.C. 24, 32, 496 S.E.2d 864, 868 (1998). “In reviewing a termination of parental rights, the appellate court has the authority to review the record and make its own findings of whether clear and convincing evidence supports the termination.” Id.

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. Willful Failure to Visit

Mother argues the family court erred in finding DSS proved by clear and convincing evidence she willfully failed to visit Child. We agree.

One ground for TPR is proven when:

The child has lived outside the home of either parent for a period of six months, and during that time the parent has wilfully failed to visit the child. The court may attach little or no weight to incidental visitations, but it must be shown that the parent was not prevented from visiting by the party having custody or by court order. The distance of the child’s placement from the parent’s home must be taken into consideration when determining the ability to visit.

S.C.Code Ann. § 63-7-2570(3) (2010). “Willful conduct is conduct that evinces a settled purpose to forego parental duties ... because it manifests a conscious indifference to the rights of the child to receive support and consortium from the parent.” Charleston County Dep’t of Soc. Servs. v. Jackson, 368 S.C. 87, 97, 627 S.E.2d 765, 771 (Ct.App.2006) (internal quotation marks omitted). Whether the failure to visit is willful “is a question of intent to be determined from the facts and circumstances of each individual case.” S.C.

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

Related

Broom v. Jennifer J.
742 S.E.2d 382 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2013)
South Carolina Department of Social Services v. M.R.C.L.
712 S.E.2d 452 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2011)
South Carolina Department of Social Services v. M.R.C.L.
701 S.E.2d 757 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
701 S.E.2d 757, 390 S.C. 329, 2010 S.C. App. LEXIS 207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/south-carolina-department-of-social-services-v-mrcl-scctapp-2010.