State ex rel. E.E.M.

754 So. 2d 1028, 99 La.App. 1 Cir. 1458, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 2684, 1999 WL 744030
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 24, 1999
DocketNo. 99 CJ 1458
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 754 So. 2d 1028 (State ex rel. E.E.M.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. E.E.M., 754 So. 2d 1028, 99 La.App. 1 Cir. 1458, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 2684, 1999 WL 744030 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

| ¡¡.CARTER, C.J.

This is an appeal by a mother, E.M., from a judgment terminating her parental rights and certifying two of her minor children, E.E.M. and J.D.M., as eligible for adoption. The parental rights of E.D., the father, were also terminated as to E.E.M.; however, his appeal has been dismissed on his own motion.

FACTS

E.E.M. was born on May 6, 1997, and initially placed in the legal custody of the Department of Social Services by court order dated July 7, 1997. The court order was brought about by an incident witnessed by Sergeant Roger Corcoran of the East Baton Rouge Sheriffs Office, wherein E.E.M.’s parents left her in an abandoned building on Airline Highway while they engaged in a fight. After Sergeant Cor-coran separated E.M. and E.D., “... he found roaches, beer bottles, whiskey bottles, and hypodermic needles in the abandoned building where the child had been lying.” E.E.M. had been alone in the building for approximately fifteen minutes. Sergeant Corcoran testified that E.M. and E.D. were both intoxicated at the time.

Mary Manchester, an Office of Community Services (OCS) case worker called to the scene, indicated that at that time, E.M.’s mother, A.M., advised her that she could not care for the child nor could E.M. and E.D. due to their dependency on drugs and alcohol. No other family members could be reached with whom E.E.M. could be placed. Thus, the state sought and obtained custody of E.E.M. based on E.M.’s neglect through a court order dated July 7,1997.

J.D.M., a son of E.M., was born on February 28,1998. OCS received a report that E.M. sent the four-month-old baby with an unidentified man to her sister’s house. Her sister, S.H., informed the man that she could not keep the child because she had to leave for work. After the man left, S.H. discovered that the man had left [1030]*1030the baby on the steps of her trailer. Manchester attempted to locate E.M. and E.D. with no success. All attempts to place J.D.M. with relatives were unsuccessful; thus, J.D.M. was placed in state custody because of abandonment by order dated July 6,1998.

OCS formulated case plans for E.M. concerning both children. The case plan for E.E.M!, dated October 15, 1997, required E.M. to attend substance abuse treatments |3with the Baton Rouge Substance Abuse Clinic and to submit to random drug tests. E.M. was also required to obtain stable housing and employment, keep the case manager informed of her whereabouts, and visit her children regularly. OCS family team conferences and review hearings were held every six months to review compliance with the case plans.

In addition to the two minor children who are the subjects of this proceeding, the mother, E.M., has five other children who have been in state custody since September 27, 1993, and who are now residing in foster or group homes. The children were removed because of neglect and E.M.’s alcohol and cocaine use. E.M.’s parental rights have been terminated as to one of those children, C.M., by judgment rendered on May 28, 1998, and signed on September 16,1998.

A petition for termination of parental rights as to E.E.M. and J.D.M. was filed by the state on October 2, 1998, noting that E.E.M. was adjudicated a child in need of care on May 20, 1998, and that the proceeding to adjudicate J.D.M. as a child in need of care was pending. The petition alleged that the rights of E.M. should be terminated under LSA-Ch.C. art. 1015(3) (j) because she failed to comply with her case plan. Further, because her parental rights to one of the children’s siblings had been terminated, and prior attempts to rehabilitate her have been unsuccessful, the state urged E.M.’s parental rights with respect to J.D.M. should also be terminated. J.D.M. was adjudicated a child in need of care on November 2, 1998.

After a hearing on the termination issue, the juvenile court found that the state met its burden of proof and signed a judgment terminating the parental rights of E.M. and E.D. on March 19, 1999. E.M. appeals.

DISCUSSION

The state’s petition for termination was based on the following grounds enumerated in LSA-Ch.C. art. 1015 regarding involuntary termination, which provide in pertinent part:

The grounds for terminating parental rights are:

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡
(3) Misconduct of the parent toward this child or any other child in his household which constitutes extreme abuse, cruel and inhuman | treatment, or grossly negligent behavior below a reasonable standard of human decency, including but not limited to any of the following:
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(j) The parent’s parental rights to one or more of the child’s siblings have been terminated due to neglect or abuse and prior attempts to rehabilitate the parent have been unsuccessful.

In support of the first prong of the test under LSA-Ch.C. art. 1015(3)(j), the state offered the pleadings and the judgment terminating E.M.’s rights to C.M., a sibling of E.E.M. and J.D.M., dated September 16, 1998. E.M.’s parental rights in relation to C.M. had been terminated due to neglect.

In support of the second prong, which addresses attempts to rehabilitate the parent, the state offered the testimony of Barbara Daigre, the OCS case manager assigned to E.M.’s case since 1993. Daigre testified that E.M. had not complied with any of the case plans and had not changed her patterns of behavior in any manner. Daigre explained the OCS [1031]*1031services offered to E.M. included referrals to the Baton Rouge Substance Abuse Clinic, Louisiana Rehabilitation Services, parenting classes, and a referral to Dr. Ivory L. Toldson, a psychologist with the Center for Psychological Health Care, for individual counseling. OCS provided transportation to these services by either car or bus tokens and offered assistance in attempting to locate housing for E.M.

The first manner in which E.M. did not comply with the case plan was her failure to regularly visit her children during the visitations that were scheduled twice a month. Although E.M. did attend some parenting classes, she only attended twelve of the forty-two scheduled visits with E.E.M., and only four of the sixteen scheduled visits with J.D.M. When E.M. failed to appear for the visits, she did not provide OCS with any reasons for her lack of attendance.

Daigre testified that E.M. did not attend any substance abuse treatment as required by the plan. Moreover, E.M. tested positive for cocaine three times during random drug testing. In February 1999, shortly before the termination hearing began, E.M. refused a drug screen and acknowledged her continued use of cocaine and alcohol. There was no evidence that E.M. ever sought any of the help offered for her [ ^dependency problems or that she attempted to stop using drugs or alcohol as required by the plans.

E.M. did not satisfy the plan requirement of obtaining any employment. According to Daigre, the Louisiana Rehabilitation Services terminated working with E.M. on her vocational skills because of her lack of cooperation. Daigre testified that E.M. did hold a job for two days in 1997, but she quit and has not held a job since, nor has she ever provided any financial support to her children since they have been in state custody.

Daigre testified that E.M. did not obtain any type of permanent housing as required by the plan. At the time of her termination hearing, E.M.

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Bluebook (online)
754 So. 2d 1028, 99 La.App. 1 Cir. 1458, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 2684, 1999 WL 744030, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-eem-lactapp-1999.