State in Interest of LLZ v. MYS

620 So. 2d 1309, 1993 La. LEXIS 2167, 1993 WL 239952
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJuly 1, 1993
Docket92-C-2975
StatusPublished
Cited by61 cases

This text of 620 So. 2d 1309 (State in Interest of LLZ v. MYS) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State in Interest of LLZ v. MYS, 620 So. 2d 1309, 1993 La. LEXIS 2167, 1993 WL 239952 (La. 1993).

Opinion

620 So.2d 1309 (1993)

STATE In the Interest of L.L.Z.
v.
M.Y.S.

No. 92-C-2975.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

July 1, 1993.

Theresa A. Beckler, Drake, Beckler & Drake, Ponchatoula, for applicant.

Terrebonne Indigent Defender Bd., Charles G. Blaize, Houma, for respondent.

CALOGERO, Chief Justice.[*]

We granted this Writ to determine whether M.Y.S.'s parental rights over her *1310 child, L.L.Z., may be terminated pursuant to L.S.A.-R.S. 13:1601. The State claimed that M.Y.S.'s parental rights should be terminated because their proof met the requirements of both subsections (B) and (D) of R.S. 13:1601. We find otherwise and determine, for the following reasons, that the State has not satisfied its burden of proving, by clear and convincing evidence, the common requirements of subsections (B) and (D), that is, that M.Y.S. is unfit and has shown no reasonable expectation of reformation. Because the State has failed to prove this to be the case, M.Y.S.'s parental rights over her child, L.L.Z., may not be terminated.

M.Y.S. was 16 years old and 8 months pregnant when she ran away from her foster home in Illinois with her boyfriend. On July 3, 1984, the child, L.L.Z., was born in Oklahoma. Several days thereafter, M.Y.S. continued hitch-hiking to Louisiana, taking the baby along.

In late July 1984, M.Y.S. settled in Houma, Louisiana. At that time, the Department of Social Services (hereinafter, Agency) and the local police received a complaint that M.Y.S. was not properly caring for the child. Because the child, a little girl, appeared neglected, she was placed by the police in protective custody. She was then taken to the hospital and admitted for treatment.

On July 29, 1984, temporary custody was transferred to the State by the 32nd Judicial District (Juvenile) Court after it determined that the child, by then twenty-six days old, had been neglected. On August 2, 1984, at a 72 hour hearing, the court determined that the State should continue to maintain custody of the child.

On October 4, 1984, the Agency conducted the first family team conference to begin the process of reuniting M.Y.S. and the child. M.Y.S. did not attend the first conference or the second, held on January 14, 1985, because she had been sent back to Illinois where she found herself under foster care and unable to leave the state.

On February 6, 1985, with M.Y.S., still under foster care back in Illinois, the district juvenile court found the child neglected. The court rendered a judgment declaring that the child was a "child in need of care." In addition, the custody of the child was ordered continued with the State pending disposition of the case.

On July 15, 1985, the Agency held a third conference. By then, being seventeen and no longer under foster care in Illinois, M.Y.S. attended her first conference. At this conference the Agency discussed with M.Y.S. counseling, parenting skills, and loss of parental rights. Monthly meetings thereafter were scheduled between the mother and child. M.Y.S. did not attend the fourth conference held in January 1986. She provided no reason why she failed to attend the conference. In response, the Agency began to entertain the possibility of allowing the child to be adopted.[1]

M.Y.S. attended the fifth through twelfth conferences held by the Agency over a period spanning May 1986 through August 1989. In essence, M.Y.S. missed the first two conferences because they were conducted in her absence while she was in foster care in Illinois. She missed the fourth conference for unknown reasons. Otherwise, she attended the first twelve conferences over a period of some five years.

At the fifth conference, she was advised by the Agency that the child might be considered for adoption. At the sixth conference she was notified by the agency that she had not been attending counseling or parenting sessions and that the Agency intended to pursue the adoption of the child.[2] At the seventh conference held in May 1987, the Agency noted that the child was three years old and was becoming *1311 bonded with her foster parents. Nonetheless, the Agency maintained M.Y.S.'s monthly visits with the child.

On October 1, 1987, the district juvenile court ordered that the child be continued in the custody of the State for a period of twelve months, responsive to a motion by the Offices of Youth Services. The court found that reunification of the child with her mother was not in the child's best interest and that the child's existing foster care situation was more appropriate.

The eighth family team conference was held one month later in November 1987. At this conference, the Agency changed its plan from adoption to reunification of mother and child. This change of plans was based on information received by the Agency that M.Y.S. had begun making an effort toward trying to provide a home for the child. The Agency advised M.Y.S. of the trauma the child would experience regarding the separation from her foster parents if she and the child were reunited. She was also informed of the need to attend parenting classes and mental health counseling, how to handle stress and substance abuse, and the need for a stable income and adequate living conditions. She was encouraged to continue to visit the child monthly to establish a relationship and keep the Agency informed of any changes, such as her having to leave the state.

The ninth conference was conducted in April 1988. The Agency expressed concern that she was not attending Parents Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous.[3] In addition, she was advised that her housing situation was inadequate. It had deteriorated to a point that there was no room for another child. She was, at that time, living in a two bedroom house. In response to the Agency's evaluation, M.Y.S. and her family moved to a three bedroom trailer.

At the tenth conference M.Y.S. was again notified that the Agency was aware that she was still not attending parenting classes or counseling sessions. At this conference, the Agency decided to reexplore the possibility of adoption of the child because the Agency concluded, based on evaluations it had received, that the child had been with the foster parents since she was twenty six days old and that it was in the best interest of the child not to remove her from that environment.

At the eleventh conference, held in February 1989, the Agency found that M.Y.S.'s overall situation was improving and that she was visiting the child regularly, including weekend visits without major incident.

However, during this time the Agency determined that the child had become more attached to and had bonded with her foster parents although she had developed a relationship with her mother. Consequently, on April 12, 1989, the Agency had the custody of the child transferred from the State to the foster parents, yet allowed M.Y.S. reasonable visitation rights.

At the twelfth family team conference held in August 1989, the Agency noted that the visits between M.Y.S. and the child were going well.

M.Y.S. did not attend the thirteenth conference held in February 1990, although her husband did in her place. Because of her absence at this conference, the Agency included a provision in the case plan that if M.Y.S. disappeared for a four month period of time, abandonment proceedings would be considered. M.Y.S. likewise did not attend the fourteenth conference held in August 1990.[4] As a result of her absence from these two consecutive conferences, the Agency began to explore the possibility of terminating her parental rights.

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Bluebook (online)
620 So. 2d 1309, 1993 La. LEXIS 2167, 1993 WL 239952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-in-interest-of-llz-v-mys-la-1993.