State v. Tiffany S. (In Re Interest of Aly T.)

26 Neb. Ct. App. 612, 921 N.W.2d 856
CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 27, 2018
DocketA-17-1237
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 26 Neb. Ct. App. 612 (State v. Tiffany S. (In Re Interest of Aly T.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Tiffany S. (In Re Interest of Aly T.), 26 Neb. Ct. App. 612, 921 N.W.2d 856 (Neb. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Pirtle, Judge.

*861 *614 INTRODUCTION

Tiffany S. appeals the order of the separate juvenile court of Douglas County terminating her parental rights to her two children Aly T. and Kazlynn T. She contends that she was not given a sufficient amount of time to rehabilitate herself and comply with the case plan, the caseworker was not qualified to give an expert opinion as to the children's best interests, and the court erred in finding that terminating her parental rights was in the children's best interests. Following our de novo review of the record, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Aly, born in January 2010, and Kazlynn, born in June 2008, were initially brought to the attention of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (Department) in October 2016 after being involved in a car accident in which their father was driving while under the influence of alcohol. As a result of the car accident, Aly suffered a traumatic brain injury, from which she has significantly recovered but requires ongoing monitoring. Kazlynn suffered more severe injuries and remains in a vegetative state at a long-term care facility. Aly and Kazlynn were in the custody of their father at the time of the accident. His parental rights have since been terminated. See In re Interest of Jade H. et al. , 25 Neb. App. 678 , 911 N.W.2d 276 (2018).

*615 On October 25, 2016, the State filed a petition alleging Aly and Kazlynn were within the meaning of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-247 (3)(a) (Reissue 2016), because they lacked proper parental care by reason of the fault or habits of Tiffany in that Tiffany's whereabouts were unknown; she failed to provide the juveniles with safe, stable, and/or appropriate housing; she failed to provide proper parental care, support, supervision and/ or protection for the juveniles; and the juveniles were at risk for harm.

On November 18, 2016, the State filed a second supplemental petition alleging Aly and Kazlynn were within the meaning of § 43-247(3)(a), because they lacked proper parental care by reason of the fault or habits of Tiffany in that Tiffany's use of alcohol and/or controlled substances places the juveniles at risk for harm; she tested positive for methamphetamine on November 17; she failed to provide the juveniles with safe, stable, and/or appropriate housing; she failed to provide the juveniles with proper parental care, support, and/or supervision; and the juveniles were at risk for harm.

An adjudication hearing was held on April 19, 2017, and with the exception of the use of alcohol and/or controlled substances allegation, the court found the allegations in the second supplemental petition were true by a preponderance of the evidence. The court found that Aly and Kazlynn came within the meaning of § 43-247(3)(a) as far as Tiffany was concerned.

A disposition hearing was held on June 6, 2017, at which time the court ordered Tiffany to participate in intensive outpatient *862 treatment, undergo a psychiatric evaluation, participate in medication management, submit to frequent and random drug testing to include testing for alcohol, abstain from the use of all "mood altering chemicals" and illegal drugs, and be allowed reasonable rights of supervised visitation with Aly and Kazlynn.

On August 2, 2017, the State filed a motion to terminate Tiffany's parental rights. The State alleged that termination *616 of her parental rights was warranted pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-292 (2) (Reissue 2016), because she has substantially and continuously or repeatedly neglected and refused to give her children necessary parental care and protection, and pursuant to § 43-292(6), because reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify the family failed to correct the conditions that led to the determination that the children were within the meaning of § 43-247(3)(a). The motion specifically alleged that Tiffany had failed to participate in outpatient treatment, failed to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, failed to submit to urinalysis (UA) testing as requested, and failed to consistently or regularly participate in visitation with Aly and Kazlynn. In addition, the State alleged that termination of Tiffany's parental rights was in the best interests of the children.

Trial was held on the motion to terminate on October 31, 2017. Tiffany did not appear for the trial, and her attorney had no explanation as to why she was not present.

The State's first witness was Wendy Stevenson, a child and family permanency specialist with the Department. She had been Aly and Kazlynn's case manager since October 2016.

Stevenson testified that she had a bachelor's degree in education, had been a child and family permanency specialist for 7 years, received training on when it is appropriate to recommend termination of parental rights, and received ongoing training from the Department. Stevenson testified that in determining whether termination of parental rights is in a child's best interests, she considers the following:

[t]he amount of participation a parent is putting forth in a case, whether they're trying to meet any of the goals that are set forth in the case plan, if they're seeing their child on a regular basis, the type of interactions they have with their child, what's in the best interest of the child, and how the child is reacting to what is occurring during visitation....

Stevenson testified about what the court had ordered Tiffany to do to work toward reuniting with her children and about *617 Tiffany's compliance with those orders. She testified that Tiffany had been ordered to undergo a chemical evaluation and follow through with the recommendations of that evaluation. Tiffany underwent a chemical evaluation in February 2017, but had not followed through with the recommendations which included a psychiatric evaluation and outpatient treatment. In June, the court also ordered her to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and to participate in outpatient treatment. In regard to the psychiatric evaluation, Stevenson stated she set up a "Letter of Agreement" with a behavioral health services agency, which agreement was in effect from March to May, but Tiffany did not contact the agency to set up an appointment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 Neb. Ct. App. 612, 921 N.W.2d 856, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tiffany-s-in-re-interest-of-aly-t-nebctapp-2018.