Tracy Lynn Cline v. Roanoke City Department of Social Services

CourtCourt of Appeals of Virginia
DecidedMay 14, 2024
Docket0156233
StatusUnpublished

This text of Tracy Lynn Cline v. Roanoke City Department of Social Services (Tracy Lynn Cline v. Roanoke City Department of Social Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Tracy Lynn Cline v. Roanoke City Department of Social Services, (Va. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA UNPUBLISHED

Present: Chief Judge Decker, Judge AtLee and Senior Judge Haley Argued by videoconference

TIMOTHY ALAN REDMAN

v. Record No. 0098-23-3

ROANOKE CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY CHIEF JUDGE MARLA GRAFF DECKER TRACY LYNN CLINE MAY 14, 2024

v. Record No. 0156-23-3

ROANOKE CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF ROANOKE Onzlee Ware, Judge

David A. Bowers for appellant Timothy Alan Redman.

John S. Koehler (Ruth Blaskis; The Law Office of James Steele, PLLC; The Law Office of Ruth Blaskis, on briefs), for appellant Tracy Lynn Cline.

Jennifer L. Crook, Assistant City Attorney (Timothy R. Spencer, City Attorney; James P. Cargill, Guardian ad litem for the minor child; James P. Cargill, P.C., on briefs), for appellee.

Timothy Alan Redman (the father)1 and Tracy Lynn Cline (the mother) appeal the circuit

court’s dispositional order removing their child, placing him in the custody of the Roanoke City

* This opinion is not designated for publication. See Code § 17.1-413(A). 1 The father filed a motion advising this Court that the pleadings in the proceedings below incorrectly list his middle name as “Allen.” He requests, without objection, that this Court correct the spelling of his middle name as used in the style of his appeal to “Alan.” We remand to the circuit court to correct the style of the case to reflect the correct spelling of the father’s middle name. Further, in this Court, we hereafter identify him as Timothy Alan Redman. Department of Social Services (the department), and approving the department’s foster care plan

with the primary goal of relative placement and the concurrent goal of adoption.2 The parents

contend that the circuit court erred by concluding that the child had been abused or neglected and

was subject to an imminent risk of harm. They also challenge the court’s rulings that the

department made reasonable efforts to prevent the removal of the child and that no less drastic

alternatives to removal were available. Finally, they argue that it erroneously concluded the goals

of relative placement and adoption were appropriate. We disagree with the appellants and affirm

the judgment of the circuit court.3

2 Although the father and mother appeal separately, their appeals involve common facts, proceedings, and issues of law. Consequently, this Court consolidates the appeals for purposes of our decision. See Bennett v. Commonwealth, 8 Va. App. 228, 229 n.1 (1989). 3 After the parents noted the instant appeals to this Court, the circuit court entered an order terminating their parental rights, and both parents have noted appeals of the termination ruling. See Redman v. Roanoke City Dep’t of Soc. Servs., No. 1913-23-3 (Va. Ct. App.); Cline v. Roanoke City Dep’t of Soc. Servs., No. 1963-23-3 (Va. Ct. App.). The mother suggests that her instant appeal might have become moot due solely to the circuit court’s termination ruling. Following supplemental briefing as ordered by the Court, we hold that the instant appeals are not moot. It is true that “a termination decision, if final and unappealed, moots any justiciable contest over a prior decision to approve DSS’s foster care plan recommendations.” Najera v. Chesapeake Div. of Soc. Servs., 48 Va. App. 237, 241 (2006) (emphasis added). Here, though, both parents have appealed the termination ruling, and those appeals have not yet been conclusively resolved by an unappealed final order. As a result, we hold that the instant appeals are not moot. Also, because we affirm, we need not consider the impact that reversing these appeals, while the termination appeals are still pending, would have on the custody of the child. See generally Castillo v. Loudoun Cnty. Dep’t of Family Servs., 68 Va. App. 547, 560 (2018) (explaining that appellate courts decide cases on the best and narrowest ground available). -2- BACKGROUND4

The mother and father are the biological parents of the minor child who is the subject of this

appeal.5 The child has been diagnosed with Down syndrome, autism, and attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder, and he is predominantly nonverbal. The department first became involved

with the family in 2011, while the father was incarcerated, because of concerns about the mother’s

mental health and alcohol use and the fact that the then-three-year-old child had been physically

abused.6 The department provided the mother with services, including in-home services, mental

health support, and counseling, with which the mother “minimal[ly] compli[ed].” The child entered

foster care for the first time in mid-2013 because the mother appeared to be “in a constant state of

crisis” and “overwhelmed with caring for” him. The mother regained custody of the child about

five months later, in early 2014.

The department became involved with the family again about three years later, in March

2017, after it received a report alleging that the mother’s longtime boyfriend had abused the child,

who was nine at the time. During the investigation, “strangulation marks” were observed on the

child’s neck. The department made a disposition of “founded” for level-two physical abuse against

the mother’s boyfriend. The department advised her that he could not have contact with the child

without its approval. In August of that same year, while the father was incarcerated, the child

4 On appeal, “we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, in this case, the [d]epartment, and grant to it all reasonable inferences fairly deducible from the evidence.” King v. King George Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 69 Va. App. 206, 210 (2018) (quoting C. Farrell v. Warren Cnty. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 59 Va. App. 375, 420-21 (2012)). 5 The record in this case is sealed. “[T]his appeal requires unsealing certain portions to resolve the issues raised by the parties.” Mintbrook Devs., LLC v. Groundscapes, LLC, 76 Va. App. 279, 283 n.1 (2022). We unseal only the facts mentioned in this opinion. See id. The rest of the record remains sealed. 6 The record reflects that the father has been repeatedly incarcerated and released throughout the department’s involvement with the child. -3- entered foster care for a second time. This occurred after the department received a report that the

child had been walking outside alone early in the morning. Due to his disabilities, he could not

speak to identify himself but was eventually identified by a department employee. Law

enforcement officers searched for the mother and found her and the boyfriend asleep at the

boyfriend’s home.7 Afterward, the department provided the mother with mental health and

medication management services while the child remained in foster care. The mother participated

in the services, obtained housing, achieved financial stability, and ultimately regained custody of the

child in July 2019. At the time of the child’s return, he had been in the custody of the department

for almost two additional years. As before, the custody was subject to the condition that the

boyfriend could not have contact with the child.

About seven months later, in February 2020, again while the father was incarcerated, the

department received a report that the mother and the boyfriend had a physical altercation at the

mother’s home while the child was present. The department determined that the mother had again

violated the court’s order prohibiting contact between the child and the boyfriend. As a result, the

child entered foster care for a third time. The department offered the mother “an abundance of

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