Waukesha County DH & HS v. M. M. M.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedOctober 30, 2024
Docket2024AP001622
StatusUnpublished

This text of Waukesha County DH & HS v. M. M. M. (Waukesha County DH & HS v. M. M. M.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Waukesha County DH & HS v. M. M. M., (Wis. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS DECISION NOTICE DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. October 30, 2024 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Samuel A. Christensen petition to review an adverse decision by the Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2024AP1622 Cir. Ct. No. 2022TP41

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT II

IN RE THE TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS TO N.V.M., A PERSON UNDER THE AGE OF 18:

WAUKESHA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES,

PETITIONER-RESPONDENT,

V.

M.M.M.,

RESPONDENT-APPELLANT.

APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Waukesha County: CODY J. HORLACHER, Judge. Affirmed. No. 2024AP1622

¶1 NEUBAUER, J.1 M.M.M., referred to herein by the pseudonym Mary, appeals from an order terminating her parental rights to her son N.V.M., referred to herein by the pseudonym Neal. At the end of a three-day trial, a jury found two grounds to terminate Mary’s parental rights—(1) failure to assume parental responsibility and (2) Neal’s continuing need of protection or services. Mary contends that the evidence presented at the trial was insufficient to establish either ground. She also contends that the trial court erred when it concluded that termination of her parental rights was in Neal’s best interest. For the reasons explained below, this court concludes that the trial evidence was sufficient to support the jury’s verdict and that the court did not err in determining that Mary’s parental rights should be terminated. The order terminating her parental rights is therefore affirmed.

BACKGROUND

¶2 Termination of parental rights proceedings involve two phases: the grounds phase and the dispositional phase. See Sheboygan Cnty. Dep’t of Health & Hum. Servs. v. Julie A.B., 2002 WI 95, ¶¶24-28, 255 Wis. 2d 170, 648 N.W.2d 402. In the grounds phase, the finder of fact must determine whether the government establishes the grounds it pleaded “for involuntary termination under WIS. STAT. § 48.415.” Tammy W-G. v. Jacob T., 2011 WI 30, ¶18, 333 Wis. 2d 273, 797 N.W.2d 854. If the factfinder determines that the government has established grounds to terminate under § 48.415, “the court shall find the parent unfit.” WIS. STAT. § 48.424(4). The proceeding then enters the second,

1 This appeal is decided by one judge pursuant to WIS. STAT. § 752.31(2)(e) (2021-22). All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2021-22 version unless otherwise noted.

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dispositional phase, during which “the court is called upon to decide whether it is in the best interest of the child that the parent’s rights be permanently extinguished.” See Steven V. v. Kelley H., 2004 WI 47, ¶27, 271 Wis. 2d 1, 678 N.W.2d 856; see also WIS. STAT. § 48.426(2).

¶3 In March 2020, the Waukesha County Department of Health and Human Services (County) filed a petition alleging that Neal was in need of protection or services. In June of that year, the trial court found Neal to be in need of protection or services and entered a dispositional order placing Neal in out-of- home care. The order imposed nine conditions Mary would have to meet in order for Neal to be returned to her home, including providing certain information to her assigned case worker, managing her physical and mental health, managing her recovery from substance abuse, providing Neal a “safe, stable and appropriate living environment,” and having “regular healthy family interactions” with him.

¶4 In November 2022, the County filed a petition to terminate Mary’s parental rights. The County alleged two grounds for termination: first, that Neal continued to be in need of protection or services, and second, that Mary had failed to assume parental responsibility for Neal. See WIS. STAT. § 48.415(2), (6). Mary contested the petition and reserved her right to a jury trial.

I. The Grounds Trial

¶5 The trial court held a three-day jury trial on the County’s petition in November 2023. Mary was the first witness to testify. She confirmed that she had used both cocaine and opioids while she was pregnant with Neal, which led to him being removed from her care shortly after he was born in February 2020. She also acknowledged that she continued to use cocaine after Neal’s birth and that she had been incarcerated for violating the terms of her probation for three months in

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2022. Before and after her time in custody, Mary did not have stable housing, living at various times in hotels or homes with her grandfather and also with her mother, who had a history of substance abuse. Mary acknowledged multiple drug relapses since Neal’s birth, including testing positive for fentanyl on one occasion.

¶6 Mary confirmed that she was familiar with the conditions of return that were imposed in 2020. She underwent a psychological evaluation in 2020 that recommended she participate in therapy, which she believed would have been beneficial and helped her become a better mother. She participated in therapy and drug treatment but did not attend her therapy sessions consistently and did not complete her program. She failed to complete a second, court-ordered psychological evaluation even though she thought it would have been beneficial. Mary also confirmed that she had declined her case worker’s request that she undergo random drug testing because she was already undergoing scheduled drug testing at a local clinic and by her probation agent.

¶7 When asked about her communication with her assigned social worker, Mary acknowledged that there were times when she was unreachable. She attributed some of these occasions to issues with her phone service but admitted she also did not always want to speak with the social worker because, in her words, “she constantly badgered me.” Mary was assigned a parenting aide at Catholic Charities but eventually chose not to work with her because of “different views” regarding parenting. She also admitted that her treatment at the local clinic was terminated after the clinic discovered her continuing a romantic relationship with an individual who had been physically abusive towards her and was subject to a no contact order.

4 No. 2024AP1622

¶8 Mary testified that she began working with an organization called Welfare Warriors in 2022 because her assigned social worker was not providing her information about what she needed to do to fulfill the conditions of return. She claimed that on several occasions she asked the social worker what she needed to do for Neal to be returned and was told to reread her conditions of return. Welfare Warriors helped her secure housing and with attendance at required meetings.

¶9 Mary also testified about visits that were set up with Neal. She testified that the visits were initially set up to occur at her aunt’s house and acknowledged that her aunt had expressed concerns that Mary was under the influence during some of the visits. Mary admitted she did not spend as much time with Neal at her aunt’s house as she could have. She described some of the visits as difficult because of things her aunt would say to her. The visits were eventually moved to Mary’s house but ended when Mary lost her housing; she later began having virtual visits with Neal but did not attend them consistently. Mary confirmed she has not been employed since Neal was born and has never been his day-to-day primary caregiver.

¶10 Abbey Girman, the social worker assigned to Neal’s case, testified about the County’s efforts to provide court-ordered services for Mary.

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Related

Dane County Department of Human Services v. Mable K.
2013 WI 28 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2013)
Gerald O. v. Cindy R.
551 N.W.2d 855 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1996)
In Re the Termination of Parental Rights to Marquette S.
2007 WI 77 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2007)
Steven v. v. Kelley H.
2004 WI 47 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2004)
Waukesha County Department of Health & Human Services v. Teodoro E.
2008 WI App 16 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2007)
Tammy W-G. v. Jacob T.
2011 WI 30 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2011)
State v. B. W.
2024 WI 28 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2024)

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Bluebook (online)
Waukesha County DH & HS v. M. M. M., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waukesha-county-dh-hs-v-m-m-m-wisctapp-2024.