Whitt v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

2015 Ark. App. 293, 461 S.W.3d 386, 2015 Ark. App. LEXIS 363
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMay 6, 2015
DocketCV-15-20
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2015 Ark. App. 293 (Whitt v. Arkansas Department of Human Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whitt v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 2015 Ark. App. 293, 461 S.W.3d 386, 2015 Ark. App. LEXIS 363 (Ark. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

BRANDON J. HARRISON, Judge

h Gregory Whitt appeals the order of the Washington County Circuit Court that gave custody of three of his children, J.W., G.W., and T.W., to their mother, Jennifer Shirley, and closed the dependency-neglect case. He argues that the circuit court erred in finding that placement with Jennifer was in the children’s best interest. We affirm.

We explained the underlying facts of this case in a previous opinion:

In June 2013, the Department of Human Services (DHS) exercised a 72-hour hold on Gregory Whitt’s three children after he had been arrested for domestic violence, public intoxication, and endangering the welfare of a minor. The children’s mother, Jennifer Shirley, was living in Florida at the time. Gregory had obtained custody of the three children by an August 2012 agreed order.
The children were placed in foster care, and the circuit court later adjudicated the children dependent-neglected. In its adjudication order, the court made the following findings regarding the night the children entered DHS’s custody: Gregory and his girlfriend were drunk when the police arrived at their house; Gregory placed one of the children between him and | athe door to prevent the police from entering; and his girlfriend had a bloody lip.
At the hearing, the court ordered the children to remain in foster care. A no-contact order was already in place between Gregory and his children. The court ordered Gregory to undergo counseling and be drug tested. Jennifer, appearing at the hearing via telephone, was ordered to submit to a hair-follicle test, undergo a psychological evaluation, and be present at the next review hearing.
The court held the six-month-review hearing in October 2013. Both Gregory and Jennifer appeared; neither was represented by counsel. The first witness was Ritchie McFarland, the family-service worker. He testified that Gregory had completed counseling but had failed a drug test. McFarland recommended that the children stay in foster care. He had concerns regarding Gregory, who had said he knew where the foster parents lived and “would get his children back the legal or the illegal way.” ...
Gregory and Jennifer also testified, and the following facts were presented to the court. Jennifer lived in Florida with Gregory’s brother, David Whitt. The two were not, however, in a relationship. Further, both the maternal and paternal grandmothers lived in Florida. Jennifer did not have a job and instead stayed home to care for her and Gregory’s youngest child. (Per the August 2012 agreed order, Gregory had custody of the three oldest children, while Jennifer had custody of the fourth and youngest child.) Last, a Florida court had placed David Whitt on probation for two counts of child neglect a year earlier.
After the testimony, both DHS and the ad litem recommended that the children stay in foster care. Despite these recommendations, the court awarded permanent custody of the children to Jennifer and closed the dependency-neglect case. In its ruling, the court noted that Gregory was mentally unstable, posed an emotional threat to his children, and was unfit. It further found that Jennifer had passed a drug test and that her visitation had gone well. It ruled that giving Jennifer custody was in the children’s best interest. Finally, the court ruled that Gregory could have visitation once the no-contact order was lifted but added the requirement that his brother, David, supervise it.

Whitt v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 2014 Ark. App. 449, at 1-3, 441 S.W.3d 33, 34-35 (Whitt I). In Whitt I, we held that the circuit court erred in granting Jennifer permanent custody because “there simply was not enough information in front of the court to make |sthis decision. Rather, the facts in front of the court suggested the need for further investigation into the appropriateness of both parents.” Id. at 5, 441 S.W.3d at 36. We therefore reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

Upon remand, the circuit court held a permanency-planning hearing on 10 October 2014. Nirika Morris, the Washington County DHS Supervisor, introduced a court report and a case plan and recommended continued reunification efforts with Jennifer. This recommendation was based on the fact that an Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) home study had not been completed; Morris agreed that if a favorable ICPC study was in place, she would recommend returning the children to their mother. Morris also explained that Gregory had been recently convicted on criminal charges and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, so the Department was not recommending further reunification efforts with him. Morris agreed that, according to the court report, the children were “doing great” both in school and at home.

On cross-examination, Jennifer’s counsel attempted to introduce a home study of Jennifer’s home conducted in November 2013 by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), but Gregory’s counsel objected on hearsay and relevance grounds. The court initially decided to allow the report into evidence as a business record but ultimately denied the admission of the report because counsel failed to provide opposing counsel with a copy of the report in advance of the hearing. The report was proffered and made part of the record.

Gregory testified that he was charged with jury tampering in June 2013 and was currently incarcerated at the Washington County Sheriffs Department. Counsel | ¿introduced certified documents from the Elkins District Court, which showed that in December 2013, Gregory was found guilty of endangering the welfare of a minor. Gregory acknowledged that because of his incarceration, the children could not ■ go home with him, but he was concerned about them returning to Florida with their mother because she had “abused them physically and mentally in the past.” Gregory explained that in December 2012, he observed a bruise on J.W., and he also stated that he had seen evidence of physical abuse on all the children. Gregory also testified that he knew “for a fact” that Jennifer was using drugs. He expressed concern with Jennifer and the children living with his brother, David, and Gregory’s counsel introduced a certified copy of David’s plea of guilty to child neglect and battery in October 2012. Gregory also expressed concern that Jennifer did not have a job, a car, or any way to support herself without David. Gregory stated that he would like the children to be placed with his current wife, Toni Whitt, or her parents. On cross-examination, Gregory acknowledged that he had been found guilty of jury tampering and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. He also acknowledged that he had provided no financial support to his children in the past year but explained that it was “because I have had no available contact.”

Twelve-year-old J.W. testified that he was in the seventh grade at Cutler Ridge Middle School in Miami, Florida, and that he had good grades. He explained that he was in a special program at school that focuses on marine biology and that he “love[d] it.” As for his living arrangements, J.W. explained that he and his little brother T.W. slept on bunk beds in one room; his brother G.W.

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Related

Brown v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs.
542 S.W.3d 899 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2018)

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Bluebook (online)
2015 Ark. App. 293, 461 S.W.3d 386, 2015 Ark. App. LEXIS 363, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whitt-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2015.