In re R.S.
2017 Ohio 2835
| Ohio Ct. App. | 2017Background
- Mother (Linda S.) has long-standing serious mental-health diagnoses and prior convictions for felony child endangering based on abuse of older children; she served prison time.
- Child R.S., born 2011, was removed from Mother in Oct. 2013 after Mother’s psychiatric hospitalization and because she was not taking medication or engaged in treatment.
- R.S. was placed in temporary custody of the child services agency and lived with a maternal aunt for about a year; Mother initially had supervised visits that were later expanded to unsupervised overnight visits after apparent stabilization.
- CSB sought legal custody for Aunt and moved for a reasonable-efforts bypass under R.C. 2151.419(A)(2)(a) based on Mother’s felony child-endangering convictions; the court granted the bypass.
- The juvenile magistrate and trial court found Aunt’s custody in R.S.’s best interest, placed R.S. in Aunt’s legal custody, and ordered Mother two weekly overnight visits (with possible third at Aunt’s discretion).
- After Mother made uncorroborated, alarming abuse allegations against Aunt and refused to allow mental-health providers to be contacted, the court reduced and required supervision of Mother’s visits to two visits of up to four hours each; Mother appealed both custody and visitation rulings.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether awarding legal custody to Aunt was against the manifest weight of the evidence | Mother: she had made progress on reunification and should receive legal custody | CSB/Aunt: Mother’s pervasive, untreated delusional and personality disorders and lack of insight made Aunt’s stable home in child’s best interest | Court: Affirmed custody to Aunt — best-interest analysis favored Aunt given Mother’s ongoing mental-health instability |
| Whether court erred by not finding CSB made reasonable reunification efforts | Mother: court should have made reasonable-efforts findings at dispositional hearing | CSB: statutory bypass applied due to Mother’s prior felony child-endangering convictions | Court: No error — bypass excused agency from making reasonable-efforts findings |
| Whether child-support calculation and related counsel errors prejudiced Mother | Mother: trial court miscalculated support; counsel ineffective for failing to challenge/support expanded visitation compliance sooner | CSB: Mother not aggrieved by zero-support order; any visitation compliance lapse now moot | Court: Did not reach merits — Mother not aggrieved on support; appellate relief unavailable for past temporary visitation noncompliance |
| Whether post-judgment reduction and supervision of visits was unsupported/factual error | Mother: factual findings (e.g., that she held herself out as legal custodian or didn’t believe abuse allegations) lacked credible evidence and court abused discretion | CSB: Mother’s behavior and distorted thinking justified restricting and supervising visits to protect child | Court: Affirmed modification — Mother failed to show prejudicial error; her conduct and refusal to allow provider contact supported restriction |
Key Cases Cited
- State ex rel. Eliza Jennings, Inc. v. Noble, 49 Ohio St.3d 71 (1990) (court will not decide issues that cannot afford appellant effective relief)
- In re Boehmke, 44 Ohio App.3d 125 (8th Dist. 1988) (distinguishes appeals from temporary visitation orders prior to final disposition)