In re W.F., 2014 Ohio 2892

Brown County JFS filed a complaint alleging W.F. was neglected, dependent and abused after the mother overdosed with the infant present on January 22, 2012.
The mother was revived by EMS, later charged for drug possession and drug paraphernalia found in the vehicle.
An emergency hearing led to temporary custody of W.F. to the agency, with placement with the child's great-grandparents.
Adjudication on February 27, 2012 found W.F. dependent; dispositional hearing on April 2, 2012 granted temporary custody to the agency and issued a no-contact order.
Permanent custody to the agency was sought on May 23, 2013 and granted on December 10, 2013; the mother did not appeal the dependency or temporary custody orders within 30 days.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Effective assistance of counsel in permanent custody	W.F.'s counsel was ineffective due to stipulation, lack of continuance, and misrepresentation of the mother's wishes.	Counsel's actions were within the wide range of competent assistance and not prejudicial given the evidence and agency interests.	No merit; no prejudice shown; appeal beyond proper issues.
Timeliness of challenge to dependency/temporary custody orders	Appellant could challenge dependency/temporary orders in the permanent custody appeal.	Appellant timely challenges were barred because they should have appealed these orders within 30 days of adjudication/disposition.	Barred; issues were not timely appealed.

In re Murray, 52 Ohio St.3d 155 (Ohio 1990) (dependency and permanent custody appeal deadlines)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (Ohio 1989) (prejudice standard for ineffective assistance analysis)
In re Spillman, 2003-Ohio-713 (Ohio 2003) (Strickland two-prong test for ineffective assistance)
In re A.N., 2009-Ohio-1873 (Ohio 2009) (appeals for dependency adjudication issues; timing)
In re J.L., 2009-Ohio-1545 (Ohio 2009) (timing of appeals from custody orders)