IN RE: A.S.
C.A. No. 29472
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
April 8, 2020
2020-Ohio-1356
APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT ENTERED IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO CASE No. DN 18-12-1220
DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY
CARR, Judge.
{¶1} Appellant Mother appeals the judgment of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, that adjudicated the child A.S. a dependent child and placed her in the temporary custody of appellee Summit County Children Services Board (“CSB” or “the agency“). This Court reverses and remands.
I.
{¶2} Mother is the biological mother of A.S. (d.o.b. 7/3/18). She is also the biological mother of two older children, C.K. and H.K., who are not subjects of this appeal, but who are nevertheless relevant to issues herein. Mother‘s husband (“Father“) is the biological father of A.S. but not C.K. and H.K.
{¶3} In September 2017, CSB filed complaints alleging H.K. was abused, neglected, and dependent; and that C.K. was neglected and dependent. The parents waived their rights to adjudicatory and dispositional hearing. H.K. and C.K. were adjudicated dependent based on
{¶4} When A.S. was born, CSB did not seek either removal or protective supervision of that child. Shortly thereafter, CSB moved to return one of the child‘s half-siblings, H.K., to Mother‘s temporary custody under an order of protective supervision by the agency. The juvenile court granted that motion and H.K. was returned to Mother‘s home where A.S. was residing. Although the agency had some ongoing concerns regarding Mother‘s ability to consistently provide a safe and stable environment for multiple children, it nevertheless moved to maintain H.K. in Mother‘s home and continue the agency‘s protective supervision. C.K. remained in the agency‘s temporary custody. Two months later, however, CSB moved to return H.K. to its temporary custody based on safety concerns in the home and Mother‘s inability to control H.K.‘s behavior. The juvenile court placed H.K. in CSB‘s temporary custody and ordered that Mother would have supervised visitation with that child.
{¶5} A few weeks later, the agency filed a complaint alleging that A.S. was a neglected and dependent child. CSB obtained an emergency order of temporary custody of A.S. After a hearing before the magistrate, A.S. was adjudicated a dependent child. The allegation of neglect was dismissed for lack of evidence. After a dispositional hearing before the magistrate, A.S. was placed in the temporary custody of CSB. Mother filed timely objections to the adjudicatory and dispositional orders. The juvenile court overruled Mother‘s objections, adjudicated the child dependent, and placed A.S. in the agency‘s temporary custody. Mother timely appealed and raises two assignments of error for review.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ADJUDICATING THE MINOR CHILD A.S. AS A DEPENDENT CHILD.
{¶6} Mother argues that the juvenile court‘s adjudication of A.S. as a dependent child was against the manifest weight of the evidence. This Court agrees.
{¶7} Juvenile abuse, neglect, and dependency cases are initiated by the filing of a complaint. See
{¶8} This Court reviews as follows:
In determining whether the juvenile court‘s adjudication of dependency is against the manifest weight of the evidence, this court [reviews] the entire record, weighs the evidence and all reasonable inferences, considers the credibility of witnesses and determines whether in resolving conflicts in the evidence, the [trier of fact] clearly lost its way and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice that the [adjudication] must be reversed[.]
{¶9} Mother challenges the finding that A.S. is a dependent child as alleged in the complaint. CSB alleged that A.S. is dependent pursuant to
R.C. 2151.04(C)
{¶10} Pursuant to
[a] dependency finding under
R.C. 2151.04(C) does not require specific parental fault; rather the focus is on the child‘s situation to determine whether the child is without proper or adequate care or support. In re R.P., 9th Dist. Summit No. 26836, 2013-Ohio-5728, ¶ 19. “The conduct of the parent is relevant only insofar as it forms a part of the child[ ]‘s environment and it is significant only if it has a detrimental impact on [him].” In re A.C. at ¶ 14, citing In re Burrell, 58 Ohio St.2d 37, 39 (1979).
In re I.T., 9th Dist. Summit Nos. 27513, 27560, and 27581, 2016-Ohio-555, ¶ 32.
{¶11} CSB alleged that the child‘s environment warranted the agency‘s intervention and guardianship because H.K. poses a risk of physical harm to A.S., Mother has cognitive delays that limit her ability to care for the child, the parents are in jeopardy of losing their housing, Mother relies on Father to make decisions regarding the care of the child, and the parents were not cooperative with CSB in participating in case plan objectives. The juvenile court premised its finding of dependency under this subsection in large part on evidence that Mother‘s two Fast Track counselors were concerned that Mother was overwhelmed with three young children in the home and that the parents might not implement the necessary parenting strategies to keep A.S. safe from injury by H.K. The trial court found that Mother failed to demonstrate that she was able to limit
{¶12} To the extent that CSB relied on and the juvenile court considered Mother‘s and Father‘s noncompliance with proposed case objectives in finding the child dependent, this Court notes that there was no case plan in effect regarding A.S. at the time of the adjudicatory hearing. As no case plan had been adopted and made the order of the court, Mother and Father were under no obligation to comply with proposed objectives, sign releases, or cooperate with the agency. In re S.D.-M., 9th Dist. Summit Nos. 27148 and 27149, 2014-Ohio-1501, ¶ 26, citing
{¶13} At the adjudicatory hearing, CSB presented the testimony of two Fast Track counselors who began providing in-home services to the family shortly before A.S. was born. Both counselors believed that H.K. might accidentally injure A.S. during his active play. Nevertheless, when H.K. was observed to interact directly with A.S., he was very affectionate with his sister. Although one counselor remarked that Mother‘s focus was split when dealing with the two children, the counselor acknowledged that any parent would need to prioritize when caring for a toddler and an infant. For example, when H.K. went into a bedroom closet and
{¶14} All of CSB‘s witnesses admitted that H.K. had never injured A.S. They merely opined that there was a possibility that the active three-year old could accidentally harm A.S. as he played. In fact, the only time that any child was injured during this case was when H.K. was being supervised by CSB workers after H.K.‘s father left the visitation center and before Mother arrived to pick up the child.2 H.K. suffered a fall requiring stitches to his head.
{¶15} The Fast Track counselors saw both parents redirect H.K. in an appropriate manner, although the counselors on occasion directed Mother in that regard. In any event, because H.K. was no longer residing in Mother‘s and Father‘s home and agency efforts to transition him back into the home had ceased, any risk he may have posed to A.S. no longer existed.
{¶16} Mother and Father were always observed to act in an appropriate and caring manner with A.S., both in the home and during visits at the agency center. The parents’ home, while small, was deemed by the counselors and CSB caseworker to be appropriate. There were no pending eviction proceedings, as Mother and Father had resolved prior proceedings to the satisfaction of their landlord. CSB presented no evidence that Mother and Father were currently at any risk of losing their home.
{¶17} Father works two jobs and is out of the home for a significant period each week, leaving Mother alone to parent A.S. The caseworker and counselors were concerned that Mother
{¶18} Finally, to the extent that CSB alleged that Mother was unable to provide appropriate care for A.S. because Mother suffered from cognitive delays, the agency put forth no evidence to support that. The caseworker and Fast Track counselors believed that Mother might have some cognitive deficits because she asked a lot of questions. However, there was no evidence of any assessment of Mother‘s cognitive functioning or that any witness at the hearing was qualified to render a diagnosis in that regard.
{¶19} Based on a review of the evidence, this is the exceptional case where the finder of fact clearly lost its way and created a manifest miscarriage of justice by adjudicating A.S. a dependent child pursuant to
{¶20} Mother and Father had divided familial tasks in a manner that suited their circumstances. There was no evidence that they had assumed “strange parental roles[.]” Although Mother sought Father‘s advice regarding significant decisions regarding A.S., there was no evidence that the child did not receive adequate care while with Mother. Father testified in Mother‘s presence that Mother had authority to act regarding the child without his permission or input.
{¶21} Based on the above discussion, this Court concludes that the juvenile court‘s finding that A.S. is a dependent child pursuant to
R.C. 2151.04(D)
{¶22} To prove that a child is dependent pursuant to
- The child is residing in a household in which a parent, guardian, custodian, or other member of the household committed an act that was the basis for an adjudication that a sibling of the child or any other child who resides in the household is an abused, neglected, or dependent child.
- Because of the circumstances surrounding the abuse, neglect, or dependency of the sibling or other child and the other conditions in the household of the child, the child is in danger of being abused or neglected by that parent, guardian, custodian, or member of the household.
{¶23} There is no dispute that CSB satisfied the first prong of the test. H.K. and C.K., siblings of A.S., were previously adjudicated dependent children. The second prong of the test requires consideration of not only the circumstances surrounding the siblings’ adjudications, but
{¶24} In this case, the juvenile court premised its finding of dependency pursuant to
Conclusion
{¶25} The juvenile court‘s finding that A.S. was a dependent child pursuant to
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR II
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FINDING IT WAS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE MINOR CHILD A.S. THAT SHE BE PLACED IN THE TEMPORARY CUSTODY OF [CSB], AS THE DISPOSITION WAS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.
{¶26} Mother argues that the juvenile court‘s finding that an order of temporary custody of A.S. to CSB was against the manifest weight of the evidence. Based on this Court‘s resolution
III.
{¶27} Mother‘s first assignment of error is sustained. This Court declines to address the second assignment of error. The judgment of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Judgment reversed, and cause remanded.
There were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common Pleas, County of Summit, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the period for review shall begin to run.
DONNA J. CARR
FOR THE COURT
CALLAHAN, P. J.
SCHAFER, J.
CONCUR.
APPEARANCES:
ALAN M. MEDVICK, Attorney at Law, for Appellant.
SHERRI BEVAN WALSH, Prosecuting Attorney, and JACQUENETTE S. CORGAN, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for Appellee.