60 Conn. App. 96 | Conn. App. Ct. | 2000
Opinion
The respondent mother appeals from the judgments of the trial court terminating her parental rights with respect to three of her four minor children.
The following facts and procedural history are relevant to the disposition of this appeal. On May 14, 1994, the New Haven police department contacted the department of children and families (department) to report
Between July, 1995, and February, 1996, a department social worker made seven appointments for substance abuse evaluations with the respondent, which she failed
On February 21, 1996, the respondent underwent another substance abuse evaluation. At that time, it was determined that she had abused cannabis and cocaine, and that she exhibited antisocial personality traits. It was recommended that the respondent attend a substance treatment program, which, once again, she did not pursue. From February 21, 1996, until March 26, 1997, the respondent failed to attend several substance treatment evaluations. On March 26, 1997, the respondent was seen at the APT Foundation central treatment unit of New Haven for substance abuse evaluation, where it was determined that she had abused cocaine. On April 1, 1997, she was given an appointment for admission, but her case was closed on April 26, 1997, for failure to attend.
On August 29, 1997, the respondent entered an inpatient treatment program at Connecticut Valley Hospital (hospital) and was released on October 10, 1997, after completing a forty-five day program. Following her release, the hospital recommended that she participate in Multicultural Ambulatory Addiction Services (services), an outpatient treatment program. The respondent, however, failed to follow through with those services.
On May 11, 1998, pursuant to General Statutes (Rev. to 1997) § 17a-112 (c),
On April 15, 1998, weekly visitation of the respondent’s four children was ordered by the department. The respondent, however, rarely took advantage of the visits arranged by the department, and her infrequent visits with her children proved to be ineffective. Bruce Freedman, a licensed psychologist, observed the respondent interact with the three youngest children and described her behavior during the visits as inappropriate. Freedman subsequently conducted a psychological evaluation of the children and the respondent, examining the issue of reunification and the best interests of the children. Freedman testified that the respondent had not addressed her substance abuse problem and that she was at high risk for a relapse. He testified that she had psychological problems, such as impulse control, which the respondent had failed to acknowl
On December 29, 1998, and on January 5, February 3, April 7 and April 26, 1999, termination proceedings were held. On April 26, 1999, in an oral ruling from the bench, the court terminated the respondent’s parental rights, finding by clear and convincing evidence that she had failed to achieve sufficient personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that within a reasonable time, considering the children’s ages and needs, she could assume a responsible position in their lives. This appeal followed.
I
The respondent first claims that the court improperly determined that the commissioner, in the dispositional phase, need not prove by clear and convincing evidence the seven factors set forth in § 17a-112 (e) prior to a finding by the court that it is in the best interests of the children to have the respondent’s parental rights terminated. We disagree.
“Under § 17a-112, a hearing on a petition to terminate parental rights consists of two phases: the adjudicatory phase and the dispositional phase. During the adjudicatory phase, the trial court must determine whether one or more of the four grounds for termination of parental rights set forth in § 17a-112 (b) exists by clear and convincing evidence. The commissioner ... in petitioning to terminate those rights, must allege and prove one or more of the statutory grounds. In contrast to custody proceedings, in which the best interests of the child are always the paramount consideration and in fact usually dictate the outcome, in termination proceedings the statutory criteria must be met before termination can be accomplished and adoption proceedings begun. . . . Section [17a-112 (b)] carefully sets out . . . [the] situations that, in the judgment of the legisla
“If the trial court determines that a statutory ground for termination exists, then it proceeds to the disposi-tional phase. During the dispositional phase, the trial court must determine whether termination is in the best interests of the child. When the petitions in this case were filed, [General Statutes (Rev. to 1997) § 17a-112 (e)] required that the trial court, in determining whether to terminate parental rights, consider and . . . make written findings regarding seven separate factors . . . .” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) In re Eden F., 250 Conn. 674, 688-89, 741 A.2d 873 (1999).
Whether the commissioner is required to prove by clear and convincing evidence the seven factors set forth in § 17a-112 (e) prior to the court’s finding that it is in the best interests of the children to have the respondent’s parental rights terminated “is a matter of statutory interpretation, which is a matter of law, requiring plenary review. ... In interpreting statutes, our analysis is guided by well established principles of statutory construction. [0]ur fundamental objective is to ascertain and give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature. ... In seeking to discern that intent, we look to the words of the statute itself, to the legisla
The seven factors set forth in § 17a-112 (e) serve simply as guidelines to the court and are not statutory prerequisites that need to be proven before termination can be ordered. See In re Christine F., 6 Conn. App. 360, 369, 505 A.2d 734, cert. denied, 199 Conn. 808, 809, 508 A.2d 769, 770 (1986). General Statutes § 17a-112 (e) provides in relevant part that “in determining whether to terminate parental rights under this section, the court shall consider and shall make written findings regarding” those seven factors. As a result, there is no requirement that each factor be proven by clear and convincing evidence.
In In re Eden F., supra, 250 Conn. 690-91, our Supreme Court held that “pursuant to § 17a-112 (b), the trial court was authorized to terminate parental rights upon a showing, by clear and convincing evidence, first, that one or more of the four scenarios set forth in § 17a-112 (b) had been proven, and second, that the termination of parental rights was in the best interest of the child. Although § 17a-112 (d) (1) and (2) [formerly § 17-112 (e) (1) and (2)] mandated that the trial court make written findings regarding the timeliness, nature, extent and reasonableness of the efforts made to reunify parent and child, § 17a-112 contained nothing to indicate that any such finding was a prerequisite to the termination of parental rights. Thus, when the petitions in this case were filed, the factors to be considered under § 17a-112 (d) [formerly § 17a-112 (e)] served only to guide the trial court in making its ultimate decision whether to grant the termination petition. . . . Thus, the fact that the legislature [had interpolated] objective
II
The respondent’s next claim is that the court’s finding that there was sufficient evidence to terminate her parental lights in the dispositional phase was improper in light of that court’s determination that the seven factors set forth in § 17a-112 (e) are merely guidelines that need not be proven by clear and convincing evidence. The respondent claims that the court should not have determined that there was sufficient evidence to support its conclusion that termination was in the best interests of the children in view of evidence that two of the children, the two girls, had bonded with her. In effect, she claims that there is an inconsistency in the court’s reasoning such that the order of termination was improper because there was evidence of bonding. We do not agree.
“Our role in reviewing an appeal based on the sufficiency of the evidence is well defined. Where the claim is that the evidence produced did not satisfy the burden of proof factually, the duty of an appellate court is
In this case, the respondent alludes to expert testimony from Freedman, a licensed psychologist, and from Christine Smith, a licensed clinical social worker, who had been treating two of the respondent’s daughters for the past few years. Both experts acknowledged that bonds exist between the respondent and the two girls. Despite the finding of bonding, both experts concluded that bonding was not a sufficient reason to find that termination was not in the best interests of the children.
In In re Christine F., supra, 6 Conn. App. 369, this court considered the factors set forth in General Statutes § 17-43a (d), the predecessor to § 17-112 (e), and also found that a loving relationship existed between the mother and child. In that case, the mother argued that the evidence of this loving relationship had not been given proper weight and should have precluded a finding that termination was in the child’s best interest. Id. We went on to state that “[w]here, as here, the
Here, the court’s ultimate conclusion was supported by sufficient evidence. Freedman concluded that termination was in the best interests of the children, given their need for permanency and stability. Freedman described the relationship between the respondent and her children as an unhealthy one in which the children had to take care of the respondent due to her serious substance abuse problems. Additionally, both experts agreed that the best situation for the children would be for them to be placed in a secure, stable and permanent home with limited, supervised, monitored visitation and contact with the respondent. Finally, there was evidence showing that the respondent had left her children with a caretaker without returning for them, and that she repeatedly missed visitation with her children and went as long as five months between visits. We therefore conclude that there was sufficient evidence for the court to terminate the parental rights of the respondent.
The judgments are affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
The parental rights of each of the children’s fathers also were terminated. Only the respondent mother has appealed, and we refer to her in this opinion as the respondent.
General Statutes (Rev. to 1997) § 17a-112 (e), now (d), provides: “Except in the case where termination is based on consent, in determining whether to terminate parental rights under this section, the court shall consider and shall make written findings regarding: (1) The timeliness, nature and extent of services offered, provided and made available to the parent and the child by an agency to facilitate the reunion of the child with the parent; (2) whether the Department of Children and Families has made reasonable efforts to reunite the family pursuant to the federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, as amended; (3) the terms of any applicable court order entered into and agreed upon by any individual or agency and the parent, and the extent to which all parties have fulfilled their obligations under such order; (4) the feelings and emotional ties of the child with respect to his parents, any guardian of his person and any person who has exercised physical care, custody or control of the child for at least one year and with whom the child has developed significant emotional ties; (5) the age of the child; (6) the efforts the parent has made to adjust his circumstances, conduct, or conditions to make it in the best interest of the child to return him to his home in the foreseeable future, including, but not limited to, (A) the extent to which the parent has maintained contact with the child as part of an effort to reunite the child with the parent, provided the court may give weight to incidental visitations, communications or contributions and (B) the maintenance of regular contact or communication with the guardian or other custodian of the child; and (7) the extent to which a parent has been prevented from maintaining a meaningful relationship with the child by the unreasonable act or conduct of the other parent of the child, or the unreasonable act of any other person or by the economic circumstances of the parent.”
On January 14, 1995, the respondent was arrested on charges that included burglary and failure to appear. On April 20, 1995, she was arrested on charges of assault. In November, 1995, she was arrested and extradited to North Carolina in connection with violation of parole. On May 3, 1998, the respondent was arrested and incarcerated on charges that included burglary, risk of injury and reckless endangerment.
These commitments were subsequently extended on January 16, 1996, August 20, 1997, and August 14, 1998.
General Statutes (Rev. to 1997) § 17a-112 (c) provides in relevant part: “The Superior Court, upon hearing and notice . . . may grant a [termination] petition filed pursuant to this section if it finds by clear and convincing evidence (1) that the Department of Children and Families has made reasonable efforts to locate the parent and to reunify the child with the parent ... (2) that termination is in the best interest of the child, and (3) . . .