51 Conn. App. 595 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1999
Opinion
The respondent mother (respondent) appeals from the judgments of the trial court terminating her parental rights with respect to her daughters, Tabitha and Christina. The respondent claims that the trial court improperly (1) failed to make a finding that the petitioner had made reasonable efforts to reunify the family pursuant to General Statutes § 17a-112 (c) (l)
The following facts are relevant to this appeal. The respondent is the mother of six children, including Tabitha and Christina. She first married before she was sixteen. She had two children prior to her divorce in 1977. She then had two sons by another man. In 1987, she married the father of Tabitha and Christina, who were born in 1986 and 1988, respectively. She and the father are now divorced.
The respondent has a history of personal and mental health problems. As a child, she was sexually abused by her father. She has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She has also been hospitalized for suicide attempts, including a 1994 incident in which she attempted to drown herself. She has been evicted four times and suffered three house fires. She has voluntarily requested placement by the department for each of her six children on numerous occasions.
In August, 1996, Bruce Freedman, a psychologist who had been appointed by the court to evaluate the respondent and the two girls, reported that the respondent had not been adequately rehabilitated, had received
Both Tabitha and Christina were sexually abused by their brothers. When their father lived with them, he physically abused both girls and sexually abused Christina. Both girls now suffer from mental disorders. Prior to her placement, Tabitha wet and soiled her clothes. She was diagnosed as learning disabled. Also, the respondent’s needs and inabilities have resulted in an unhealthy “parentification” of Tabitha. Christina was diagnosed as suffering from reactive attachment disorder and exhibits sexualized behavior that has concerned her counselor.
On January 31,1995, Tabitha and Christina were adjudicated neglected and committed to the care of the department of children and families. On June 26, 1996, the department petitioned the court for the termination of parental rights with respect to the girls. The court ordered the termination of parental rights on October 23, 1997, and this appeal followed.
“The hearing on a petition to terminate parental rights consists of two phases, adjudication and disposition. See Practice Book § 1042.1 et seq. [now § 33-1 et seq.]. In the adjudicatory phase, the trial court determines whether the statutory ground for termination of parental rights exists by clear and convincing evidence. If the trial court determines that a statutory ground for termination exists, it proceeds to the dispositional phase. In the dispositional phase, the trial court determines whether the termination of parental rights is in the best interests of the child. In re Maximina V., 44 Conn. App. 80, 82-83, 686 A.2d 1005 (1997).
I
The respondent first claims that the trial court failed in the adjudicatory phase to find that the department had made reasonable efforts to reunify the family. Alternatively, the respondent claims that the court improperly found that she was unable to benefit from reunification. We disagree.
As part of the adjudication process, § 17a-112 (c) (1) requires that the court find by clear and convincing evidence that “the Department of Children and Families has made reasonable efforts to locate the parent and to reunify the child with the parent, unless the court finds in this proceeding that the parent is unable or unwilling to benefit from reunification efforts . . . .”
In light of the court’s memorandum of decision and subsequent articulation, we are not persuaded either that the trial court failed to consider whether reasonable efforts had been made or that its conclusion that
II
The respondent next claims that the court improperly found that there was no ongoing parent-child relationship. We disagree.
“Section 17a-112 (b) (4) [now § 17a-112 (c) (3) (D)] provides for the termination of parental rights if, upon clear and convincing evidence, it is proved that no ongoing parent-child relationship has existed in excess of one year. This part of the statute requires the trial court to undertake a two-pronged analysis. First, there must be a determination that no parent-child relationship exists, and second, the court must look into the future and determine whether it would be detrimental to the child’s best interest to allow time for such a relationship to develop. In re Juvenile Appeal (Anonymous), [177 Conn. 648, 670, 420 A.2d 875 (1979)]; In re Michael M., [29 Conn. App. 112, 128, 614 A.2d 832 (1992)]; In re Megan M., [24 Conn. App. 338, 340, 588 A.2d 239 (1991)]; In re Juvenile Appeal (84-6), 2 Conn. App. 705, 708, 483 A.2d 1101 (1984), cert. denied, 195 Conn. 801, 487 A.2d 564 (1985); In re Juvenile Appeal (84-3), 1 Conn. App. 463, 477, 473 A.2d 795, cert. denied, 193 Conn. 802, 474 A.2d 1259 (1984).
“It is reasonable to read the language of no ongoing parent-child relationship to contemplate a situation in which, regardless of fault, a child either has never known his or her parents, so that no relationship has ever developed between them, or has definitively lost that relationship, so that despite its former existence
The court-appointed evaluator, Freedman, reported that “[t]he girls showed concern for their mother . . . but they did not show normal parent-child relationships.” Moreover, “[b]oth girls made it clear that they did not wish to return to mother’s care, now or in the future.” We cannot conclude that the trial court’s finding was clearly erroneous.
Ill
The respondent claims that the trial court improperly found, by clear and convincing evidence, that she had failed to achieve sufficient rehabilitation. We disagree.
Section 17a-112 “requires the trial court to analyze the respondent’s rehabilitative status as it relates to the needs of the particular child, and further, that such rehabilitation must be foreseeable within a reasonable time. ... A determination by the trial court . . . that the evidence is clear and convincing that the parent has not rehabilitated herself will be disturbed only if that finding is not supported by the evidence and [is], in light of the evidence in the whole record, clearly
The record clearly supports the trial court’s finding. Contrary to the respondent’s assertions, she did not meet the expectations set by the court in its January, 1995 neglect hearing with respect to the girls. Betty Gorman, an employee of the department of children and families, testified that the respondent attended individual therapy only sporadically, lapsed in her medication regime “many times,” sometimes acted inappropriately during visits with the children, and failed to secure and maintain housing “for quite a period of time.” Although another department worker, Paulette Marquis, testified that the respondent had largely complied with the court’s expectations over the past nine months, Freedman noted that her efforts were “far from effective, adequate rehabilitation.”
On the basis of our review of the record, we are not persuaded that the trial court’s determination was clearly erroneous.
IV
The respondent claims that the trial court improperly found, by clear and convincing evidence, that Tabitha and Christina had been harmed as a result of the respondent’s acts of omission or commission. We disagree.
On the basis of our review of the record, we cannot conclude that the trial court’s finding was clearly erroneous. While the children were in the respondent’s care, the respondent failed to protect them from sexual abuse by their older brothers. At one point, the respondent specifically told Tabitha not to disclose to therapist Martha Roberts anything about the sexual abuse or any other goings on of the family.
Finally, the respondent claims that the court improperly denied her motion “to stay the [department’s] decision to end visits without allowing argument or testimony.” She offers no analysis or authority to support this claim. “We are not required to review issues that have been improperly presented to this court through an inadequate brief. Connecticut National Bank v. Giacomi, 242 Conn. 17, 44-45, 699 A.2d 101 (1997). Analysis, rather than mere abstract assertion, is required in order to avoid abandoning an issue by failure to brief the issue properly. . . . Cummings v. Twin Tool Mfg. Co., 40 Conn. App. 36, 45, 668 A.2d 1346 (1996).” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Henderson, 47 Conn. App. 542, 558, 706 A.2d 480, cert. denied, 244 Conn. 908, 713 A.2d 829 (1998). We, therefore, decline to review her claim as inadequately briefed.
The judgments are affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
General Statutes (Rev. to 1995) § 17a-112 was amended both in 1995; Public Acts 1995, No. 95-238, § 3; and in 1996. Public Acts 1996, No. 96-246 § 18. General Statutes (Rev. to 1995) § 17a-112, as amended by Public Acts 1995, No. 95-238, § 3, provides in relevant part: “(b) The superior court upon hearing and notice . . . may grant such petition [for termination of parental rights] if it finds that the Department of Children and Families has made reasonable efforts to reunify the child with the parent and, upon clear and convincing evidence, that the termination is in the best interest of the child . . . .” That statute was further amended by Public Acts 1996, No. 96-246, § 18. Effective October 1, 1996, that statutes provides: “(c) The Superior Court, upon hearing and notice . . . may grant a 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 . . . [and] (2) that termination is in the best interest of the child . . . .” The petitions in this case
With regard to petitions filed prior to October 1, 1996, the court was required to find that the department “made reasonable efforts to reunify the child with the parent” unless “such reasonable efforts at reunification were not possible. . . General Statutes (Rev. to 1995) § 17a-112, as amended by Public Acts 1995, No. 95-238, § 3. As to petitions filed after October 1,1996, the court is required to find that “the Department of Children and Families has made reasonable efforts to locate the parent and to reunify the child with the parent, unless the court finds in this proceeding that the pa,rent is unable or unwilling to benefit from reunification, efforts . . . (Emphasis added.) General Statutes (Rev. to 1997) § 17a-112 (c) (1); see Public Acts 1996, No. 96-246, § 18. Because the petitions in this case were