D.H., In re

• Decision Date: 05 March 1986
• Docket Number: No. 71209,71209
• Citation: 178 Ga.App. 119,342 S.E.2d 367
• Parties: In re D.H. et al.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 367

342 S.E.2d 367

178 Ga.App. 119

In re D.H. et al.

No. 71209.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

March 5, 1986.

L. Eddie Benton, Jr., Commerce, for appellant.

David A. Fox, Gainesville, for appellees.

BANKE, Chief Judge.

On February 14, 1985, the Juvenile Court of Dawson County entered an emergency shelter care order granting immediate custody of three of the appellants' six children (ages 13, 11, and 9) to the Dawson County Department of Family and Children Services, based on evidence that the children had been "subjected to acts of physical and emotional abuse by their mother and father," including being required "to remain and sleep outside in a makeshift plastic tent and not to come into their home except to eat food...." The DFCS subsequently filed a petition for temporary custody, based on alleged deprivation suffered by the children as the result of their living and eating arrangements "and the fact that the children have never attended public schools...."

On March 14, 1985, an evidentiary hearing was held on the temporary custody petition. At this hearing, an investigator with the Dawson County Sheriff's Department, who had gone to the appellants' home on February 14 to assist the DFCS in taking the children into protective custody, reported the following observations: "There was snow on the ground... It was cold... I went down to the lean-to to see what condition it was in, because I had been told that it was a habitat for the children. I got there and noticed a pile of cloth material [inside a haywagon parked inside the shelter]. I raised it up and there was a small child under this cloth material... She was dressed. I asked her if she was cold and she stated that she was. Her lips were blue. She seemed to be very cold." The investigator testified that the appellants told him the children had been living in the "lean-to" for approximately two years, protecting themselves from the cold by wearing warm clothing (described by the father as "the finest clothes that money could buy") and by piling hay on top of themselves at night. He testified that the appellants further told him that the children had to stay in the "lean-to" because there was not enough room for them in the appellants' mobile home.

The father testified that the family had previously lived in a 2,000-square-foot house in Louisiana but that he and his wife had made a conscious decision to adopt an agrarian, 19th Century lifestyle. He stated that he owned both his mobile home and the 110 acres of land on which it was located outright and that he had earned over $30,000 the previous year trading stocks and commodities by telephone. He controverted many of the statements made by the department's witnesses, maintaining, for example, that the children "never did put hay on top of themselves but once, and they started to sweat, so they took of the hay..." He further stated that he had made it clear to the children that they did not have to stay in the shelter, expanding on this subject as follows: "That is the biggest issue here... [T]hey personally said they wanted to be out there, where there was more room, because the trailer was too crowded, cramped, and this was more like a metamorphosis over a period of time, and they did not stay out two years, as somebody previously testified. In fact, it was only this year that they basically slept outside the house. Last year, they were in at least half the time... My wife and I refused to believe they could enjoy it out there, and they kept testifying to me that they absolutely wanted to be there, there was more room for them and they had more fun and they woke up at daybreak and could see about the horses and do things like that. So that is how this metamorphosis occurred, and we never thought anything of it, because our children are welcome in our home any time, any where, any place, any how, and that is the final testimony on that." Both parents testified that arrangements had been made to move the children back into the trailer in an effort to regain custody of them; and they stated that, although they had previously desired to educate the children at home, they were now willing to send them to public school if need be.

After hearing the evidence, the court awarded temporary custody of the children to the department, based on a finding that "the parents were subjecting the children to possible physical harm by allowing the children to remain outside in the 'shelter' ... and it was not in their best interest." However, the court acknowledged in its order that the appellants appeared to have a great deal of love and concern for their children, and he told the appellants orally at the conclusion of the hearing that while "[t]here may be some disagreement by the people from the department [and] by the court with the methods that you use, ... I don't think anybody can disagree with your sincerity and your motivations."

Pending a dispositional hearing scheduled for March 27, 1985, the trial court ordered that the children undergo a psychological evaluation. The parents also submitted to such an evaluation, and the findings and recommendations of the psychologist were summarized as follows in his report to the court:

"[The three children] are attractive [and are] without stigmata indicative of biological dysfunction. They appear to be well cared for and well nourished; indeed, they exhibit an unusual degree of radiant good health. The children appeared to be fully oriented to person, place, time, and situation and showed no signs of psychosis. They were relaxed, happy, and comfortable; they understood the nature of the interviews, and appeared to be open and honest with their answers. Based on the interview and projective test, there were no signs whatsoever of emotional maladjustment. All three children show an unusual degree of self-assuredness and a general sense of well-being. They are healthy, happy children who love their parents and family. They are quite unhappy to be in foster care and want to return home, but they appear to be suffering no harmful effects from the temporary placement. Because the bond with their family is a strong one, however, I would predict that permanent foster placement would be quite traumatic for the children should it be necessary. Each child confirmed the basic facts upon which the allegations contained in the court order are based, but each child independently provided convincing details that may well change the interpretation of those facts. For example, the children confirmed that they slept in a haywagon under a tarpaulin shelter. However, they clearly understood that they were allowed to sleep in the family's trailer if they were cold. They stated that they (the children) originally suggested the sleeping arrangements and that the parents frequently checked on them to make sure that they were warm. Indeed, each parent slept with them on one occasion to ensure the warmth of the shelter. The children confirmed that they had not been attending school, and that their parents had devoted relatively little time to their education in recent years (since moving to Georgia). When they were tested for reading achievement, however, the children were found to be reading at grade levels that are consistent with their age... Because the children are obviously quite intelligent, they would probably have advanced farther had they had more consistent education. On the other hand, they have not suffered from this relative lack of formal education and can be expected to advance quickly with more consistent instruction. None of the children seemed to have a strong preference for school or home education, but [one of the children, age 9] stated that she would rather attend school, while the other children said they would rather study at home. The children described their parents as concerned, kind, and loving parents who are, nonetheless, rather strict in discipline. At times, the punishments that they have received have seemed unnecessarily harsh. On several occasions, the children have been whipped with a narrow stick to the point that bruises formed. Generally, punishment consists of having the children do push-ups, a technique that the father adopted from his education in a military school. Usually, the number of push-ups is tailored to the children's ability to do them and rarely exceeds 33. However, because [the oldest child, age 13] is exceptionally strong, he has been made to do as many as 300 push-ups in one day. Clearly, this number is not only excessive, but unnecessary in terms of teaching the child to behave. Perhaps my strongest concern concerns past rules about not letting the children play with children who lived nearby. Apparently because the parents did not want their neighbors to know that they had children who did not attend public school, [they] instructed their children not to play with neighbor children. Peer socialization is necessary, however, and cannot be safely denied to children. RESULTS OF EVALUATION OF PARENTS: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is a widely used objectively scored test in which patterns of answers to true-false questions are compared to national norms. Both parents showed normal profiles on this scale that suggest the absence of neurotic or psychotic disorder. Both parents showed a moderate elevation on the 4 scale that reflects their negative opinion of modern society, but the interview and item inspection indicated a clear lack of psychopathic trends. Both parents were fully oriented to person, place, time, and situation and showed no signs of psychosis. [The father] was rather agitated at first because the interview brought out many of his emotions concerning the enforced separation from his children. He is clearly a well-adjusted individual, but has strongly held and strongly expressed beliefs. [The mother] was rather calm and quite reasonable throughout the interview. Although she shares most...