In re CN

• Citation: 196 Ill.2d 181,256 Ill.Dec. 788,752 N.E.2d 1030
• Decision Date: 24 May 2001
• Docket Number: No. 87519.,87519.
• Parties: In re C.N., A Minor (The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Diane N. et al., Appellees).
• Court: Supreme Court of Illinois

752 N.E.2d 1030

196 Ill.2d 181

256 Ill.Dec. 788

In re C.N., A Minor (The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Diane N. et al., Appellees).

No. 87519.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

May 24, 2001.

James E. Ryan, Attorney General, Springfield, and David R. Akemann, State's Attorney, St. Charles (William L. Browers and Mary Beth Burns, Assistant Attorneys General, Chicago, Norbert J. Goetten, Martin P. Moltz and David A. Bernhard, Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, of counsel), for the People.

Josette Skelnik, Elgin, for appellee Mark N.

Justice FITZGERALD delivered the opinion of the court:

Following an evidentiary hearing in the circuit court of Kane County, the circuit court found that respondents, Diane N. and Mark N., were unfit parents under section 1(D)(m) of the Adoption Act (750 ILCS 50/1(D)(m) (West 1996)), because they failed to make "reasonable progress" toward the return of their daughter, C.N., within 12 months of her adjudication as a neglected minor. The circuit court subsequently terminated respondents' parental rights to C.N., and respondents appealed. The appellate court reversed, holding that the circuit court's finding of unfitness was against the manifest weight of the evidence. Nos. 2-98-0565, 2-98-0674 cons., 303 Ill.App.3d 1105, 254 Ill.Dec. 697, 747 N.E.2d 1109 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). We reverse the judgment of the appellate court, and affirm the judgment of the circuit court terminating respondents' parental rights to C.N.

BACKGROUND

On October 17, 1994, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) took protective custody of S.S. (born August 2, 1990) and her half-sister, C.N. (born May 15, 1994).¹ Two days later, the State filed a petition for adjudication of wardship as to both minors, naming Diane N. as the minors' mother, and Diane's reported husband, Marin N., as C.N.'s father. The State alleged that Diane and Marin physically abused S.S., or allowed such abuse to occur, and that C.N. was at risk. According to the State's petition, S.S. was hospitalized with two skull fractures, a laceration to the forehead, and bruises to the head, chest, and buttocks. The State further alleged that C.N. and S.S. were neglected in that their environment was injurious to their welfare.

On January 3, 1995, Diane admitted that the minors' environment was injurious to their welfare. As to Diane only, the court adjudged S.S. and C.N. neglected. The court found that it was in the minors' best interests that they be made wards of the court, and appointed DCFS guardian. S.S. and C.N. were placed in foster care, but S.S. was later placed in a residential treatment center. The court ordered Diane to cooperate with DCFS and its contracting agencies; comply with all aspects of the client service plan; submit to a substance abuse evaluation and follow all recommendations; undergo a psychological evaluation and follow all treatment recommendations; and complete parenting classes.

On January 31, 1995, the State filed a "petition II" for adjudication. The State alleged that Marin committed aggravated criminal sexual assault against S.S.; that C.N. showed signs of sexual abuse; and that Diane failed to protect S.S. and C.N. from sexual abuse.

During the course of the circuit court proceedings, the parties learned that Diane was not divorced from her first husband at the time she married Marin. Accordingly, Diane's first husband, whom she married in 1990, would have been the presumptive father of C.N. Amid claims by respondents, however, that Mark, Marin's brother, is C.N.'s father, on August 8, 1995, the circuit court ordered paternity testing. The November 1995 test results confirmed that Mark is C.N.'s father. On May 6, 1996, the State filed an amended petition for adjudication, and an amended petition II for adjudication, naming Marin as C.N.'s uncle and Mark as C.N.'s father. Shortly thereafter, Mark filed a petition seeking a determination of paternity as to C.N. The court ruled on that petition on May 21, 1996, finding Mark to be C.N.'s father.

On June 5, 1996, Diane and Mark stipulated that S.S. and C.N. were sexually abused by Marin, that S.S. was physically abused by Marin, and that Diane caused or allowed such physical abuse. Accordingly, the circuit court adjudged C.N. a neglected and abused minor as to both respondents. For a second time, the circuit court found that it was in the best interest of the minors that they be made wards of the court, and again placed guardianship in DCFS.

The circuit court ordered Diane to cooperate with DCFS, its agents, and the client service plan; begin counseling at Sinnissippi Centers and follow all treatment recommendations; continue to participate in in-home parent education classes until she consistently exhibited appropriate parenting and nurturing behavior; and cooperate with the psychological evaluation and sexual offenders assessment. The circuit court ordered Mark to continue participating in in-home parenting classes until he consistently exhibited appropriate parenting and nurturing behavior; participate in a psychological evaluation; participate in a drug and alcohol assessment; participate in a comprehensive social assessment; and cooperate with DCFS, its agents, and the client service plan. Although the circuit court also ordered Mark to participate in counseling for sexual offenders, that portion of the order was stricken and Mark was, instead, ordered to participate in counseling for the family of sexual offenders.

Sixteen months later, on October 7, 1997, the State filed a petition to terminate respondents' parental rights to C.N. The State alleged, in relevant part, that respondents were unfit under section 1(D)(m) of the Adoption Act because they failed "to make reasonable progress towards the return of the child within 12 months after an adjudication of neglected minor, abused minor or dependent minor." An evidentiary hearing on the State's petition commenced on February 3, 1998. The State called several witnesses.

Peggy Everling

DCFS investigator Peggy Everling testified that she responded to a hot line call on July 11, 1994, informing her that S.S. and C.N. were at risk, and that S.S. had been injured by Marin, the putative father. At the time of the hot line call, Diane, Marin, and the two minors were living together at the Maple Park Motel. S.S. told Everling that she had been lying in bed with Marin, became sick, and vomited in the bed. Marin became upset and "whacked" her on the head. When Diane returned home, S.S. told her what had happened, and Diane confronted Marin. Marin grabbed a steel pipe and, in the course of trying to hit Diane, hit S.S. in the mouth, chipping her tooth. Diane disputed S.S.'s account of how the injuries occurred, but told Everling that she was aware that Marin had a temper and that he had previously hit S.S.

Mark told Everling that he, too, had seen Marin hit S.S. on prior occasions. Mark also witnessed the July 1994 incident, and in response had called the police. Mark signed the complaint against Marin in connection with that incident because Diane refused to do so. Although Mark appeared concerned about the children and was cooperative, Everling was concerned that Mark had failed to intervene when Marin became abusive. Diane was minimally cooperative and appeared more concerned about Marin than the children. Diane did not want to keep Marin away from S.S. and C.N. during the DCFS investigation, and posted Marin's bail following his arrest.

Lynn Appelt

DCFS investigator Lynn Appelt responded to another hot line call in October 1994, informing DCFS of certain injuries to S.S. Appelt testified that in a telephone conversation on October 17, 1994, Diane advised Appelt that Marin was no longer living with her, that Marin was staying with a friend whose name and address she could not remember, and that she wanted nothing to do with him. Diane told Appelt that C.N. was with a baby-sitter, and that she wanted to give guardianship of C.N. to her brother.

Investigation by DCFS revealed that C.N. was with Marin at the baby-sitter's home. Appelt determined that the babysitter was not an appropriate caregiver in light of the baby-sitter's prior contact with DCFS due to an injurious home environment. Appelt eventually located Diane, Marin, and C.N. at the Oregon, Illinois, home of Diane's father, where Appelt took C.N. into protective custody. Appelt later learned that the brother with whom Diane wished to place C.N. had sexually abused Diane, making placement with him inappropriate.

Appelt also testified that she spoke to S.S. at her foster home in early November 1994, and observed an injury to the child's forehead, with 20 to 25 stitches. S.S. told Appelt that she had been hit on her feet with a stick, that she had been hit with a "Mr. Big Stick," and that her mother had slapped her in the face. S.S. also stated that Marin would leave her and C.N. at home alone, and that she had told her mother this was happening. Diane denied slapping S.S., and told Appelt that Marin did not abuse S.S. Diane admitted that S.S. had been hit and sexually abused, but implicated a former husband and other men with whom Diane had been involved.

Appelt testified that she took C.N. into protective custody because of the current injuries to S.S., the past history of abuse, Diane's lack of cooperation with DCFS, Diane's lack of judgment in suggesting placement for the minors with her brother, Diane's inability to protect her children, and Diane's inability to appreciate the dangerous situations in which she placed her children. Mark had not been implicated in the abuse and was not a subject of Appelt's investigation at that time.

Rich Maier

Rich Maier, a DCFS child welfare specialist, testified that DCFS received another hot line call during November 1994, indicating that S.S. and C.N. had been sexually abused.

Maier drafted the initial client service plan...