Factual
and Procedural Background
Respondent-Mother
appeals from Orders terminating her parental rights in her
minor child pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-1111. The
Record before us tends to reflect the following:
On 18
October 2019, Union County Department of Social Services
(DSS) filed a juvenile petition alleging the minor child to
be a neglected and dependent juvenile. Following a hearing on
14 July 2020, the trial court entered an order on 18 August
2020 adjudicating the minor child to be a neglected juvenile
based, in part, on Respondent-Mother admitting to temporarily
leaving the minor child in the care of others while she uses
methamphetamines. The minor child was placed in the custody
of DSS on 21 October 2020.
On 19
October 2021, DSS filed a Petition to terminate
Respondent-Mother's parental rights to the minor child.
DSS alleged grounds existed to terminate
Respondent-Mother's parental rights for neglect
willfully failing to pay a reasonable portion of the costs of
care for the juvenile, and dependency, pursuant to N.C. Gen
Stat. § 7B-1111(a)(1), (a)(3), and (a)(6).
Following
the grounds phase of the hearing, held on 25 January 2022 and
9 February 2022, the trial court entered an Order for
Termination of Parental Rights Grounds Phase on 22 March
2022. This Order included the following Findings of Fact:
15. Pursuant to N.C. G.S. §7B-1111, the Union County
Division of Social Services has proven by clear, cogent, and
convincing evidence that grounds exist for the termination of
parental rights of Mother based on but not limited to the
following:
A. [Respondent-Mother] has neglected the juvenile, to wit:
1) [Respondent-Mother] has not engaged in services to address
identified needs, to wit:
a) Substance Abuse.
i. Early on in the case, [Respondent-Mother] completed a
Daymark Assessment and was attending Daymark for substance
abuse treatment. However, she continued to test positive,
this included drug screens on November 18, 2019, for
methamphetamines and December 30, 2019, for amphetamines,
benzodiazepine, and opiates.
ii. [Respondent-Mother] completed her Daymark Substance abuse
program on May 19, 2020 but did not complete the majority of
the drug screens requested of her by Daymark and completed no
drug screens from February 2020 until May of 2020.
iii. [Respondent-Mother's] May 21, 2020, drug screen was
negative, but it was not an observed drug screen.
iv. [Respondent-Mother] was arrested for Possession of Drug
Paraphernalia on June 1, 2020.
v. On July 14, 2020, the court ordered [Respondent-Mother] to
complete a hair follicle test within 48 hours. She did not
complete the test.
vi. [Respondent-Mother] completed a court ordered hair
follicle test on October 27, 2020, and tested positive for
amphetamines and methamphetamines.
vii. On November 18, 2020, December 12, 2020, and January 28,
2021, [Respondent-Mother] completed drug screens and tested
negative.
viii. [Respondent-Mother] failed to complete any other
requested drug screens for DSS including those requested in
March, April, May, or June of 2021.
ix. On June 29, 2021, the court again Ordered
[Respondent-Mother] to complete an observed drug screen
within 24 hours. She failed to complete the drug screen.
x. On June 1, 2020, and July 30, 2021, [Respondent-Mother]
was arrested for possession of methamphetamines and
possession of drug paraphernalia. She admits that on each
occasion, the pipe that was in the car in which she was a
passenger was used for methamphetamines. She denies that the
pipe is her [sic]. She testified that the pipes belonged to
the 2 separate individuals who she was with when she was
arrested. This information is probative and relevant in that,
during that period of time she was in the presence of
methamphetamine use.
xi. Although [Respondent-Mother] completed her substance use
treatment with Daymark in May of 2020, she has continued to
be around illegal substances and test positive for illegal
substances.
xii. On October 27, 2020, [Respondent-Mother] submitted to a
hair follicle drug screen that was positive.
xiii. In October of 2021, [Respondent-Mother] reported to
Daymark that she had used methamphetamines a few days before
that. The test occurred contemporaneously with the filing of
the TPR petition.
xiv. This case has been ongoing since 2019 with very little
progress. [Respondent-Mother] has failed to maintain sobriety
for any considerable period of time.
b) Mental Health
i. On January 11 & 12, 2021, [Respondent-Mother] had a
parental capacity assessment done by Dr. George Popper.
ii[]. The recommendation from the assessment was that
[Respondent-Mother] was to see treatment to address some
mental health concerns such as adjustment disorder and
antisocial personality disorder, as well as address her
substance use issues.
i[ii]. [Respondent-Mother] has not engaged in any mental
health treatment.
c) Housing/Employment i. Throughout the life
of this case, [Respondent-Mother] has lived with a friend . .
. . She and the juvenile shared a room together in this home.
ii. [Respondent-Mother] reports that she cleans houses for a
living. She has provided the Social Worker with handwritten
notes of what dates she has worked and how much she has made
on one occasion.
iii. [Respondent-Mother] agreed to search for employment
which would allow her to financially care for the juvenile.
In December of 2020, she did submit several applications and
provided that information to DSS but has not provided any
information since the[n].
2) Based on the historical facts of this case, there is a
high probability of repeated neglect if the juvenile is
returned to [Respondent-Mother].
3) [Respondent-Mother's] failure to comply with her Out
of Home Services Agreement, her unwillingness to be
forthcoming about her substance use, unwillingness to submit
to drug test, and her unwillingness to seek treatment are all
indicative of the probability of repeated neglect.
B. The juvenile has been placed in the custody of Union
County Division of Social Services and in a foster home and
[Respondent-Mother], for a continuous period of six months
next preceding the filing of the motion, has willfully failed
for such a period to pay a reasonable portion of the cost of
care for the juvenile although physically and financially
able to do so, to wit:
1) Since October of 2020, [Respondent-Mother] reported and
testified that she was working either waiting tables or
cleaning houses. She has failed to pay any amount of her
income greater than $0.00 for the use and benefit of the
minor children.
2) [Respondent-Mother] does not have any physical or mental
disabilities that would preclude her [from] paying child
support in an amount greater than $0.00 for the use and
benefit of the minor child. She has failed to pay any amount
greater than $0.00 for the use and benefit of the minor
child.
C. [Respondent-Mother] is incapable of providing the proper
care and supervision of the juvenile, such that the juvenile
is a dependent juvenile within the meaning of G.S.
§7B-101, and that there is a reasonable probability that
such incapability will continue for the foreseeable future,
to wit:
1)[Respondent-Mother] does not have reasonable and
appropriate alternative childcare arrangements for the
juvenile.
2) [Respondent-Mother] does not have the ability to provide
appropriately as she has failed to address substance abuse,
and mental health.
3) She has failed to adequately engage in services to address
her identified needs.
4) This matter has been subject to numerous delays. The
delays made it possible for [Respondent-Mother] to address
and solidify her substance abuse recovery. She has had ample
time to address the issues that were raised in the original
petition filed on October 18, 2019.
Based
on these Findings, the trial court concluded grounds exist to
terminate Respondent-Mother and Respondent-Father's
parental rights in minor child. The trial court held the best
interests phase of the hearing on 9 March 2022. Following
this hearing, the trial court entered an Order to Terminate
Parental Rights Best Interests Phase on 6 April 2022,
concluding it was in the best interests of the minor child to
terminate the parental rights of both Respondent-Mother and
Respondent-Father.[1] On 20 April 2022, Respondent-Mother timely
filed Notice of Appeal.
Issue
The
dispositive issue on appeal is whether the trial court
properly determined grounds exist to terminate
Respondent-Mother's parental rights in minor child
pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-1111.
