In re N.L.M.
| Decision Date | 17 May 2022 |
| Docket Number | COA21-608 |
| Citation | 873 S.E.2d 640 |
| Parties | In the MATTER OF: N.L.M., T.R.M. IV, N.S.W., C.M. |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Mercedes O. Chut, Greensboro, for Petitioner-Appellee Guilford County Department of Social Services.
Stam Law Firm, PLLC, by R. Daniel Gibson, for Respondent-Appellant Mother.
Richard Croutharmel, Raleigh, for Respondent-Appellant Father.
Keith Karlsson, for Guardian ad Litem.
¶ 1 Respondent-Mother and Respondent-Father appeal the trial court's order adjudicating one of their children abused and neglected and their three other children neglected, ordering the children to remain in the legal and physical custody of the Guilford County Department of Social Services, ordering the parents to comply with the case plan to effect reunification, and maintaining the suspension of the parents’ visitation rights with all four juveniles. We affirm.
¶ 2 Mother and Father are the parents of four children: Naomi, Timothy, Nancy, and Cameron.1 Mother and Father are not married, and Father does not live in the home with Mother and the four children, but he does visit the home daily and cooks for the family members. In 2015, Nancy was adjudicated neglected, placed in foster care, and eventually returned to her parents’ custody in March 2017.
¶ 3 On 27 February 2019, Guilford County Department of Social Services ("DSS") received a report stating that: Nancy was abused and neglected; Mother did not have a bond with Nancy and punishes and mistreats Nancy for bonding with a white foster mother when she was in foster care; Nancy "may be autistic, being that she does not cry when hit by [Mother]"; Nancy was being "burned by a flat iron and cigarettes, being locked in her room all day and she is only let out to go to the bathroom where she is left sitting for hours at a time"; Nancy was not being fed for days; and Mother is "believed to be an avid heroin user and keeps the drugs and the straw inside her [bra] and that she sells drugs as well."
¶ 4 That same day, a DSS social worker examined Nancy and reported that Nancy was very small for her age, weighing only 19 pounds at the age of four. The social worker noticed that there were two small scars on the top of Nancy's shoulder and burn marks on her body. The social worker also spoke with the other three children, who disclosed that Nancy "is left in her bedroom all the time and would eat there" and "want[s] to come downstairs, but she was not allowed to."
¶ 5 On 1 March 2019, DSS received a second report alleging that Nancy was receiving improper medical and remedial care, had not been seen by a doctor since November 2016, and had not gained any weight since returning to Mother's custody when she was approximately 18-24 months old. That day, Nancy had been admitted to the hospital for severe malnutrition
"and there were also concerns as to her having significant developmental delays." Nancy was diagnosed with "Severe Protein Malnourishment, Failure to Thrive, Developmental Delays and Norovirus." She gained four pounds while in the hospital and was eventually released into the care of her paternal grandmother. Mother stated, "I've been starving my child," but said she never meant to cause Nancy any harm.
¶ 6 Following Nancy's hospitalization, a DSS social worker spoke twice with Naomi and once with Timothy. Naomi stated that Nancy was "treated like a prisoner," that Father cooked food for Nancy and Mother brought it up to Nancy's room and they did not know what happens after the food is taken upstairs to Nancy, that Nancy was left alone on the toilet for hours at a time, and that Nancy had not left the home in 2019 until the hospitalization on 1 March 2019. She also stated that she witnessed Mother and Mother's friends drink and "have needles with a ‘white powdery stuff’ " and that Mother told her they "use water to inject it and it helps [Mother] stay awake." Timothy also stated that he was "unsure if Nancy was getting the food" that Mother took upstairs, that Nancy "was not allowed outside of her bedroom unless she was going to the bathroom," and that Mother left Nancy on the toilet for hours at a time, and one time forgot Nancy was there.
¶ 7 DSS filed juvenile petitions on 8 March 2019 alleging that Nancy was abused and neglected and that Cameron was neglected. On 12 March 2019, DSS filed petitions alleging that Naomi and Timothy were neglected. The trial court ordered forensic examinations of Naomi and Timothy, and it ordered Mother and Father to have no contact with Nancy and Cameron. All four children were placed into an emergency placement with their paternal grandmother. The forensic examinations took place in April 2019. Sometime around 11 May 2019, Mother was charged with felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and Father was charged with aiding and abetting felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury.
¶ 8 In July 2019, the trial court continued the matter for various reasons and ordered that neither parent have visitation. The matter was continued again in September 2019 when Mother requested to represent herself, signed a waiver of counsel, and stated that she would be hiring her own counsel; her court-appointed attorney was released. The matter was continued again in December 2019 when Mother stated that she was no longer able to retain private counsel; the trial court appointed new counsel for Mother. Mother's appointed counsel sought and was granted another continuance in January 2020 to prepare for the case. There were additional continuances granted throughout 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the trial court found on 19 January 2021 that it had continued the matter several times at the request of Mother and that "this shall be the final continuance allowed at the request of [Mother]." The matter was continued twice more in early 2021 because the attorneys were not available.
¶ 9 The adjudication hearing was held on 26 May 2021, during which Nancy was adjudicated abused because her parents created or allowed to be created a substantive risk of serious physical injury to her, and all four children were adjudicated neglected as they did not receive proper care, supervision, and discipline from their parents and lived in an environment injurious to their welfare. The trial court proceeded directly to the dispositional hearing and found that it was in the best interests of the children to remain in DSS custody and remain in the kinship placement with their grandmother. The trial court maintained the suspension of visitation as to both parents. Mother and Father timely appealed.
¶ 10 Mother first argues that because she "took responsibility for her mistakes and was willing to correct them, the trial court erred in concluding that DSS made reasonable efforts to prevent placement."
¶ 11 The reasonable efforts determination is a conclusion of law because it "require[s] the exercise of judgment." In re Helms , 127 N.C. App. 505, 510-11, 491 S.E.2d 672, 676 (1997). "Our review of a trial court's conclusion of law is limited to whether they are supported by the findings of fact." Id. at 511, 491 S.E.2d at 676 (citing In re Montgomery , 311 N.C. 101, 111, 316 S.E.2d 246, 253 (1984) ). Unchallenged findings of fact are "deemed to be supported by the evidence and are binding on appeal." In re J.C.M.J.C. , 268 N.C. App. 47, 51, 834 S.E.2d 670, 673-74 (2019) (citation omitted).
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-903(a3) (2021).
In re D.M. , 211 N.C. App. 382, 386, 712 S.E.2d 355, 357 (2011) (quoting In re Helms , 127 N.C. App. at 512 n. 3, 491 S.E.2d at 677 n. 3 ).
¶ 14 Here, Mother does not challenge any of the trial court's findings of fact; they are thus binding on appeal. The trial court's relevant findings of fact include, inter alia , that:
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