K.S. v. K.H
| Decision Date | 14 August 2018 |
| Docket Number | C/w WD 81447, WD 81450 and WD 81451,WD 81436 |
| Citation | 561 S.W.3d 399 |
| Parties | IN the INTEREST OF: K.S. and A.S.; Juvenile Officer, Respondent, v. K.H, Appellant, and R.S., Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Joseph W. Vanover, Kansas City, MO, for respondent.
Bruce B. Brown, Kearney, MO, for appellant R.S. and Kate E. Noland, Libert, MO for appellant K.H.
Before Division Four: Karen King Mitchell, Chief Judge, Presiding, Cynthia L. Martin, Judge and Jeff Harris, Special Judge
In these consolidated appeals, K.H. ("Mother") and R.S. ("Father") appeal judgments terminating their parental rights to K.S. ("Daughter") and A.S. ("Son") (collectively "Children"). Mother and Father each challenge whether a statutory basis existed to terminate their parental rights, and whether the evidence supported finding that termination was in the best interest of the Children. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.
Mother and Father are the biological parents of Daughter (born September 19, 2012) and Son (born August 9, 2014). The Children were placed in protective custody in April 2015 after Father assaulted Mother while the Children were present, giving Mother two black eyes, causing scratches on her arms and back, and causing hair to be missing from Mother's head. The Children's Division imposed a safety plan which Mother and Father failed to follow. As a result, on May 7, 2015, the Clay County Juvenile Court took jurisdiction of the Children and placed the Children in the care, custody, and control of the Children's Division. Both Mother and Father reported that there had been other incidents of domestic violence in the home.
On May 12, 2015, Father was convicted of the class A misdemeanor of assault in the third degree based on the violence inflicted on Mother in early April 2015. Father was sentenced to 180 days in the Clay County Detention Center, with execution of his sentence suspended subject to satisfactory completion of a two-year term of probation.
On August 17, 2015, Father was arrested for the class C felony of assault in the second degree following his June 18, 2015 assault of a man who was Mother's landlord. Father remained in custody after his arrest, and pled guilty on October 25, 2015. He was then sentenced to four years' imprisonment. As a result of this criminal conviction, Father's probation was revoked in yet another case where Father had been convicted of the class B felony of first degree burglary. As a result, Father was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. Father has a conditional release date in August 2023, and became eligible for parole consideration in May 2018.
Between the court's assumption of jurisdiction of the Children and the initiation of termination of parental rights proceedings, Mother has had eight written service agreements with the Children's Division. Among other things, the service agreements afforded Mother with the right to supervised visits with her Children. During the first year that the Children were in the care, custody, and control of the Children's Division, Mother's visits with the Children were inconsistent and sporadic. Mother failed on numerous occasions during this time frame to confirm future visits with the Children's Division. Mother would, on occasion, call to confirm a planned visit, then fail to show up for the visit. On several occasions, the Children's Division worker would attempt to contact Mother to facilitate a visit, but Mother would not answer her phone.
In May 2016, after a year of inconsistent and sporadic visits, the Children's Division changed Mother's planned weekly visits to planned bi-weekly visits. After Mother's planned visits were changed to twice a month, Mother never attended any other planned visits with her Children.
Mother was incarcerated in October 2016. She was released, and was not incarcerated between December 2016 and May 2017. Mother made no effort to see her Children during this time, though she was not incarcerated. Mother was incarcerated again in late May 2017 following her conviction for tampering with a motor vehicle. She was sentenced to four years' imprisonment.
Throughout the time that the Children have been in the care, custody, and control of the Children's Division, Mother was homeless or staying with friends. Mother was not employed. Mother failed to provide urinary analyses required by her written service agreements. Although the Children's Division attempted to assist Mother in obtaining mental health treatment, housing, drug treatment, and information on domestic violence shelters, Mother did not follow through with any of the recommended services. The Children's Division advised at trial that Mother had not completed any of the goals in her several written service agreements, and that Mother had shown a lack of commitment to, and disinterest in, the welfare of her Children.
Between the court's assumption of jurisdiction of the Children and the initiation of termination of parental rights proceedings, Father has had multiple written service agreements with the Children's Division. During the majority of this same time frame, Father was either in jail or incarcerated.
During the brief time when Father was not in jail or incarcerated, (between May 12, 2015 and August 17, 2015), Father had two written service agreements that imposed three goals: (1) to participate with the Children's Division in the case; (2) to maintain a safe and stable environment; and (3) to address mental health concerns. Each goal required various tasks, including supervised visitation with the Children. Though Father participated in four or five one-hour visits with the Children during the period when he was not in custody, he was directed by the written service agreements to visit with the Children weekly, but did not do so. Father admits in his Brief that beyond his limited visits with the Children, he did not meet the tasks or goals set forth in these written service agreements.
After Father was incarcerated on August 17, 2015, he was subject to several additional written service agreements. The first, which covered the period from September 10, 2015 to December 10, 2015, set various goals with related tasks. Father admits in his Brief that "[t]he evidence is not clear as to whether [Father] complied with any tasks or completed any goals" described in this written service agreement.
Beginning January 1, 2016 and ending June 29, 2017, and while Father was incarcerated, Father signed six additional written service agreements with nearly identical terms. These written service agreements required Father to perform tasks directed at three goals, summarized as follows:
Father contends that he complied with the written service agreements in place between January 1, 2016 and June 29, 2017. The Children's Division contends that Father did not sufficiently comply with the terms of these written service agreements.
The Clay County Juvenile Officer filed separate petitions to terminate Mother's and Father's parental rights to Daughter and Son on June 9, 2017. The petitions are identical except for their references to Daughter or Son, as appropriate.
With respect to Mother, the petitions did not identify the statutory provisions on which the Juvenile Officer was relying to seek the termination of Mother's parental rights. However, it is plain from the factual allegations in the petitions that the Juvenile Officer was relying on section 211.447.5(1)2 and section 211.447.5(3), addressing, respectively, abandonment of the Children and the failure to rectify conditions that led to the assumption of jurisdiction.
With respect to Father, the petitions did not identify the statutory provisions on which the Juvenile Officer was relying to seek the termination of Father's parental rights. However, it is plain from the factual allegations in the petitions that the Juvenile Officer was relying on section 211.447.5(3) and section 211.447.5(6), addressing, respectively, the failure to rectify conditions that led to the assumption of jurisdiction, and being unfit to be a party to the parent and child relationship.
Following a trial where both Mother and Father testified despite being incarcerated, and where both Mother and Father were represented by counsel, the trial court entered two judgments on November 16, 2017, one of which terminated parental rights as to Daughter, and the other of which terminated parental rights as to Son. The judgments ("Judgments") are...
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