LaFreniere, In re, 78-283-A

Decision Date03 October 1980
Docket NumberNo. 78-283-A,78-283-A
Citation420 A.2d 82
PartiesIn re LaFRENIERE. ppeal.
CourtRhode Island Supreme Court
OPINION

DORIS, Justice.

This is an appeal from a Family Court decree terminating the appellants' parental rights to their daughters, Carol and Tina.

In the spring of 1970 the LaFrenieres voluntarily placed two of their children, Carol, then three years and ten months old, and Tina, then ten months old, with the Rhode Island Child Welfare Services (CWS) for temporary care.

On April 10, 1970, Carol was placed in the foster home of Mrs. Josephine Betts. On May 8, 1970, Tina was placed in the foster home of Mrs. Lillian Bertram. Carol and Tina continue to reside in these foster homes.

From the spring of 1970 until February 24, 1975, the placement of Carol and Tina remained voluntary. During this period, despite numerous requests from the LaFrenieres to visit with their children, CWS records indicate that only approximately four visits were arranged between the LaFrenieres and Carol and Tina.

In August 1974, CWS entered into a contractual agreement with the LaFrenieres whereby the LaFrenieres would be permitted to visit with their children on a regular basis if they agreed to undergo psychological evaluations. Pursuant to the terms of this contract, the parents visited with their children once and then because they did not want to be subjected to psychological testing for fear the results would be used to take their children away from them, no further visits were arranged.

On February 24, 1975, CWS filed a petition with the Family Court alleging that Carol and Tina were dependent and neglected. After a series of continuances during which a Family Court justice established and later vacated a visitation schedule for the LaFrenieres with their children, 1 on October 7, 1975, a Family Court trial justice determined that Carol and Tina were dependent and/or neglected pursuant to G.L. 1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 14-1-3, as amended by P.L. 1969, ch. 252, § 1. The Family Court justice found that the LaFrenieres lacked the mental capacity to provide for the intellectual, emotional, religious, hygienic, and medical needs of Carol and Tina and awarded custody of the two children to CWS.

On November 4, 1975, the LaFrenieres filed a motion for review of visitation rights requesting "such visitations as the court shall deem appropriate" with Carol and Tina, and overnight visits with one of their other children.

This motion was addressed on December 8, 1975, and as a result of this hearing a consent decree was entered February 9, 1976. This consent decree addressed the issue of visitations with one of the LaFrenieres' other children but did not deal with the issue of visitations with Carol and Tina.

On October 28, 1976, CWS filed a petition for terminating the LaFrenieres' parental rights to Carol and Tina.

On November 11, 1976, the LaFrenieres filed a motion for visitation, requesting that they be allowed to commence visitation with Carol and Tina.

On December 17, 1976, a Family Court justice ordered that the motion for visitation be heard in conjunction with the petition for termination of parental rights. CWS records indicate, however, that following this hearing CWS decided that Carol and Tina "should have no contact with their parents since it had been detrimental to their well being in the past."

On October 21, 1977, a Family Court trial justice held that pursuant to G.L. 1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 15-7-7, as amended by P.L. 1970, ch. 132, § 1, the LaFrenieres were guilty of permanent neglect of Carol and Tina and granted the petition for the termination of parental rights.

The LaFrenieres are appealing from this decree. They present four issues for our examination. First, they argue that CWS did not satisfy statutory and constitutional requirements in petitioning for the termination of the LaFrenieres' parental rights. Since we agree that CWS did not comply with the statutory prerequisites, we need not consider the remaining issues that deal with rulings made by the trial justice.

As we previously stated, CWS petitioned the Family Court for a decree terminating the LaFrenieres' parental rights on the ground that the children were "permanently neglected." General Laws 1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 15-7-7 defines a " 'permanently neglected child' " as:

"a person under eighteen (18) years of age who has been placed in the care of an authorized agency * * * and whose parent or custodian has failed for a period of more than one year * * * following the placement or commitment of such child in the care of an authorized agency, substantially and repeatedly to maintain contact with and...

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  • Mikaelian v. Drug Abuse Unit, 83-113-A
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    • Rhode Island Supreme Court
    • 26 Noviembre 1985
    ...When the wording of a statute is free from ambiguity, we must give to those words their plain and ordinary meaning. In re LaFreniere, --- R.I. ---, 420 A.2d 82 (1980); Roadway Express, Inc. v. Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, --- R.I. ---, 416 A.2d 673 (1980); Bailey v. Baronian, 1......
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    • Rhode Island Supreme Court
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  • Kristen B., In re, 88-223-A
    • United States
    • Rhode Island Supreme Court
    • 27 Abril 1989
    ...In re Kathaleen, 460 A.2d 12, 14 (R.I.1983); In re Kenneth, 439 A.2d at 1369; In re Armand, 433 A.2d 957 (R.I.1981); In re LaFreniere, 420 A.2d 82 (R.I.1980). The plaintiffs contend that these efforts at reunification were not of the "reasonable" nature enunciated by this court in In re Wil......
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    • Rhode Island Supreme Court
    • 20 Agosto 1981
    ...its efforts to encourage and strengthen her parental relationship with them. In re David, R.I., 427 A.2d 795, 797 (1981); In re LaFreniere, R.I., 420 A.2d 82, 84 (1980); see In re Ray A. M., 48 A.D.2d 161, 165-66, 368 N.Y.S.2d 374, 378-79 (1975) (Martuscello, Acting P. J., Our review of ter......
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