Parental Rights of Gonzales, Matter of
| Decision Date | 26 February 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 28637,28637 |
| Citation | 113 Nev. 324,933 P.2d 198 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Parental Rights as to Destiny Monet GONZALES and Brittany Dominique Gonzales. Gloria Ann GONZALES, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, DIVISION OF CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES, Respondent. |
| Court | Nevada Supreme Court |
FACTS
Gloria Gonzales (Gloria) and Benjamin Gonzales (Benjamin) met as teenagers growing up in a neighborhood in Indio, California. Gloria ran away from home and started living with Benjamin when they were fifteen years old, and she became pregnant with their first of six children, 1 Vanessa Andrea Gonzales (Vanessa), who was born January 1, 1979. At some point, Gloria and Benjamin married and had a second child, Crystal Monique Gonzales (Crystal), on July 25, 1982. Gloria and Benjamin later moved to Las Vegas where Gloria gave birth to the two children at issue in this appeal--Destiny Monet Gonzales (Destiny), born September 26, 1990, and Brittany Dominique Gonzales (Brittany), born August 9, 1991.
Vanessa and Crystal were removed from Gloria and Benjamin's care and made wards of the State of California in 1985. At that time, both Gloria and Benjamin had heroin and cocaine addictions, and Benjamin was incarcerated in California for a drug-related offense. Vanessa and Crystal were returned to the Gonzaleses in 1987, but were subsequently removed after Gloria tested positive for opiates in 1988. After several more years in foster care, Vanessa and Crystal were returned to their parents, who had since moved to Las Vegas in September, 1992, with Interstate Compact in Nevada monitoring the placement.
By 1993, Vanessa, Crystal, Destiny, and Brittany were living with their parents in a Las Vegas apartment. Gloria was working at a convenience store and Benjamin was unemployed due to a job-related injury. On March 19, 1993, the Gonzaleses were evicted from their apartment. Gloria and Benjamin told the four girls to wait on the sidewalk outside of the apartment building while they went to seek alternate housing for the family.
The landlord called the police about the unattended children, the North Las Vegas Police came and talked with the girls, ascertained that they had not eaten in almost eight hours, and then transported the four children to Clark County Juvenile Court, where they were placed in protective custody. Vanessa and Crystal, who were still wards of the State of California, were sent to live with Benjamin's mother in California, while two-year-old Destiny and one-year-old Brittany were placed in Child Haven and later in the custody of the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) which placed them in the foster home where they currently reside.
Because of Gloria and Benjamin's documented history of drug abuse, Child Protective Services (CPS) listed abstinence and random drug-testing as a condition to be met before Destiny and Brittany would be returned. Vanessa and Crystal's social worker tried to find a place for the family to live and transported Gloria to court proceedings and to drug test appointments. Gloria missed some appointments and tested positive for drugs at another. Shortly after Destiny and Brittany had been removed, Gloria and Benjamin got into a fight, and Benjamin was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Benjamin remained incarcerated for about a month. Meanwhile, Gloria had been arrested and jailed for outstanding traffic warrants, and on April 2, 1993, she tested positive for cocaine usage.
CPS filed a petition alleging that Destiny and Brittany were in need of protection due to Gloria's drug abuse and the inability of the Gonzaleses to provide for the children. On April 15, 1993, Gloria and Benjamin admitted to the petition, and DCFS took custody of Destiny and Brittany on May 6, 1993. The juvenile court and DCFS developed a case plan for reunification, ordering the parents to do the following: (1) maintain stable housing and employment; (2) complete parenting classes; (3) attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings; (4) submit to random drug testing; (5) maintain regular visitation; (6) notify the social worker of any changed circumstances; and (7) pay child support.
By the first six month court review, in November of 1993, Gloria had enrolled in a methadone program at Nevada Treatment Center and had passed random drug tests administered at the Center. She and Benjamin were attending Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings and had partially completed parenting classes. Benjamin was receiving SIIS benefits, and he and Gloria had found a small studio apartment. They had been visiting Brittany and Destiny on a monthly basis, and increased visitation was recommended as reunification appeared to be a viable goal.
However, Gloria and Benjamin separated in December of 1993, and Gloria moved in with a boyfriend. She worked at a convenience store, kept house for an elderly couple, continued her methadone maintenance treatments, and visited Destiny and Brittany every six to eight weeks. On April 29, 1994, Benjamin was murdered while visiting Gloria at the residence she shared with her then boyfriend. Gloria had fought with her boyfriend earlier that day and acknowledged at the termination hearing that the police considered her boyfriend a suspect in Benjamin's murder.
On May 3, 1994, several days after Benjamin's murder, and just a few days before the second scheduled status check, Destiny and Brittany's social worker, Carol Denley (Denley), called Gloria at her housekeeping position and encouraged Gloria to maintain contact with her; Denley testified that she had wanted Gloria to help her break the news of Benjamin's death to Destiny and Brittany. 2 However, neither the children nor DCFS heard from Gloria again until April of 1995. Gloria testified that after speaking with Denley in May, 1994, she fled to California where she abused drugs for approximately six months. Gloria stated that she then entered a religious-based drug rehabilitation program, "Victory Outreach," where she stayed for eight months.
On April 11, 1995, Gloria finally contacted Denley and told Denley of her whereabouts and activities over the past year. Gloria temporarily left the Victory program to attend a May, 1995 status check, where she asserted that the judge encouraged her to leave the inpatient program before completing the full year of treatment and to attempt to locate adequate housing. On July 1, 1995, Gloria withdrew from the Victory program and moved in with Benjamin's mother and sister in California, where her older daughters, Vanessa and Crystal, had been living. She enrolled in an outpatient drug abuse program. Upon satisfactory completion of that program, her two older daughters, Vanessa and Crystal, were returned to Gloria's physical custody.
Gloria then entered into a relationship with Richard Weber (Weber), and moved into his home with Vanessa and Crystal in September, 1995, after Gloria's sister-in-law would no longer allow Gloria and the girls to stay in her home. At this time, sixteen-year-old Vanessa had a one-month-old child of her own and thirteen-year-old Crystal had had some delinquency problems (e.g., she ran away for three weeks). Gloria did not obtain employment following her return until two weeks before the termination hearing, and she continued to receive welfare benefits for her older girls. 3
According to DCFS, following her year long absence from Destiny and Brittany's lives, Gloria had seen the younger girls only once, in May of 1995. Gloria has not provided any financial support or given any cards or gifts to the girls since they were removed from her custody in 1993. Furthermore, the girls celebrated birthdays in August and September, 1995, following Gloria's July 1, 1995 release from rehabilitation, yet they received no acknowledgement from their mother.
Denley testified that one of the biggest problems barring reunification was the fact that "the girls do not know who [Gloria] is." DCFS contends that Destiny and Brittany have become bonded to their foster family (who seeks to adopt them) and that they no longer inquire about their natural mother. The foster family is also of hispanic background; the foster parents have been married for twenty years; the father has stable employment; and the mother stays at home with Destiny and Brittany and her other children (two other foster children, an eight-year-old adopted son, and a fifteen-year-old biological daughter). Denley testified that Destiny and Brittany appeared to be thriving in this environment. Due to Destiny and Brittany's young age, in November, 1994, DCFS first considered initiating termination proceedings after six months had passed without any contact from Gloria. Denley testified that she would not have pursued such action had the girls been older. On July 17, 1995, DCFS filed a petition to terminate Gloria's parental rights as to Destiny and Brittany, notwithstanding Gloria's reappearance in April of 1995, and her apparent new-found stability. As grounds for termination the petition asserted abandonment, neglect, unfitness of the parent, failure of parental adjustment, risk of harm to the girls, and "token efforts" as elaborated upon in NRS 128.105.
On September 28, 1995, the district court appointed counsel for Gloria. A contested hearing was held on December 29, 1995, wherein the district court found that Gloria had intentionally abandoned Destiny and Brittany for almost a year, as evidenced by the fact that she failed to contact DCFS and to support or contact the children "for at least six months concerning the children's health, welfare or well-being."
The district court also found a failure of parental adjustment, noting that:
[Gloria] has been "unable or unwilling...
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