A.S. v. I.M.S. (Ex parte A.S.)
| Decision Date | 13 May 2011 |
| Docket Number | 1100238. |
| Citation | 73 So.3d 1223 |
| Parties | Ex parte A.S.(In re A.S. v. I.M.S.). |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Frances R. Niccolai, Mobile, for petitioner.
Submitted on petitioner's brief only.
A.S., the mother, appeals from the judgment of the juvenile court terminating her parental rights.
The child who is the subject of these proceedings was born in 2007 while the mother was incarcerated following her convictions for first-degree theft of property, third-degree escape, second-degree forgery, first-degree receipt of stolen property, second-degree escape, and intimidating a witness. The charges arose out of a shoplifting incident at a department store. The child was placed with the child's grandmother (the mother's adoptive mother), who is also the child's paternal great-aunt (the mother's paternal aunt). In August 2008, the mother was released from prison and was placed on probation. In September 2008, the mother was arrested for harassment and third-degree theft of property arising out of an incident at a discount store. On September 12, 2008, the grandmother sought temporary custody of the child pending a hearing on the grandmother's petition to seek permanent custody. The juvenile court granted the grandmother's motion for temporary custody.
The mother served six months' imprisonment on the harassment charge and was released in March 2009. The third-degree-theft-of-property charge was dismissed. In June 2009, the mother was arrested after being indicted on charges arising out of the shoplifting incident at the department store. A probation-revocation hearing was set.
On June 22, 2009, the juvenile court entered an order awarding the grandmother custody of the child. On July 16, 2009, the grandmother filed a petition to terminate the mother's parental rights.1 In her petition, the grandmother alleged that the mother had failed to maintain consistent contact or communications with the child and had failed to provide support for the child and that there were no viable alternatives other than terminating the mother's parental rights. The juvenile court set the grandmother's petition for a hearing.
At the hearing on the petition seeking termination of the mother's parental rights, the mother testified that she was at that time serving a 15–year prison sentence but that she was enrolled in a program in the prison for people with addictions and that if she successfully completed the program she would be released in six months. The mother explained that the program consisted of counseling five days a week for six months. She stated that she was a kleptomaniac and that the program was intended to treat her addiction to shoplifting. The mother testified that if she was not released early as a result of completing that program, then she would be eligible for an early release under a probation program where she would be released but continue counseling and check in on a daily basis. She testified that she would be able to obtain employment while on release as part of the probation program.
The mother testified at the hearing on the grandmother's petition that she was then 26 years old and that she lived with the grandmother until she was 19. The mother testified that the grandmother adopted her when she was 12 and that the grandmother received funds from Social Security to aid in her support. While she was living with the grandmother, she became pregnant and had a child when she was 15 years old. The grandmother adopted that child, a boy. The mother testified that, at 15 years of age, she did not understand that by agreeing to the adoption she was voluntarily giving up her rights as a parent and that she lived in the house with the grandmother and that child for three years. The mother testified that the grandmother receives a Social Security benefit for the older child and that that was the reason the grandmother adopted her older child.
The mother testified that the child who is the subject of this petition was born while she was incarcerated. The mother stated that the child calls both the grandmother and the mother “mom.” She stated that she has a relationship with the child and that the grandmother allows her to talk with the child. She testified that she has given some money to the grandmother to support the child. The mother testified that the child would be provided for if the grandmother adopted the child and that the grandmother had promised her she would not stop the mother from seeing the child.
Upon questioning by the juvenile court, the mother testified that she was “okay” with the grandmother's adopting the child but that she did not want her parental rights terminated.
The mother testified that she had served time in jail in Florida after being convicted of receiving stolen property and attempted escape. She stated that charges arising out of her theft at the department store in Alabama were pending at the same time as were the charges in Florida. The mother testified regarding an incident following a court hearing on custody of the child where the mother had the child with her and wanted to leave with the child and the mother's father took the child from her. The mother testified that after that hearing the grandmother told her to leave her house.
The grandmother testified at the hearing that she was then 80 years old and that she had adopted the mother's older child and that she had temporary custody of the younger child. She testified that she receives Social Security benefits for the older child and that she receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for the younger child. The grandmother testified that she wants the younger child to have a life with the older child and not to move around to different places. The grandmother testified that if the mother would “straighten up and be a mother,” she would like for the mother to take care of both of her children. The grandmother testified that she did not mind if the mother had visitation with the child if the mother would behave. She testified that while she was living with the grandmother and the child the mother would sometimes stay out late and did not help with the child.
At the end of the hearing on the grandmother's termination petition, the juvenile court asked cou...
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