Welfare of S.Z., Matter of

• Decision Date: 23 May 1996
• Docket Number: No. C0-95-763,C0-95-763
• Citation: 547 N.W.2d 886
• Parties: In the Matter of the WELFARE OF S.Z.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 886

547 N.W.2d 886

In the Matter of the WELFARE OF S.Z.

No. C0-95-763.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

May 23, 1996.

Syllabus by the Court

When terminating parental rights pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 261.221, subd. 1(b)(4), a court must make findings regarding a social service agency's provision of services that constitute reasonable efforts to rehabilitate a parent or to reunite a family.

While the court must evaluate the provision of reasonable efforts to rehabilitate a parent or to reunite a family in a proceeding to terminate parental rights under section 261.221, subd. 1(b)(4), services need not be provided if the evidence demonstrates that provision of services for the purpose of rehabilitation is not realistic under the circumstances.

The evidence in this case supports the district court's determination that appellant's parental rights be terminated on the grounds of palpable unfitness to be a party to the parent and child relationship.

William R. Kennedy, Hennepin County Public Defender and Renee Bergeron, Assistant Public Defender, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Minnesota Attorney General, St. Paul, Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney and Andrew J. Mitchell, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, for respondent.

Andrea K. Niemi and John M. Jerabek, Niemi & Barr, P.A., Minneapolis, for guardian ad litem.

Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

ANDERSON, Justice.

Appellant Jeffrey Scott Nichols challenges a determination of the Hennepin County District Court terminating his parental rights to his son, S.Z. The court terminated Nichols' parental rights on three statutory grounds: repeated neglect to comply with parental duties; palpable unfitness to be a party to the parent and child relationship; and because S.Z. was neglected and in foster care. On appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the termination on one of the three grounds: palpable unfitness. Nichols appeals, alleging that it was error to terminate his parental rights when no services were offered to rehabilitate him as a parent and to reunite him with S.Z. We affirm.

S.Z. was born on June 6, 1993, and ten days later an Order for Immediate Custody and a Child in Need of Protection and Services (CHIPS) Petition regarding S.Z. was filed in the juvenile division of the Hennepin County District Court. S.Z. was removed from his mother's custody on that date and placed in foster care. On August 21, 1993, S.Z. was found to be a child in need of protection or services because, among other things, S.Z. was without proper parental care due to the emotional, mental, or physical disability, or state of immaturity of his parents. Interim legal custody of S.Z. was transferred to the Hennepin County Department of Children and Family Services (Hennepin County).

In September 1993, appellant Jeffrey Scott Nichols, S.Z.'s father, contacted Hennepin County to request a case plan and visitation schedule with S.Z. Nichols was informed by a social worker that he first must establish his paternity of S.Z. and on November 13, 1993, Nichols signed papers to this effect. Nichols asserts that even after he acknowledged that he is S.Z.'s father, Hennepin County refused to offer him any rehabilitation or reunification services.

On January 24, 1994, Hennepin County filed a petition seeking to terminate both Nichols' and S.Z.'s mother's parental rights pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 260.221. S.Z.'s mother's parental rights were terminated on May 13, 1994. Nichols, who was committed to St. Peter Regional Treatment Center (St. Peter) in January 1994, sought continuance of his termination hearing until he was discharged from St. Peter and had time to prepare a response to the petition. The court granted Nichols' request for a continuance. Nichols was discharged from St. Peter on August 8, 1994, the termination hearing was held on November 29, 1994, and on March 8, 1995, his parental rights to S.Z. were terminated.

The district court terminated Nichols' parental rights in large part because of his long history of chemical dependency and mental illness. While in high school, Nichols was hospitalized for chemical dependency treatment on two occasions. From the late 1970's to the mid-1980's, he lived intermittently at home and in halfway houses and had a number of hospitalizations for psychiatric treatment, including three commitments to Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center (Anoka) between 1987 and 1989. In 1984, while intoxicated, Nichols jumped off the Tenth Avenue bridge in Minneapolis. After that incident, he was subject to a stayed commitment order and lived at a halfway house. During treatment at the halfway house, Nichols received drug therapy with Prolixin, an antipsychotic, and other drugs. ¹

On August 19, 1993, Nichols was admitted to Hennepin County Medical Center for the 16th time, after police found him sleeping in an alley and believed he had been using drugs. Hennepin County Medical Center's clinical data sheet indicated that he was at chronic risk of self-injurious behavior. During the August 19, 1993 admission to Hennepin County Medical Center, Nichols refused medication, was extremely guarded and suspicious and refused to interact with the staff. On August 29, 1993, a psychiatrist recommended that Nichols be committed to a regional treatment facility because he suffered from a substantial psychiatric disorder and exhibited behaviors such as paranoid thinking, auditory hallucinations, socially isolative behavior, irritability, sleeping on the streets, a history of suicide attempts, and an inability to think realistically regarding his future.

In September 1993, Nichols was committed to Anoka as mentally ill. The committing court found that Nichols was ill with chronic schizophrenia, and that as a consequence of his mental illness, he had engaged in grossly disturbed behavior and posed a substantial likelihood of causing physical harm because he was delusional, threatening toward others, and unable to provide for his own needs. The court stayed the commitment order on specific conditions, including that Nichols remain at Hennepin County Medical Center, take all prescribed medications, refrain from the use of alcohol and other nonprescribed drugs, cooperate with his social worker, and adhere to his aftercare plan. Nichols did not comply with the conditions of the stayed commitment order and was unable to stop drinking. He went to the Crisis Intervention Center in December, stated that he was suicidal, and talked about jumping off a bridge. The next day, the police took Nichols to Hennepin County Medical Center because he again threatened to kill himself by jumping off a bridge. On December 16, he returned to the Crisis Center after he attempted suicide by cutting his wrists. In January 1994, the court revoked the stay of commitment, and committed Nichols to Anoka.

At the time Hennepin County petitioned to terminate his parental rights, Nichols was in the Hennepin County Medical Center Psychiatric Unit awaiting transfer to Anoka. Nichols was later admitted to Anoka, and then transferred to St. Peter. A psychiatrist reported that Nichols' admission to St. Peter at that time was his 19th psychiatric hospitalization. Nichols was provisionally discharged from St. Peter on August 8, 1994, approximately three months before the termination hearing. His diagnosis upon discharge was schizophrenia and alcohol dependence. St. Peter's discharge summary and aftercare plan indicated that placement in a halfway house offered the best environment for Nichols at that time.

At the termination hearing, Nichols testified that after he left St. Peter in August of 1994, he discontinued his medication. He stated that he disliked the side effects of his medication--it made him sleepy and caused a nervous "kicking" response. He also testified that he had heard voices--that God was talking to him. He stated that he had no chemical abuse problems or mental health concerns since being discharged from St. Peter, and that he was working, taking a course at South High School, and living with his mother. Nichols said he loved S.Z., wanted to be a parent to him, would take classes to improve his parenting skills, and asked to have visitation with S.Z. He stated that he would, if required, maintain a relationship with a psychiatrist, but he did not want to resume his medication.

In its order terminating Nichols' parental rights, the court listed some of Nichols' numerous hospitalizations since 1993 and the behaviors that prompted the hospitalizations, including: Nichols' claim that auditory commands caused him to make a bomb threat to City Hall; an incident in which he was found, disoriented, in an alley; a suicide attempt in December of 1993; an unauthorized absence from a chemical dependency center; and at least 41 visits to the Hennepin County Crisis Intervention Center during the prior four years. The court noted that Nichols denied having a mental illness, that he consistently refused to take his antipsychotic medications, and did not regularly visit a psychiatrist when not hospitalized. The court found that Nichols was unaware of S.Z.'s needs, noting that he estimated his 18-month-old son to be three and one-half to four years old, and he could not give any examples of activities that he would do with S.Z.

The court specifically found that Hennepin County had made reasonable efforts to prevent out-of-home placement of S.Z., including foster care for S.Z. and mental health services for Nichols through Hennepin County Crisis Intervention Center, St. Peter and Anoka. The court also found that Nichols' denial of mental illness and refusal to consistently take his medication caused him to be at high risk for future hospitalizations, further causing him to be unavailable to care for S.Z. The court found that S.Z. would be at risk of neglect and abuse if placed with Nichols. Even though Hennepin County only argued and...