Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 02A03-1704-JC-781| October 17, 2017 Page 1 of 9

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), 

this Memorandum Decision shall not be 

regarded as precedent or cited before any 

court except for the purpose of establishing 

the defense of res judicata, collateral 

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Gregory L. Fumarolo

Fort Wayne, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE 

Curtis T. Hill, Jr.

Attorney General of Indiana

Robert J. Henke

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

In Re: the Matter of:

J.S.B.(1), J.S.B.(2), and J.B.

(Minor Children), Children in 

Need of Services,

and

S.M. (Mother),

Appellant-Respondent,

v.

The Indiana Department of

Child Services,

Appellee-Petitioner

October 17, 2017

Court of Appeals Case No.

02A03-1704-JC-781

Appeal from the Allen Superior 

Court

The Honorable Charles F. Pratt, 

Judge

Trial Court Cause Nos.

02D08-1607-JC-305

02D08-1607-JC-306

02D08-1607-JC-307

Baker, Judge.
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[1] S.M. (Mother) appeals the trial court’s order adjudicating her three children, 

J.S.B.(1), J.S.B.(2), and J.B., to be Children in Need of Services (CHINS). 

Mother argues that there is insufficient evidence to support the CHINS 

adjudication. Finding the evidence sufficient, we affirm.

Facts

[2] Mother is the single mother of three children: J.S.B.(1) and J.S.B.(2), who are 

twins born on December 19, 1999, and J.B., who was born on January 24, 

2002.

[3] All three children have been in legal trouble at some point. In November 2015, 

J.S.B.(2) was on an informal adjustment probation for theft. In March 2016, 

she moved to formal probation following probation violations and a new charge 

of disorderly conduct. Her probation included case management services and 

individual therapy. J.S.B.(2) was also being electronically monitored; despite 

such monitoring, she escaped from home detention and the Youth Services

Center, where she was residing after being removed from Mother’s home. 

J.S.B.(1) and J.B. have also been under juvenile probation supervision.

[4] On July 5, 2016, Mother called Department of Child Services (DCS) because 

she “was overwhelmed with some of the stuff going on in my home.” 

Factfinding Tr. p. 7. Mother asked DCS for services for her three daughters 

because she did not believe that there were “enough services to help out with 

what was going on.” Id. DCS intake worker Haley Hunter went to Mother’s 

home to speak with Mother. Hunter observed that the children “seemed very 
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desensitized to everything. Like . . . nothing extreme was going on even though 

there was a lot of chaos in the home.” Id. at 88. Mother told Hunter that the 

children were disrespectful to her and unruly. During Hunter’s visit, Mother 

and the children got into an argument because Mother thought one of the 

children had stolen her cigarettes. Mother told Hunter that, regarding physical 

fights, if one of her children “were to touch her that she would touch the other 

one back.” Id. at 83. Mother also stated that “she would lock herself in her 

room just to get away from them.” Id. 

[5] While Hunter was at Mother’s home, J.S.B.(1) told Hunter that she was not 

getting along with Mother; she also stated that she had an infection or may 

have been pregnant, and although she asked Mother about seeing a doctor, 

Mother refused to take her. Mother confirmed that she would not be willing to 

take J.S.B.(1) to the doctor. J.B. told Hunter that “she wasn’t afraid of her 

mom because . . . stuff like this happened on a regular basis.” Id. at 81. Both 

J.S.B.(1) and J.B. stated that Mother smokes Spice, a synthetic cannabinoid. 

Hunter also learned that Mother would lock the bathroom doors and allow the 

children to shower only at certain times. 

[6] Following her visit, Hunter put Stop Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) services1

in place. Before SCAN arrived, Mother called the police to report that one of 

 

1 The SCAN worker who visited Mother’s home was a Family Preservation Coach with SCAN’s Intensive 

Intervention Team. That SCAN team visits homes with the goal of keeping children in the home. It works 

to ensure that a family has the resources that it needs, focusing both on skills such as parenting, budgeting, 

and cleaning skills, and on material resources such as furniture and clothes. Factfinding Tr. p. 96.
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her children had run away. That night, when SCAN went to Mother’s house 

for an intake with Mother and the children, SCAN observed that J.B. was 

abusive toward Mother, calling her names and telling her that she was crazy for 

calling the police. Mother told SCAN that she had dreamed about the children 

hurting her while she was asleep. At some point that same night, Hunter 

received a text message from SCAN stating that the home environment was 

chaotic.

[7] The next day, July 6, 2016, Fort Wayne Police Officer Fritz Rommel was called 

to Mother’s house for a domestic dispute; Mother had stated that she wanted 

the children to leave the home. Mother also stated that her daughters “were out 

of control, disrespectful, cussing at her . . . . [S]he said she was fed up and tired 

and didn’t want them in the home anymore.” Id. at 54-55. Officer Rommel 

called Hunter, who returned to Mother’s home. Mother told Hunter that she 

wanted the children out of the house. The children were removed from the 

home and taken to Youth Services Center. Following the removal, Hunter 

interviewed J.S.B.(2), who had not been present during Hunter’s visit to 

Mother’s home the day before. J.S.B.(2) stated that she was not getting along 

with Mother and that Mother smokes Spice.
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[8] On July 27, 2016, DCS filed an amended petition alleging the children to be 

CHINS. A factfinding hearing took place on October 24, 2016,

2 and the trial 

court adjudicated all three children to be CHINS. At some point following this 

adjudication, the children returned to Mother’s home. On February 1, 2017, a 

dispositional hearing took place.3 That same day, the trial court issued a 

dispositional order that ordered Mother and the children to participate in 

reunification services. Mother now appeals. 

Discussion and Decision

I. Standard of Review

[9] Mother argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the trial court’s 

determination that J.S.B.(1), J.S.B.(2), and J.B. are CHINS. Our Supreme 

Court has explained the nature of a CHINS proceeding and appellate review of 

a CHINS finding as follows:

A CHINS proceeding is a civil action; thus, “the State must 

prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a child is a 

CHINS as defined by the juvenile code.” In re N.R., 919 N.E.2d 

102, 105 (Ind. 2010). We neither reweigh the evidence nor judge 

the credibility of the witnesses. Egly v. Blackford County Dep’t of 

 

2

Indiana Code section 31-34-11-1 requires a factfinding hearing to take place not more than sixty days after 

the filing of a petition alleging a child to be a CHINS unless all parties consent to an extension of an 

additional sixty days. Here, the parties consented to additional time. 

3

Indiana Code section 31-34-19-1 requires a dispositional hearing to take place not more than thirty days 

after a trial court adjudicates a child to be a CHINS. In this case, the dispositional hearing took place more 

than ninety days after the CHINS adjudication. Although Mother did not raise the issue, we take this 

opportunity to remind the trial court to follow the timeline for CHINS adjudications set forth by our General 

Assembly.
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Pub. Welfare, 592N.E.2d 1232, 1235 (Ind. 1992). We consider 

only the evidence that supports the trial court’s decision and 

reasonable inferences drawn therefrom. Id. We reverse only 

upon a showing that the decision of the trial court was clearly 

erroneous. Id.

In re K.D., 962 N.E.2d 1249, 1253-54 (Ind. 2012) (footnote omitted).

[10] Here, DCS alleged that the children are CHINS pursuant to Indiana Code 

section 31–34–1–1, which provides as follows:

A child is a child in need of services if before the child becomes 

eighteen (18) years of age:

(1) the child’s physical or mental condition is seriously 

impaired or seriously endangered as a result of the 

inability, refusal, or neglect of the child’s parent, guardian, 

or custodian to supply the child with necessary food, 

clothing, shelter, medical care, education, or supervision; 

and

(2) the child needs care, treatment, or rehabilitation that:

(A) the child is not receiving; and

(B) is unlikely to be provided or accepted without 

the coercive intervention of the court.

[11] Our Supreme Court has interpreted this provision to require “three basic 

elements: that the parent’s actions or inactions have seriously endangered the 

child, that the child's needs are unmet, and (perhaps most critically) that those 
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needs are unlikely to be met without State coercion.” In re S.D., 2 N.E.3d 1283, 

1287 (Ind. 2014).

II. Sufficiency

[12] Mother argues that the evidence was insufficient to show neglect on her part or

that she needed the trial court’s coercive intervention to resolve the family’s 

problems.

[13] While the dysfunction that Mother and the children face is not the worst of the 

worst, Mother has admitted that she cannot control her children. J.S.B.(1), 

J.S.B.(2), and J.B. have all faced legal trouble at some point in their young lives. 

Even electronic monitoring did not foster in J.S.B.(2) respect for authority, and 

she escaped from both home detention and the Youth Services Center while on 

it. Mother admitted to being overwhelmed by the children’s behavior and told 

Officer Rommel that she did not want them in her home. Mother also admitted 

that she would lock herself in her room in order to get away from the children 

and that she was concerned about them stealing from her. J.S.B.(1) stated that 

Mother refused to take her to a doctor for medical care. The children were 

desensitized to the level of chaos that permeated their home. J.S.B.(1) and 

J.S.B.(2) both reported that they were not getting along with Mother. J.B. 

stated that she was not afraid of Mother, and SCAN observed J.B. yelling at 

Mother and calling her names. In short, the children’s needs for adequate 

supervision and care are unmet in Mother’s home.
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[14] Moreover, the children’s unmet needs are unlikely to be provided for without 

the coercive intervention of the court. While we recognize that Mother 

contacted DCS specifically to get help for the problems in her family, we note 

that, in order to try to get the help that she needs, she had to turn to a state 

agency. In other words, she was not able to obtain sufficient help on her own 

without the State’s aid. This family needs support and services to become 

functional. Court intervention, therefore, is necessary to prevent the family’s 

situation from getting completely out of hand; without it, needed services likely

would not be available for Mother and the children. Accordingly, we find no 

error with the trial court’s conclusion that the children need care that they are 

not receiving and are unlikely to receive without the coercive intervention of the 

court.

[15] Lastly, we note that the trial court did not address in its order whether the 

children’s physical or mental conditions are “seriously impaired or seriously 

endangered as a result of the inability, refusal, or neglect of the child[ren]’s 

parent . . . to supply the child[ren] with necessary food, clothing, shelter, 

medical care, education, or supervision[.]” I.C. § 31–34–1–1(1). While we find 

no statutory requirement that the trial court explicitly address this prong of the 

CHINS statute, our appellate review would benefit from the trial court’s doing 

so. 

[16] In this case, however, despite the trial court’s lack of findings specifically 

addressing the children’s physical or mental conditions, the totality of the 

record shows that a finding could have been made. Mother’s inability to 
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provide necessary supervision to her children seriously endangers them. 

Indeed, during Mother’s attempt to secure help, she called the police to report 

that one of her children had run away; another time, J.S.B.(2) escaped from the 

Youth Services Center while being electronically monitored. In addition, 

Mother refused to take J.S.B.(1) to the doctor. Mother also reported that she 

would lock herself in her room to get away from the children—meaning that 

there were times when she made herself unavailable for her children solely for 

the purpose of being unavailable, and there is no evidence in the record that 

shows that Mother made an effort to provide appropriate supervision for her 

children during those times. 

[17] This family needs help managing the children’s behavior, and the CHINS 

adjudication and services that go along with it will provide them with the 

assistance that they need. 

[18] The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Bailey, J., and Altice, J., concur.