IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA No. COA 22

- 796 Filed 05 July 2023
Guilford County, No s . 21 JA 4

– 5 IN THE MATTER OF: N.B., N.W. Appeal by respondent

- mother from order entered 1 July 2022 by Judge Angela C. Foster in Guilford County District Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 6 Ju ne 2023

. Mercedes O. Chut for petitioner

- appellee Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services

. Administrative Office of the Courts, by GAL Appellate Counsel Matthew D. Wunsche, for guardian ad litem. Mary McCullers Reece for respondent

- appellant mother.

ZACHARY , Judge.
Respondent

- Mother appeals from the trial court’s order adjudicating her child “Nancy” 1 to be a neglected and dependent juvenile, and her child “ Nell ” to be an abused and neglected juvenile , and maintaining the children’s placement in the custody of the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”)

. She argu es that the trial court lacked subject

- matter jurisdiction over these

1 Consistent with the parties’ stipulation, we use pseudonym s to protect the identit ies of the juvenile s in accordance with N.C.R. App. P. 42(b).I N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- proceedin gs . After careful review, we affirm. I. Background In 2020, Respondent

- Mother lived in Tacoma, Washington , with her four children and her husband, who is the legal father of Nancy, her youngest daughter. 2 In or around October 2020, Respondent

- Mother separated from her husband, and shortly after ward began the process of relocating with her children to North Carolina. At the end of October, Nell’s aunt traveled to Tacoma to pick up Nell and one of Respondent

- Mother’s older children, an d returned to High Point with them. On 10 December 2020, DHHS received a report that Nell had disclosed to her aunt that she had been sexually abused by her stepfather, Respondent

- Mother’s husband. In January 2021, Respondent

- Mother brought Nancy and an ot her of her older child ren to live with relatives in Winston

- Salem. DHHS contacted Respondent

Mother on 7 January and informed her of Nell’s disclosure, but Respondent

- Mother told the social worker that Nell had lied before and that she did not trust Nell’s aunt. Respondent

- Mother refused to complete a safety assessment with DHHS, and DHHS was unable to complete a child and family team meeting with Respondent

- Mother. After the family moved to North Carolina, Respondent

- Mother’s two older children relocated to Pennsylvania to live with their father. Respondent

- Mother also

2 As the trial court found as fact, the paternity of Nancy “ha[d] not been established through DNA paternity testing” as of the adjudication and disposition hearing; however, Respondent

- Mother’s husband is listed a s Nancy’s father on her birth certificate.I N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- traveled to Pennsylvania with Nancy. On 19 January 2021, DHHS filed juvenile petitions regarding all four of Respondent

- Mother’s children. DHHS alleged that Nell was an abused, neglected,

a nd dependent juvenile; the other children were alleged to be neglected and dependent juveniles. By order entered that day, t he trial court granted DHHS nonsecure custody of Nancy and Nell, but not the older children. 3 Nell was placed with her aunt, but DHHS was unable to take custody of Nancy , as she was in Pennsylvania with Respondent

- Mother when DHHS filed the juvenile petitions. Respondent

- Mother and Nancy returned to North Carolina and appeared before the trial court on 4 February 2021, at which point DHHS took custody of Nancy and placed her with Nell’s aunt as well. In its initial orders regarding the need for continued nonsecure custody of Nancy and Nell, the trial court indicated that it possessed temporary emergency ju risdiction pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A

- 204 (2021). On 31 March 2022, the matter came on for adjudication and disposition hearings in Guilford County District Court. By then, Respondent

- Mother had relocated to Charlotte and obtained housing through a n organization assisting victims of domestic violence. She also completed the public housing application

3 DHHS ultimately filed a voluntary dismissal of the juvenile petitions regarding the older children, after it determined “ that there were no safety concerns with the [Pennsylvania] home or with the [ir] father [.] ”I N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- process and was placed on the waiting list for public housing in High Point. Nell’s father was incarcerated in Pennsylvania and participated in the hea rings by teleconference. However, Nancy’s father did not participate in the hearings ; he had not yet been served with the juvenile petitions , as his whereabouts were unknown. On 6 July 2022, the trial court filed its adjudication and disposition order. As regard s its jurisdiction over the matter, the trial court concluded:

At the time of the filing of the juvenile petition [s] , [DHHS] was acting under Temporary Emergency Jurisdiction pursuant to [N.C. Gen. Stat.] § 7B

- 500 and [N.C. Gen. Stat.] § 50A

- 204. Ho wever, at the time of the Adjudication Hearing, North Carolina had obtained Home State Jurisdiction pursuant to [N.C. Gen. Stat.] § 50A

- 102(7) in that both juveniles and [Respondent

- M]other had lived in the State of North Carolina without interruption for a period exceeding six months and there was no existing Custody Order from any other State. The trial court adjudicated Nancy as a neglected and dependent juvenile, and Nell as a neglected and abused juvenile. The trial court continued DHHS’s custody of N ancy and Nell, suspended Respondent

- Mother’s visitation with them, and relieved DHHS of its obligation to make reasonable efforts to reunify them with Respondent

Mother. Respondent

- Mother timely filed notice of appeal. II. Discussion Respondent

- Mother argues that the trial court erred by entering the adjudication and initial disposition order because “ North Carolina did not have jurisdiction to enter non

- temporary, non

- emergency orders under ” the Uniform ChildI N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act ( “ UCCJEA ” )

. For the reasons that follow, we disagree. A. Standard of Review Subject

- matter jurisdiction is “the power of the court to deal with the kind of action in question[,]” In re N.T.U. , 234 N.C. App. 722, 724, 760 S.E.2d 49, 52 (citation omitted), disc. review denied , 367 N.C. 826, 763 S.E.2d 517 (2014) , and , as a result, is

“ a threshold requirement for a court to hear and adjudicate a controversy brought before it,” In re M.B. , 179 N.C. App. 572, 574, 635 S.E.2d 8, 10 (2006). Whether a court possesses su bject

- matter jurisdiction is a question of law, which this Court reviews de novo on appeal. N .T.U. , 234 N.C. App. at 724, 760 S.E.2d at 52. When conducting de novo review, “this Court considers the matter anew and freely substitutes its own judgment for t hat of the trial court.” In re T.N.G. , 244 N.C. App. 398, 402, 781 S.E.2d 93, 97 (2015) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). However, u nchallenged findings of fact are binding on appeal. N.T.U. , 234 N.C. App. at 733, 760 S.E.2d at 57. B. Analysis On appeal, Respondent

- Mother does not challenge any of the trial court’s findings of fact, n or does she challenge the trial court’s adjudication s of Nancy as a neglected and dependent juvenile and Nell as an abused and neglected juvenile

. Rather, her arguments are entirely concerned with the trial court’s subject

- matter jurisdiction over these proceedings.I N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- Respondent

- Mother contends that (1) the trial court erred by concluding that it had obtained home

- state jurisdiction because North Carolina was not the home
state at the inception of these proceedings , and (2) the trial court could not “create ‘home[

- ]state’ jurisdiction for the adjudication simply by passage of time .” She also asserts that the trial court erred by fail ing “to consult with the Was hington courts, obtain an order [from Washington] declining jurisdiction, and make appropriate findings to support its order” in which the court exercise s jurisdiction “beyond temporary emergency jurisdiction[.]” This appeal thus raises the question of whe ther (and under what conditions) temporary emergency jurisdiction under the UCCJEA may eventually ripen into home

- state jurisdiction.
1. Subject

-

Matter Jurisdiction and the UCCJEA Subject

- matter jurisdiction “is conferred upon the courts by either the North Carolina Constitution or by statute.” M.B. , 179 N.C. App. at 574, 635 S.E.2d at 10 (citation omitted). Our Juvenile Code provides that the trial court “has exclusive, original jurisdiction over any case involving a juvenile who is alleged to be abused,
neg lected, or dependent.” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B

- 200(a). Additionally, “ t he jurisdictional requirements of the [UCCJEA] must be satisfied for a court to have authority to adjudicate petitions filed pursuant to our Juvenile Code, even though the Juvenile Code provides that the district courts of North Carolina have exclusive, or iginal jurisdiction over any case involving a juvenile.” M.B. , 179 N.C. App. at 574, 635 S.E.2d at 10 (citation omitted). “ TheI N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- UCCJEA, which is designed to provide a uniform set of jurisdictional rules and guidelines for the national enforcement of child c ustody orders, is codified in Chapter 50A of the North Carolina General Statutes. ” Id. at 574

– 75, 635 S.E.2d at 10 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Under the UCCJEA, a court of this State has jurisdiction to make an initial child

- custody de termination only if: (1) This State is the home state of the child on the date of the commencement of the proceeding, or was the home state of the child within six months before the commencement of the proceeding, and the child is absent from this State but a parent or person acting as a parent continues to live in this State; (2) A court of another state does not have jurisdiction under subdivision (1), or a court of the home state of the child has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that this State is the more appropriate forum under [N.C. Gen. Stat. §] 50A

- 207 or [§] 50A

208, and:

a. The child and the child’s parents, or the child and at least one parent or a person acting as a parent, have a significant connection with this State other than mere physical presence; and b. Substantial evidence is available in this State conce rning the child’s care, protection, training, and personal relationships; (3) All courts having jurisdiction under subdivision (1) or (2) have declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that a court of this State is the more appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child under [N.C. Gen. Stat. §] 50A

- 207 or [§] 50A

-I N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- 208; or (4) No court of any other state would have jurisdiction under the criteria specified in subdivision (1), (2), or (3). N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A

- 201(a)

. For the purposes of the UCCJEA, a “c hild

- custody determination” is “ a judgment, decree, or other order of a court providing for the legal custody, physical custody, or visitation with respect to a child ” and “ includes a permanent, temporary, initial, and modification order. ” Id. § 50A

- 102 (3). “ ‘I nitial determination ’ means the first child

- custody determination concerning a particular child. ” Id. § 50A

- 102(8). A child’s “home state” under the UCCJEA is “the state in which [the] child lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a child

- custody proceeding[,]” including a proceeding on abuse , neglect , or dependency allegations. Id. § 50A

- 102(4), (7). A proceeding commence s with “the filing of the first pleading [.] ” Id. § 50A

- 102(5); see, e.g. , T.N.G., 244 N.C. App. at 403, 781 S.E.2d at 97

. In this case, it is uncontested that the trial court did not have “home

- state ” jurisdiction pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A

- 201(a) a t the commencement of the present proceeding s , as neither juvenile had lived in North Carolina for six months prior to the filing of the petitions in this matter. However, the UCCJEA also provides that the courts of this State may exercise “temporary eme rgency jurisdiction if the child is present in this State and the childI N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child, or a sibling or parent of the child, is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or ab use.” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A

- 204(a). It is similarly uncontested that the trial court in this case properly exercised temporary emergency jurisdiction at the initiation of these proceedings. Accordingly, we must address the transition from temporary emergen cy jurisdiction to home

- state jurisdiction under the UCCJEA.
2. Temporary Emergency Jurisdiction and Home

- State Jurisdiction Respondent

- Mother first argues that “ at the time of the petition, North Carolina did not have jurisdiction to make an initial custody decision ” because it was not the children’s home state pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A

- 201. Implicit in this argument is the proposition that a trial court cannot enter an initial child

- custody determination while exercising temporary emergency jurisdict ion pursuant to § 50A

204

. T his proposition is not supported by the text of the UCCJEA. Section 50A

- 204(b) provides , in pertinent part: If a child

- custody proceeding has not been or is not commenced in a court of a state having jurisdiction under [N.C. G en . S tat

. §] 50A

- 201 through [§] 50A

- 203, a child

custody determination made under this section becomes a final determination if it so pro vides, and this State becomes the home state of the child. Id. § 50A

- 204(b). The plain language of this section thus contemplates that a court exercising temporary emergency jurisdiction may enter an initial child

- custody determination, which “ includes a

. . . temporary

. . . order. ” Id. § 50A

- 102(3). The trialI N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- court thus had jurisdiction to enter the initial, temporary nonsecure custody orders. However, Respondent

- Mother proceeds to argue that “ North Carolina courts do not have jurisdiction to enter an ad judication order while exercising temporary emergency jurisdiction. ” The key issue , then , is under what conditions North Carolina “becomes the home state of the child” in order for a temporary child

- custody determination to “become[ ] a final determination if it so provides [.] ” Id. § 50A

- 204(b). Respondent

- Mother asserts that the trial court could not “create ‘home[

- ]state’ jurisdiction for the adjudication simply by passage of time.” However, this Court has previously concluded otherwise. Respondent

- Mother acknowledges two cases in which this Court determined that a trial court possessed home

- state jurisdiction over termination

- of

- parental

rights proceeding s after initially exercising temporary emergency jurisdiction over child

- custody proceedings. See N.T.U. , 234 N.C. App. at 728, 760 S.E.2d at 54 ; In re E.X.J. , 191 N.C. App. 34, 4 3

– 4 4, 662 S.E.2d 24 , 29

– 30 (2008) , aff ’d per curiam , 363 N.C. 9, 672 S.E.2d 19 (2009). In N.T.U. , this Court “determined that the trial court properly exercised temporary emergency jurisdiction over the custody of [the juvenile] initially,” before noting that the juvenile ha d “ lived in North Carolina with his foster parents ” for ov er a year and a half without “ any custody proceedings instituted, or custody orders entered, in any state other than North Carolina. ” 234 N.C. App. at 728, 760 S.E.2d at 54. Accordingly, this Court “ conclude [d] that North Carolina became [the juvenile]’sI N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- h ome state such that the trial court possessed jurisdiction to terminate [the r] espondent ’ s parental rights pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A

- 201(a). ” Id. Similarly, i n E.X.J. , this Court held that “the trial court had emergency jurisdiction to enter the initial nonsecure custody orders[,]” then recognized that, “[b]y the time of the filing of the petition and motion for termination of parental rights, [the children ] and [the] respondent mother had been physically present in North Carolina for two years.” 191 N.C. App. at 43, 662 S.E.2d at 29. Accordingly, “[g]iven the children’s residency and the lack of any other custody proceedings or orders in other states, ‘North Carolina b ecame the home state wherein the trial court had jurisdiction under the UCCJEA to enter orders’ terminating [the] respondents’ parental rights.” Id. at 44, 662 S.E.2d at 29

– 30 (quoting M.B. , 179 N.C. App. at 576, 635 S.E.2d at 11). Respondent

- Mother maint ains that N.T.U. and E.X.J. do not control the case before us because “ those cases involved [termination] petitions for which the respective departments of social services established standing by way of properly entered nonsecure custody orders. ” Yet both N.T.U. and E.X.J. relied upon our precedent in M.B. , which Respondent

- Mother cannot successfully distinguish from th e present case. Unlike N.T.U. and E.X.J. , but like the present case, M.B. did not concern a termination

- of

- parental

- rights proceeding commenced after a prior child

- custody determination

. Instead , M.B. concerned the trial court’s authority to enter an initialI N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- child

- custody determination while exercising temporary emergency jurisdiction, then
to recognize that North Carolina had become the child’s home state and order that the child

- custody determination become a final order pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A

- 204(b). 179 N.C. App. at 576, 635 S.E.2d at 11. In M.B. , the child and both parents moved from New York to North Carolina between February and March of 2005, and in April of that year , DSS filed a juvenile petition alleging that the child was neglected. Id. at 572

– 73, 635 S.E.2d at 9. In June
2005 , th e trial court entered an order finding temporary emergency jurisdiction, adjudicating the child as neglected, and placing the child in the temporary custody of DSS. Id. at 573, 635 S.E.2d at 9. The trial court also ordered the parents and DSS to

“ provide a ny and all information and paperwork in relation to an alleged New York court proceeding concerning M.B., as such a proceeding may impact the trial court ’ s subject [

- ] matter jurisdiction. ” Id. During the process of appealing the trial court’s temporary cus tody order, “ DSS received a letter from Westchester County, New York, stating that there [we] re no pending matters or any orders regarding M.B. ” Id. at 574, 635 S.E.2d at 10. Accordingly, in October 2005 , while the appeal was pending before this Court, the trial court entered an order “ providing that (1) North Carolina [wa] s now the home state of M.B. because M.B. ha [d] been in North Carolina for over six months; and (2) the temporary child custody determi nation entered on 17 June 2005 [wa] s now the final order of custody. ” Id.I N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- On appeal, this Court affirmed the trial court’s initial invocation of temporary emergency jurisdiction. Id. at 576, 635 S.E.2d at 11. Furthermore, this Court determined that “any i ssue of temporary jurisdiction [wa]s now moot” and specifically cited the October 2005 order

— as well as the fact that “ M.B., M.B. ’ s mother, and [M.B.’s] father ha [d] been physically present in North Carolina for more than six months ”

— to support its conclu s ion that “ North Carolina [wa] s now the home state under the UCCJEA [.]” Id. Although this Court in M.B. did not specifically refer to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A

- 204(b), it is apparent that the trial court’s October 2005 order conform ed with the provisions of tha t statute for the purposes of assuming home

state jurisdiction. Id. ; see also N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50A

- 204(b). DHHS contends on appeal that “[t] he relevant facts of In re M.B. are nearly identical to those in this case. ” We agree. As the trial court concluded

— and as is supported by unchallenged (and therefore, binding) findings of fact, N.T.U. , 234 N.C. App. at 733, 760 S.E.2d at 57

— “ both juveniles and [Respondent

- M] other had lived in the State of North Carolina without interruption for a period exceeding six months and there was no existing Custody Order from any other State ” at the time the trial court entered the adjudication and disposition order. As such, and as the trial court declared in its order, “ North Carolina

. . . obtain ed Home State Jurisdiction ” under the UCCJEA.I N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- Lastly, DHHS advances a pair of unpublished opinions 4 as persuasive authority for the appli cation of the holding in M.B. to this case. Indeed, i n In re K.M. , this Court “conclude[d] that North Carolina became the home state wherein the trial court had jurisdiction under the UCCJEA to enter orders adjudicating the juveniles abused, neglected, and dependent” where the trial court made unchallenged findings of fact concerning “the court ’ s exercise of emergency ju risdiction, the juveniles’ residency in North Carolina for over six months, and the lack of any other custody proceedings or orders in any other state[.]” 228 N.C. App. 281, 748 S.E.2d 773, 2013 WL 3356835, at *3 (2013) (unpublished). And in In re L.C.D. , this Court concluded that “North Carolina became [the child]’s home state after six months” of her continuous residence in nonsecure custody in the state and “[i] n the interim, no custody proceedings were instituted or custody orders entered in another sta te. ” 253 N.C. App. 840, 800 S.E.2d 137, 2017 WL 2437033, at *3 (2017) (unpublished)

. In the case at bar, the trial court properly concluded that it had home

- state jurisdiction at the time of the adjudication and disposition order. In that Respondent

Mother does not otherwise challenge the trial court’s findings of fact or conclusions of law, the trial court’s order is properly affirmed. III. Conclusion

4 Although unpublished opinions do not have precedential value, “an unpublished opinion may be used as persuasive authority at the appellate level if the case is properly submitted and discussed and there is no published case on point.” Zurosky v. Shaffe r , 236 N.C. App. 219, 234, 763 S.E.2d 755, 764 (2014).I N RE : N.B. & N.W. Opinion of the Court

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- For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court’s order. AFFIRMED

. Judges ARROWOOD and GR IFFIN concur.