Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-JT-2048 | March 4, 2020 Page 1 of 21

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

Don R. Hostetler

Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Curtis T. Hill, Jr.

Attorney General of Indiana

David E. Corey

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

In the Termination of the ParentChild Relationship of:

S.H., M.H. & C.H. (Minor 

Children)

 and

S.H. (Mother),

Appellant-Respondent,

v.

Indiana Department of Child 

Services,

Appellee-Petitioner

 and

March 4, 2020

Court of Appeals Case No.

19A-JT-2048

Appeal from the

Marion Superior Court

The Honorable Mark A. Jones, 

Judge

The Honorable Peter Haughan, 

Judge Pro Tempore

Trial Court Cause Nos.

49D15-1810-JT-1243, 49D15-1810-

JT-1244, 49D15-1810-JT-1245
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-JT-2048 | March 4, 2020 Page 2 of 21

Child Advocates, Inc.,

Appellee-Guardian Ad Litem.

Altice, Judge.

Case Summary

[1] S.H. (Mother) appeals from the involuntary termination of her parental rights to 

her three minor children, Sa.H., M.H., and C.H. (collectively, the Children). 

She challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the termination order. 

[2] We affirm.

Facts & Procedural History

[3] Mother and R.H. (Father)1 are the biological parents of Sa.H. born in

September 2005, M.H. born in July 2006, and C.H. born in March 2010. In 

March 2017, Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) removed the 

Children when Father and Mother were involved in a domestic dispute and 

1 Mother and Father’s marriage was dissolved during the course of this action. Father’s parental rights were 

also terminated but he does not participate in this appeal. Accordingly, we will focus on the facts related to 

Mother.
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Father threw an object, which injured M.H., and Father was arrested. Mother 

and Father were under the influence of illegal drugs and/or alcohol at the time. 

DCS filed a child in need of services (CHINS) petition,

2 and guardian ad litem 

Ed Walker (the GAL) was appointed. In April 2017, Mother admitted that the 

Children were in need of, and the family would benefit from, services designed 

to eliminate substance abuse and domestic violence from the home and that the 

Children were CHINS. The Children were placed with maternal grandfather 

and step-grandmother (Grandparents), where they have remained since that 

time. 

[4] In June 2017, the juvenile court adjudicated the Children as CHINS and 

entered a dispositional order that substantially adopted the recommendations in 

DCS’s predispositional report. Mother was ordered to participate in homebased counseling, therapy, and supervised parenting time, and keep in touch 

with her case manager. Mother was required to “submit to random 

drug/alcohol screens” within one hour of DCS’s request. Exhibits Vol. at 65, 

70. If Mother submitted to ten clean screens from the date of the June 7, 2017 

Parental Participation Order, she no longer had to submit to screens, but “[i]f

she tests positive for alcohol or any unprescribed substances, DCS shall refer a 

substance abuse assessment and [Mother] shall follow those 

recommendations.” Id. at 70. The juvenile court also ordered that the Children 

2 By agreement of the parties, DCS exhibits from the CHINS proceedings were redacted, including the 

allegations of the CHINS petition, before being admitted into evidence at the termination hearing.
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participate in homebased trauma-focused therapy and follow recommendations 

of the therapist.

[5] In the fall of 2017, Mother participated in homebased therapy with Vicky 

Brown a licensed mental health therapist and she engaged in homebased case 

management with Tara Kimbrough, a life skills clinician. Mother was making 

positive progress and working to obtain housing, and she was permitted 

unsupervised parenting time. Additionally, Brown began providing therapy to 

the Children to address post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) issues.

[6] Later in 2017, Mother started missing sessions with Brown and Kimbrough and 

scheduled visitations with the Children. Brown was concerned that the

Children were being re-traumatized by Mother’s lack of consistency. Around 

the time of Thanksgiving 2017, Mother became unemployed and missed eight 

visits with the Children. In December 2017, Brown terminated services with 

Mother due to lack of participation. Kimbrough also terminated services in 

December 2017 due to non-compliance, multiple cancellations, and minimal 

progress. The last time that Mother engaged in parenting time with the 

Children was around Christmas 2017. DCS Family Case Manager (FCM) 

Zachary Inman made new referrals for homebased counseling and case 

management in January 2018, but the new referrals were unsuccessful because

the providers could not contact Mother. 

[7] In March 2018, DCS requested that the permanency plan change from 

reunification to adoption. At a March 21, 2018 permanency hearing, Brown
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recommended that Mother’s parenting time be suspended, observing that she 

had not attempted to visit with Children in several months. The juvenile court 

issued an order finding that the Children had been removed from Mother’s care 

for a year, that DCS had made reasonable efforts to make it possible for the 

Children to return safely to her home but that services “have not been effective 

or completed [,]” and that Mother had “made no meaningful or appreciable 

progress toward reunification.” Id. at 84, 85. The court suspended Mother’s 

parenting time and ordered that DCS need not provide any services for Mother, 

but noted that “any open services may remain in place.” Id. The juvenile court

found that it would be contrary to the health and welfare of the Children to be 

returned home and changed the permanency plan to adoption. 

[8] The juvenile court’s June 17, 2018 order following a review hearing reflected 

that DCS objected to any visits and requested that parenting time continue to be 

suspended and that, if phone calls were to be authorized, then time be allowed 

for their therapist to speak to the Children prior to the call. The court’s order 

permitted parenting time and phone calls only “upon positive recommendations 

of DCS, GAL, and service providers.” Id. at 90. At subsequent review 

hearings, Mother requested that the permanency plan be returned to 

reunification, but DCS objected, and the court ordered that the plan continue to 

be adoption. A Child and Family Team Meeting was held with Mother in July 

2018, and, among other things, the team discussed their concerns about 

Mother’s sobriety. The team agreed that they would re-visit the issue of 
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Mother’s visitations with the Children if she submitted to ten screens that were 

free from alcohol and non-prescription medication.

[9] On October 25, 2018, DCS filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of 

Mother and Father. A permanency hearing was held in November 2018, and 

Mother did not attend. As of January 2019, Mother was engaged in 

homebased counseling but no other services. Mother appeared at a February 

2019 permanency hearing and requested that the plan return to reunification, 

which the trial court denied. On March 27, 2019, Mother filed a motion for 

increased parenting time, but she did not appear for the April 10, 2019 hearing

on the motion. The juvenile court issued an order after the hearing 

memorializing that DCS objected to “therapeutically supervised visitations,” 

noting that “the screens she has submitted have been positive for alcohol” and 

that the termination hearing was set for the following week on April 18. Id. at 

110. The GAL likewise objected to visitations and asked the court to deny 

Mother’s request for increased parenting time. In denying Mother’s request, the 

juvenile court made findings that included: The court’s June 2017 Parental 

Participation Order had ordered drug and alcohol screens; Mother tested 

positive for alcohol in August 2018, and from August to November 2018 she 

“took a number of screens, many of which were positive for alcohol”; in eight 

random screens in February and March 2019 Mother was positive for alcohol 

and the court did not have results for three others in March 2019; and the 

Children’s therapist “does not recommend [Mother] have parenting time this 

close to the termination hearing.” Id. at 110-11.
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[10] The termination trial was held on April 18 and May 30, 2019. Brown testified

to working with Mother on various issues, including Mother’s childhood 

trauma, self-esteem and codependency issues, and substance abuse. Brown 

testified that initially Mother was “doing very well” and was “very receptive to 

services,” but that by the fall of 2017, Mother became noncompliant. Transcript

Vol. II at 38. Brown described that Mother became less consistent with her 

visits with the Children, which at that time were unsupervised, changed jobs, 

and was engaging in “very unhealthy” and dangerous behaviors, including 

“frequenting a lot of different males,” which DCS considered to be a “selfsabotage” behavior. Id. at 40. Brown testified that she explained to Mother 

that when Mother failed to consistently visit with the Children, it was hard on 

the Children and was compounding their trauma. Brown also testified that she 

and Mother had multiple conversations about the fact that Mother was not to 

consume alcohol. Brown discharged Mother from services on December 19, 

2017 for missed sessions, inconsistency with services, and ten missed visitations 

with the Children. Mother never visited with the Children after late December 

2017 and by March 2018, Brown’s recommendation was that Mother not be 

permitted to have any visitations.

[11] In September or October 2017, Brown began providing trauma-focused 

cognitive behavior therapy to the Children for PTSD, a diagnosis that was

based on disclosures by the Children of experiences in the home with Mother 

and Father involving neglect and abuse, including a lack of food in the home 

such that Sa.H would give up food so that her siblings could have something to 
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eat, the Children being subject to “whippings,” and Children being left alone 

overnight at a young age. Id. at 67. Brown continued treating the Children

until November 2018. Sa.H. also told Brown about “multiple” physical fights 

between Mother and Father where they argued over which of the two of them

drank the last of the vodka. Id. at 68. Brown had worked for fifteen years with 

children who had suffered abuse and neglect and testified that she considered 

the negative effects of the neglect on Sa.H. “at the very top” of the spectrum. 

Id. at 71. Brown testified that the Children needed consistency, stability, and 

routine and “they ha[d] never experienced routine” with Mother and Father. 

Id. at 81. Brown testified that the Children were receiving the structure they 

need with Grandparents. She stated that she had concerns about the Children 

returning to Mother’s care, believing that Mother would continue in “the same 

patterns” as she had in the past. Id. at 83. Her opinion was that the Children 

should remain with Grandparents.

[12] Grandfather testified that before the Children came to live with him and his 

wife, they saw the Children only on occasions such as holidays or birthdays 

because “there was always an excuse.” Id. at 103. Grandfather recalled that, 

about a year prior to when the CHINS case began, he had stopped by Mother 

and Father’s home for a visit and saw “liquor bottles laying around 

everywhere” during the middle of the day. Id. at 105. Grandfather said that, 

prior to the CHINS case, he had talked to Mother about her alcohol use. He 

also stated that he was concerned “many times” about the Children being left 

home alone. Id. at 105. Grandfather said that Mother and Father moved “all 
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the time” and lived with Grandparents eight to ten times in a ten-year period 

because they needed a place to stay. Id. at 106. He described that when the 

Children first came to live with them after their removal, Children were “real 

thin,” seemed “angry,” and wet the bed most nights. Id. Grandfather said that 

Mother had visits with the Children for a while but after Christmas Day 2017, 

“She never called. She never contacted.” Id. at 108. Grandfather testified that

he and his wife wanted to adopt the Children. 

[13] Patty Moore, a mental health therapist, testified for DCS. She had been 

providing therapy for the Children via a DCS referral for approximately six 

months prior to the termination hearing. She was treating M.H. for hoarding of

food, hiding food, and eating quickly out of fear of not having food; Sa.H. for 

inappropriately taking on adult-like parenting roles; and C.H. for aggression 

with adults and children. Moore characterized the trauma that the Children 

had experienced as “[h]orrific.” Id. at 151. She had concerns that the Children 

would revert to “survival behaviors,” such as lack of boundaries, feeling like 

they have to care for themselves, and lack of respect for authority figures, if the 

stability of Grandparents’ home was taken away from them. Id. Her opinion 

was that visitation with Mother should not resume and that the Children should 

remain with Grandparents. 

[14] FCMs Zachary Inman and Janelle Baker, who replaced FCM Inman in 

January 2019, each testified. FCM Inman stated that Mother initially was 

“doing very well” and she received unsupervised and unrestricted visitations 

beginning in September 2017. Id. at 194. However, between September 2017 
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and the March 21, 2018 permanency hearing, Mother stopped visiting with the 

Children, and based on all reports from service providers as well as the GAL, 

FCM Inman recommended in March 2018 that the permanency plan be 

changed to adoption. FCM Inman opined that “testing positive for alcohol 

consistently would show somebody that is — could indicate that somebody is 

drinking — is unable to stop drinking which could impair their ability to care 

for the child.” Id. at 201. He recalled a March 2018 Family and Child Team 

Meeting where Mother was made aware of “the importance of being clean from 

alcohol.” Id. at 208. FCM Inman testified to observing the Children with 

Grandparents and described them as “very well bonded” with each other. Id. at 

199. He did not recommend that Mother have more time to develop a stable 

home for the Children because the case had been pending two years and DCS 

had not seen “any significant progress” and did not expect that she would 

“make any progress anytime soon.” Id. at 204. He testified that it was DCS’s 

position that Mother’s parental rights to the Children be terminated. FCM 

Baker testified that her position with regard to the Children was consistent with 

FCM Inman’s. 

[15] The GAL testified that he visited the Children in their placement with 

Grandparents and observed the interaction between them. His interactions 

with Mother consisted of meeting her at team meetings and he also received 

information from providers, but he did not visit with Mother and the Children 

together. He testified to each child having an education liaison at his 

recommendation and participating in Life Skills to help them cope with anger 
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or express themselves. The GAL stated that in his opinion Mother had not 

dealt adequately with issues that led to the Children’s removal, particularly 

housing and alcohol abuse. After considering services offered to Mother, her 

level of engagement, progress reports, the wishes of the Children, and the effect 

of reunification on the Children, the GAL recommended adoption as the

permanency plan for the Children. 

[16] Homebased caseworker Cristal Redd also testified. Redd began working with 

Mother in March 2018, when Mother’s boyfriend J.C. (Boyfriend) talked to 

Redd – who was working with Boyfriend on his own CHINS matter – about 

Mother’s situation. DCS eventually made a referral for Redd to provide 

services to Mother, and Redd worked with Mother toward finding employment 

and housing. Redd testified that Mother consistently engaged in services and 

was on time and prepared. Redd stated that Mother obtained employment and 

was living with Boyfriend, his mother, his grandmother, and sometimes his 

children. Redd testified that she participated in a Child and Family Team

Meeting at which it was discussed with Mother “not to engage” in consuming 

any substances at all including alcohol. Id. at 177.

[17] Mother testified that her mother died in April 2017 and it was hard on her, that 

she participated in DCS services when the Children were removed, and that 

visitations went well. She said that after visitations were suspended in March 

2018, she on many occasions requested phone calls and sought parenting time. 

She testified to being enrolled in EMT school (six hours per week) since 

January 2019 but not being currently employed. Mother also testified to having 
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lived in a stable home for one year with Boyfriend at his grandmother’s home. 

She stated that she began a relationship with him in December 2017 and that he

would be a part of the Children’s lives were she to be re-unified with them. 

Mother acknowledged that she visited the Children’s school once in an attempt 

to see them and had texted with M.H., both in violation of court order.

[18] Mother also called as witnesses her aunt Jeannie Fisher and Boyfriend. Fisher 

had known Mother her whole life and had seen the Children interact with 

Mother. Fisher testified that the Children “were happy” with Mother and

described that Mother had “changed her life around” since DCS became 

involved, as she divorced Father, was not drinking alcohol, and was living in a 

four-bedroom home with Boyfriend, who Mother planned to marry. Transcript 

Vol. III at 4, 6. Fisher testified that she “pray[ed] . . . that [Mother] gets her kids 

back because those kids couldn’t ask for a better mother.” Id. at 4. 

[19] Boyfriend testified that he and Mother had been together for one and one-half 

years, that she was in school, and that she has a good relationship with his three 

children, of whom he has shared custody, but he had never observed Mother 

interact with the Children. Boyfriend discussed being clean from heroin for 

about one and one-half years and indicated that he occasionally drank alcohol. 

He stated that Mother no longer drank and estimated that he had not been to a 

bar for drinks with Mother in “a few months.” Id. at 33. Boyfriend

acknowledged his criminal history that included convictions for “drunk 

driving,” operating a vehicle while being a habitual traffic offender, “many” 
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violations of probation, and a 2017 conviction for unlawful possession of a 

syringe. Id. at 28, 29.

[20] On August 2, 2019, the juvenile court entered a detailed order terminating 

Mother’s parental rights to the Children, concluding that (1) the conditions that 

led to the Children’s removal or placement outside the home were “her lack of 

stability with housing and employment and her issues with substance abuse and 

alcohol use” and that there was a reasonable probability that the conditions 

would not be remedied; (2) she continued to drink alcohol even though “she 

was aware of the impact it might have on her Children” and the continued 

parent-child relationship posed a threat to the Children’s well-being; (3) 

termination was in the Children’s best interests; and (4) DCS had a plan for the 

Children, namely adoption by Grandparents. Appellant’s Appendix Vol. II at 43, 

44. The court elaborated:

The [C]hildren are safe and secure in their current preadoptive 

placement with [Grandparents]. . . . The service providers and 

the GAL believe that adoption by [G]randparents is in the 

[C]hildren’s best interest. Neither parent has demonstrated a 

willingness or ability to do what it takes to parent their 

[C]hildren. Neither parent can provide their [C]hildren with a 

safe and stable long-term home that will protect the [C]hildren 

and provide them with the permanency that they need.

Id. at 45. Mother now appeals.
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Discussion & Decision

[21] When reviewing the termination of parental rights, we consider the evidence in 

the light most favorable to the prevailing party, and we will not reweigh the 

evidence or judge the credibility of the witnesses. Matter of M.I., 127 N.E.3d 

1168, 1170 (Ind. 2019). To prevail, the challenging party must show that the 

court’s decision is contrary to law, meaning that the probative evidence and 

reasonable inferences point unerringly to the opposite conclusion. Id. “Because 

a case that seems close on a ‘dry record’ may have been much more clear-cut in 

person, we must be careful not to substitute our judgment for the trial court 

when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence.” In re E.M., 4 N.E.3d 636, 640 

(Ind. 2014). 

[22] It is well recognized that a parent’s interest in the care, custody, and control of 

his or her children is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests. In 

re R.S., 56 N.E.3d 625, 628 (Ind. 2016). Although parental rights are of 

constitutional dimension, the law provides for the termination of these rights 

when parents are unable or unwilling to meet their parental responsibilities. In 

re R.H., 892 N.E.2d 144, 149 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008). In addition, a court must 

subordinate the interests of the parents to those of the child when evaluating the 

circumstances surrounding the termination. In re K.S., 750 N.E.2d 832, 836 

(Ind. Ct. App. 2001). The purpose of terminating parental rights is not to 

punish the parents, but to protect their children. Id.
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[23] Before an involuntary termination of parental rights may occur in Indiana, DCS 

is required to allege and prove by clear and convincing evidence, among other 

things:

(B) that one (1) of the following is true:

(i) There is a reasonable probability that the conditions 

that resulted in the child’s removal or the reasons for placement 

outside the home of the parents will not be remedied.

(ii) There is a reasonable probability that the continuation 

of the parent-child relationship poses a threat to the well-being of 

the child.

(iii) The child has, on two (2) separate occasions, been 

adjudicated a child in need of services[.]

Ind. Code § 31-35-2-4(b)(2)(B). DCS must also prove by clear and convincing 

evidence that termination is in the best interests of the child and that there is a 

satisfactory plan for the care and treatment of the child. I.C. § 31-35-2-

4(b)(2)(C), (D).

[24] On appeal, Mother contends that DCS failed to present clear and convincing 

evidence that the conditions resulting in the Children’s removal or the reasons 

for placement outside the home would not be remedied, that the continuation 

of the parent-child relationship poses a threat to the Children’s well-being, and 

that termination is in the best interests of the Children. We will address each of 

these in turn, as needed.
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Conditions Not Remedied

[25] Mother contends that DCS failed to present clear and convincing evidence that 

there is a reasonable probability that the conditions resulting in the Children’s 

removal or continued placement outside the home will not be remedied. In 

deciding whether a reasonable probability exists that conditions will not be 

remedied, the trial court must judge a parent’s fitness to care for her children at 

the time of the termination hearing, taking into consideration evidence of 

changed conditions. In re J.T., 742 N.E.2d 509, 512 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001), trans. 

denied. The court must also evaluate the parent’s habitual patterns of conduct to 

determine whether there is a substantial probability of future neglect or 

deprivation of the children. Id. “A pattern of unwillingness to deal with 

parenting problems and to cooperate with those providing social services, in 

conjunction with unchanged conditions, support a finding that there exists no 

reasonable probability that the conditions will change.” In re L.S., 717 N.E.2d 

204, 210 (Ind. Ct. App. 1999), trans. denied, cert. denied (2002). The statute does 

not simply focus on the initial basis for a child’s removal for purposes of 

determining whether a parent’s rights should be terminated, but also those bases 

resulting in the continued placement outside the home. In re N.Q., 996 N.E.2d 

385, 392 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013). “Where there are only temporary improvements 

and the pattern of conduct shows no overall progress, the court might 

reasonably find that under the circumstances, the problematic situation will not 

improve.” In re A.H., 832 N.E.2d 563, 570 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005).
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[26] Mother argues that the trial court’s order identified “lack of stability with 

housing and employment, and her issues with substance abuse and alcohol use”

as the conditions that would not be remedied but that “Children were not 

removed because Mother did not have a stable job or housing” and, rather, 

were removed due to the incident of domestic violence when parents were 

intoxicated on drugs and alcohol, which she claims “[she] did remedy.”

Appellant’s Brief at 15, 17. Therefore, she contends, the trial court’s conclusion 

was erroneous and should be set aside. We reject this argument. 

[27] First, Mother did not, as she claims, remedy all the reasons for the initial 

removal. She was directed to not consume alcohol; she failed to do that. 

Second, our inquiry focuses not only on the conditions that caused removal, but 

also on the reasons for Children’s continued placement outside the home. See 

In re A.I., 825 N.E.2d 798, 806 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005) (“it is not just the basis for 

the initial removal that may be considered . . . but also those bases resulting in 

the continued placement outside of the home”), trans. denied. Here, while the 

Children were initially removed due to domestic violence and use of alcohol 

and drugs, their continued placement outside the home was due to Mother’s 

lack of stable housing, lack of stable employment, and her continued use of 

alcohol. 

[28] The record reflects that, while Mother initially engaged in services and made 

progress, she stopped consistently visiting the Children in November and 

December 2017, and she was terminated from services in December 2017 for 

noncompliance. FCM Inman referred more services in January 2018, but the 
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providers were never able to make contact with Mother. According to Brown, 

who provided homebased therapy to Mother and, separately, to the Children, 

the negative effects of the neglect on Sa.H. were “at the very top” of the 

spectrum, the Children had “never experienced routine” with Mother, and 

Brown was concerned with returning the Children to Mother’s care, believing 

that Mother would continue in “the same patterns” as she had in the past. 

Transcript Vol. II at 71, 81, 83. Brown testified to concerns over Mother’s 

behavior with men, namely “frequenting a lot of different males,” a behavior

that Brown considered dangerous and unhealthy. Id. at 40. While Mother 

urges that, by the time of the termination hearing, she had been living in stable 

housing for a year with Boyfriend – which she notes DCS “never bothered” to 

inspect – DCS providers and the GAL testified to having concerns with 

Boyfriend, including but not limited to his criminal history, lack of a driver’s 

license, lack of a stable job, and a CHINS history with his children. Transcript 

Vol. III at 12. DCS thus did not consider Mother’s housing stable. 

[29] FCM Inman stated that DCS had not seen any significant progress and 

recommended termination. FCM Baker agreed. The GAL likewise believed 

that Mother had not dealt adequately with issues that led to the Children’s 

continued removal, particularly housing and alcohol use. In sum, Mother did 

not fully engage in services or make the progress necessary to return the 

Children to her care. 

[30] The trial court’s determination that there is a reasonable probability that the 

conditions that resulted in the Children’s removal or the reasons for their 
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placement outside Mother’s home will not be remedied is supported by clear 

and convincing evidence. Because I.C. § 31-35-2-4(b)(2)(B) is written in the 

disjunctive, we need not review the trial court’s determination that continuation 

of the parent-child relationship posed a threat to the Children’s well-being.

Best Interests

[31] Mother also asserts that the evidence was insufficient to support the trial court’s 

determination that termination was in the Children’s best interests. In making 

this best-interests determination, the trial court is required to look beyond the 

factors identified by DCS and consider the totality of the evidence. In re J.C., 

994 N.E.2d 278, 290 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013). The court must subordinate the 

interest of the parent to those of the children and need not wait until a child is 

irreversibly harmed before terminating the parent-child relationship. McBride v. 

Monroe Cty. Office of Family & Children, 798 N.E.2d 185, 199 (Ind. Ct. App. 

2003). Our Supreme Court has explained that “[p]ermanency is a central 

consideration in determining the best interests of a child.” In re G.Y., 904 

N.E.2d 1257, 1265 (Ind. 2009). “Moreover, we have previously held that the 

recommendations of the case manager and court-appointed advocate to 

terminate parental rights, in addition to evidence that the conditions resulting in 

removal will not be remedied, is sufficient to show by clear and convincing 

evidence that termination is in the child’s best interests.” In re J.S., 906 N.E.2d 

226, 236 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009). 

[32] Mother takes issue with the statement in the court’s order that “[t]heir lives are 

much better than they ever were when they were in the care and custody of 
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their parents.” Appellant’s Appendix Vol. II at 45. We agree that a parent’s right 

to his or her child may not be terminated solely because there is a better place 

for the child to live; however, here, the record reflects, and the trial court’s 

order identified, other bases to support the determination that termination is in 

the Children’s best interests. Indeed, the trial court found that “[n]either parent 

has demonstrated a willingness or ability to do what it takes to parent their 

children” and “[n]either parent can provide their children with a safe and stable 

long-term home that will protect the children and provide them with the 

permanency that they need.” Id. at 45.

[33] The record supports these determinations. Mother was ordered to, but did not, 

stop consuming alcohol, although this requirement was discussed with her at 

Child and Family Team Meetings and by providers. She voluntarily quit 

visiting the Children regularly in November 2017, although she was told that 

such was compounding the Children’s trauma. Her last visit with them was in 

December 2017. Therapist Moore, who was providing therapy for the Children 

for six months prior to the termination hearing, characterized the trauma that 

the Children had experienced with their parents as “[h]orrific,” and she was 

concerned that Children would revert to “survival behaviors” if the stability, 

which they currently were enjoying with Grandparents, would be taken away 

from them. Transcript Vol. II at 151. Her opinion was that it was in the 

Children’s best interests for them to remain with Grandparents. FCM Inman 

testified that he believed it was in the Children’s best interests to terminate the 

parent-child relationship. The GAL, based on the Children’s best interests that 
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-JT-2048 | March 4, 2020 Page 21 of 21

he was appointed to represent, recommended termination and adoption.

Considering the totality of the evidence, we conclude that DCS presented 

sufficient evidence to show by clear and convincing evidence that termination 

was in the best interests of the Children.

[34] Judgment affirmed.

Robb, J. and Bradford, C.J., concur.