Opinion ID: 1937586
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: were the findings of permanent neglect clearly erroneous?

Text: An examination of the evidence and record of this case discloses a child who was near death from improper care and maintenance at the hands of his mother. At this time the whereabouts of the father were unknown. Over the ensuing period of approximately two years, the father made no effort to cooperate with Child Welfare Services in order to create an appropriate relationship with his son. His attitude was one of aggressive independence. He took the position that the lack of past care and maintenance should not in any way interfere with his right to take his child and do with him as he would. The failure to provide nourishment and support should all, in the opinion of the father, be forgotten and he should be given his child as though nothing untoward had occurred. When the agency in appropriate and understanding concern for the welfare of the child insisted on a period of observation and supervised visits, the father simply seized what he regarded as his property and took the child into another state. It is true that criminal charges arose out of this incident, which may have deterred the father in his desire for visitation. However, the agency attempted by all reasonable means to contact this individual over a period of many months. The record discloses that he was simply unwilling to create a relationship with the child on any but his own terms. The report of the guardian ad litem in this case had some favorable overtones. The father has apparently been sharing his home with a woman to whom he is not married but who has borne him a child. This home was found by the guardian ad litem to be adequate. However, in light of the absence of any consistent manifestation of interest and concern by the father in this case, the fact that for approximately two years representatives of Child Welfare Services could not contact him at all, the fact that he made no attempt to contact them, and even more significant, that he recognized no obligation to come forward, it would seem that the finding by the trial justice of permanent neglect was amply justified. [6] Intermittent interest, even when accompanied by apparent indignation, does not and cannot overcome years of neglect. It was the obligation of the trial justice to consider the interests of David. This he did. No better summary of an appropriate conclusion could be given than that stated by the court: It is time for the Court and the State to look after the best interests of the minor child in this matter. The finding of neglect in the context of the facts of this case was buttressed by the necessary quantum of proof. For the reasons stated, the appeal is hereby denied and dismissed, the decree of the Family Court is affirmed, and the papers in the case may be remitted to the Family Court. SHEA, J., did not participate.