Opinion ID: 2541102
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: analysis

Text: Seldom does a case present such diametrically opposed testimony from competent professionals about the primary facts at issue. This case involves a difficult situation where the parents of a child with severe autism and ADHD obviously have struggled with properly caring for such a challenging child. The Cabinet has had substantial involvement with the child, and the stakes are high when considering the child's future welfare. Given the disparate testimony, the role of the trial court in determining the credibility and weight to be given to the testimony and the sufficiency of the evidence is one of paramount importance. The termination statute, KRS 625.090, establishes different standards of proof for the Cabinet and the parents whose rights are to be terminated when the court considers the best interest of a child. While the Cabinet must prove the necessary statutory allegations by clear and convincing evidence in order for the trial court to terminate parental rights, KRS 625.090(1) and (2), the parents must only present proof by a preponderance of the evidence that the child will not be abused or neglected in the future in order to allow the trial court to exercise its discretion not to terminate, KRS 625.090(5). The Cabinet did offer proof sufficient to meet the statutory elements in KRS 625.090(l)(a) and (2), and it offered proof of several of the factors for making the best interests determination in KRS 625.090(1)(b); this was followed by responsive proof by the parents. However, it is not until the conclusion of all the proof that a trial court must apply the terms of the statute, KRS 625.090(6), and certainly any of the proof it hears can weigh on its application of the statutory factors. Following the dictates of the statute, before it could order involuntary termination of parental rights, the trial court first had to find by clear and convincing evidence that the child had been previously adjudicated to be an abused or neglected child or so find in the current proceeding. KRS 625.090(1)(a)(1) and (1)(a)(2). [1] Here, it was undisputed that there had been such prior adjudications against the father, but not the mother. To him, the first statutory hurdle was met because of the prior adjudications against him, but the court would have had to find that the mother had abused or neglected the child in this proceeding in order to proceed further against her. See KRS 625.090(6) (requiring a decision as to each parent-respondent). Then, the plain language of the statute required the trial court to make at least one other determination from the statutory list in KRS 625.090(2) before it could consider termination. There was evidence in this case from which the trial court could find that the father's rights to another child had been involuntarily terminated, KRS 625.090(2)(h)(l), and that the child in this case was born subsequent to that termination, KRS 625.090(2)(h)(2), but no evidence whatsoever was presented as to whether the type of abuse or neglect was the same as in this case or that it had been corrected, as is required by KRS 625.090(2)(h)(3). This section (h) is one ground, requiring that all three parts be met before it applies, and this hurdle was not met. However, the trial court could and did find that the child had been in the custody of the Cabinet for 15 of the most recent 22 months before filing of the petition. KRS 625.090(2). None of the other subsections were sufficiently supported by the proof, but only one finding was required to satisfy this part of the statute. But as part of determining the best interest of the child, and whether sufficient grounds for termination existed, the court was further required to consider several other statutory factors in KRS 625.090(3), including any mental illness of the parents, the reasonable efforts of the Cabinet to reunify the family, the efforts of the parents to return the child to the home, the state of the child and payment of support by the parents while the child was in the Cabinet's custody. This is where the Court of Appeals believed the trial court was clearly erroneous. But the trial court was entitled to rely on the witnesses it found most convincing, and its findings indicate that it gave significant weight to the parents' witnesses. And even when a court finds clear and convincing grounds to terminate, the court can still shift from considering that proof and consider whether the parents had established, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the child would not continue to be abused or neglected. KRS 625.090(5). The statute allows the court to exercise its discretion not to terminate upon such a showing. Regardless, the trial court is never required to terminate under the statute as its authority to terminate is couched in the permissive may rather than the mandatory shall, KRS 625.090(1), and the trial court has substantial discretion in determining the best interests of the child under KRS 625.090(l)(b) and (3). Indeed, the bulk of the statute, reflects a default preference against termination, which is why it states that no termination of parental rights shall be ordered unless the court makes the statutory findings based on the higher standard of proof of clear and convincing evidence. The Constitution itself requires the state to meet this burden of proof before a parent's rights may be terminated because of the fundamental liberty interest a parent has in the relationship with a child. See Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 768, 102 S.Ct. 1388, 71 L.Ed.2d 599 (1982) (holding that a preponderance of the evidence standard to allow termination violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and that termination must be justified by at least clear and convincing evidence). Whether the Cabinet failed to show by clear and convincing evidence that termination was in the child's best interest or if the parents established by a preponderance of the evidence that the child's best interest was to stay with them and that he would not be abused in the future, the parents maintain that the trial court's findings were supported by substantial evidence, and thus its judgment should not have been reversed. They also argue that the Court of Appeals erred in substituting its factual findings for those of the trial court. The Cabinet argues that there was clear and convincing evidence sufficient to support termination, and that the parents' witnesses were not persuasive. Because termination decisions are so factually sensitive, appellate courts are generally loathe to reverse them, regardless of the outcome. In reviewing a trial court's decision on a petition to terminate parental rights, an appellate court must apply the clearly erroneous standard of review. CR 52.01 (Findings of fact shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. . . .); see also J.M.R. v. Commonwealth, Cabinet for Health and Family Servs., 239 S.W.3d 116, 120 (Ky.App.2007), overruled on other grounds by Colvard v. Commonwealth, 309 S.W.3d 239 (Ky.2010). Under this standard, an appellate court is obligated to give a great deal of deference to the trial court's findings and should not interfere with those findings unless the record is devoid of substantial evidence to support them. K.R.L. v. P.A.C., 210 S.W.3d 183, 187 (Ky.App.2006). Application of the law to the facts, however, will be reviewed de novo. S.B.B. v. J.W.B., 304 S.W.3d 712, 716 (Ky.App.2010). Although it is an unusual situation to be reviewing the trial court's denial of a petition to terminate parental rights, an unsuccessful party has the constitutional right to appeal said denial. See Ky. Const. § 115 (In all cases, civil and criminal, there shall be allowed as a matter of right at least one appeal to another court, except that the Commonwealth may not appeal from a judgment of acquittal in a criminal case, other than for the purpose of securing a certification of law, and the General Assembly may prescribe that there shall be no appeal from that portion of a judgment dissolving a marriage.); see also K.R.L., 210 S.W.3d at 186-87. That is what the Cabinet did. In analyzing whether termination was in the best interest of the child, the court made several relevant findings, including the following: (1) that the parents have worked at accomplishing the return of the child to their home (¶ 41); (2) that the mother pays child support and the child receives some funds because of the father's disability payments (¶ 32); (3) that there is no credible evidence that once reunited, the family would not be able to make progress (¶ 33); (4) that the parents did maintain a decent and clean household and had a loving relationship with [the child], despite the challenges (¶ 37); and (5) that the witness with the most experience within the home was occupational therapist Ms. Murray, who had described the home as neat and the relationship between the parents as normal given the circumstances and said the parents could learn to parent, adequately and have shown a willingness to do so from her experience in assisting [the child] (¶ 39). The court concluded in paragraph 42 that it does not find by clear and convincing evidence that termination would be in the best interest of the child, and reiterated in paragraph 43 that [termination of parental rights would not be in the best interest of the child. Though couched as a conclusion of law, the court also found that [e]ventual reunification would still be in the best interests of the child. In addressing the claim that these findings were not supported by substantial evidence, the Court of Appeals focused on the evidence presented by the Cabinet, though it admitted the existence of testimony in favor of the parents, While there was some evidence presented in favor of [the parents] and their minimal efforts to improve the care of their child, such evidence did not constitute substantial evidence that termination was not in [the child's] best interests, much less clear and convincing evidence. This last statement is revealing, at least as to how the Court of Appeals approached this case. That court, at least in part, seemed to think that the trial court's finding either in favor of or against termination had to be supported by clear and convincing evidence. The Cabinet also approached the issue in the same way, at least based on the Court of Appeals' description of its argument: The Cabinet argues that the trial court's determination that termination was not in [the child's] best interest is not supported by clear and convincing evidence and that the evidence instead overwhelmingly favors termination. However, it is only when a court does decide to terminate that clear and convincing evidence is required. Otherwise, there need be only substantial evidence to support a trial court's finding in order to avoid reversal. That one side presents more testimony than the other, or that one side's evidence seems superior to the other's, at least from the appellate perspective, has no bearing. In reviewing a trial court's findings, due regard shall be given to the opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of the witnesses. CR 52.01. As the court sitting in the presence of witnesses, a trial court is in the best position to evaluate the testimony and other evidence. Indeed, judging the credibility of witnesses and weighing evidence are tasks within the exclusive province of the trial court. Moore v. Asente, 110 S.W.3d 336, 354 (Ky.2003) (emphasis added). [M]ere doubt as to the correctness of a finding will not justify its reversal, and appellate courts should not disturb trial court findings that are supported by substantial evidence. Id. (footnotes, quotation marks, and brackets omitted). The trial court was presented with testimony from both sides. The Cabinet's witnesses were firmly set against reunification. But the parents' witnesses had experience with the family in more direct ways than the Cabinet witnesses did, and if believed, established that the parents were loving and had the potential to learn to care for their child. The parents' witnesses were not interested parties; they included school employees and mental health workers, all of whom had obligations to protect the child. The trial court chose to believe the parents' witnesses. Their testimony was relevant and substantive; it was sufficient to lead a reasonable person to find that the Cabinet had failed to show that termination was in the child's best interest. This Court cannot say that the trial court was clearly erroneous in choosing to believe the witnesses offered by the parents, nor that their testimony was insufficient to support the trial court's determination. Additionally, there was little negative testimony regarding the mother, and certainly not enough to terminate her parental rights. Both parents have individual rights to their children; they are not a package deal, per se. No substantial evidence was developed by the Cabinet as to whether the mother could parent the child on her own or not, or whether she was willing to be a single parent. Beyond this borderline de novo review, the Court of Appeals overemphasized the factors in KRS 625.090(3), treating them as though they were a checklist. As the statute itself notes, the factors are to be considered in deciding whether termination is in the child's best interest. They do not necessarily dictate a result and are always subordinate to the best-interest finding that the court is tasked with making. Though the trial court in this case did not expressly state that it was considering KRS 625.090(5), many of its findings of fact went to a finding under this subsection. The court noted repeatedly in its findings that the parents were loving, that they had the potential to learn at least some appropriate parenting skills, and that they had repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to learn and change their behavior at the Cabinet's request. And although this section comes sequentially after the factors to be considered in making the best interest determination in the statute, it must be considered in making the best interest determination if the parents present such proof. Otherwise, this section of the statute would have no meaning. That the parents can persuade the court that the child will not be abused in the future obviously goes to what is in the child's best interest going forward. The trial court's findings clearly indicate that the parents' proof also convinced the court that termination was not in the child's best interest at that time. Ultimately, this Court cannot overturn the trial court's decision, which was grounded in the evidence and was the result of an exercise of sound discretion, simply because it disagrees with that court's view of the evidence or might have ruled differently in the first instance. Following each incident, the child and family were provided services. Chapter 620, under which dependency, abuse, and neglect actions proceed, is designed to handle immediate problems and offer temporary solutions with the primary goal of enabling a child to remain in his home with assistance from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The system did what it was supposed to do for this family under those statutes. However, at some point in a case, as happened in this case, the Cabinet may change its goal for a child committed to them to a permanency determination rather than a temporary one. In such cases, the Cabinet files a petition for termination of parental rights. In effect, if parental rights are terminated, it is as if the parents of a child suddenly died, as there is no longer a legal right to contact between the parents and child. In a relationship that has developed over a period of years such as the one in this case with this child who is now 15 years old, strong emotional ties flow both ways. The circuit court or family court that hears termination cases must include that fact in its analysis of whether it is appropriate at the time of the termination hearing to end that relationship permanently, based on the record. If the court does not terminate the relationship, services can be continuedas they were hereuntil further orders of the court, which may include maintaining a child in foster care or an institution. Finally, it is worth noting again that a termination of parental rights proceeding implicates fundamental constitutional rights. There is no dispute that freedom of personal choice in matters of family life is a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Santosky, 455 U.S. at 753, 102 S.Ct. 1388. The stakes are high in termination proceedings because [v]ictory by the State not only makes termination of parental rights possible; it entails a judicial determination that the parents are unfit to raise their own children. Id. at 760, 102 S.Ct. 1388. And because the stakes are so high, parents are entitled to substantial protection: The fundamental liberty interest of natural parents in the care, custody, and management of their child does not evaporate simply because they have not been model parents or have lost temporary custody of their child to the State. Even when blood relationships are strained, parents retain a vital interest in preventing the irretrievable destruction of their family life. If anything, persons faced with forced dissolution of their parental rights have a more critical need for procedural protections than do those resisting state intervention into ongoing family affairs. Id. at 753, 102 S.Ct. 1388. Termination proceedings areand should beweighted against the State. Thus, the default position in such a proceeding is that the child is to be left with the parents or returned to them, with or without ongoing services as needed. The State cannot disturb this natural order lightly. When there is substantial competent evidence that the trial court finds persuasive, as is the case here, an appellate court should not intercede.