Opinion ID: 1986881
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Future harm

Text: An essential part of any determination whether to terminate parental rights is whether, considered at the time of the termination and looking to the future, the child would be harmed by a continued relationship with the parent. A prospective analysis is required to determine whether grounds exist and what is in the best interests of the child for the reasonably foreseeable future. Obviously, it is difficult to predict the future. Section 211.447 provides for detailed consideration of the parent's past conduct as well as the parent's conduct following the trial court's assumption of jurisdiction as good evidence of future behavior. In the Interest of M.E.W., 729 S.W.2d 194, 196 (Mo. banc 1987) (court needs to consider existing conditions, which may have arisen or were discovered after it assumed jurisdiction); In the Interest of C.L.W., 115 S.W.3d 354, 356 (Mo.App.2003) (court must look at totality of parent's conduct both prior to and after filing of termination petition); In the Interest of S.H., 915 S.W.2d 399, 404-5 (Mo.App.1996) (past patterns provide vital clues to present and future conduct). However, it is insufficient merely to point to past acts, note that they resulted in abuse or neglect and then terminate parental rights. In the Interest of C.L.W., 115 S.W.3d at 356. Past behavior can support grounds for termination, but only if it is convincingly linked to predicted future behavior. [6] There must be some explicit consideration of whether the past acts provide an indication of the likelihood of future harm. In the Interest of L.G., 764 S.W.2d 89, 95 (Mo. banc 1989) (state met its burden by proving likely harm to child would occur in future). A judge may properly be guided by evidence demonstrating reason to believe that a parent will correct a condition or weakness that currently disables the parent from serving his or her child's best interests. 2 Am Jur 2d Adoption sec. 135 (2003). Courts have required that abuse or neglect sufficient to support termination under section 211.447.4(2) be based on conduct at the time of termination, not just at the time jurisdiction was initially taken. In the Interest of B.C.K. and K.S.P., 103 S.W.3d at 328; In the Interest of T.A.S., 32 S.W.3d 804, 812 (Mo. App.2000) ( T.A.S. I ). Similarly, courts have required that a failure to rectify sufficient to support termination under section 211.447.4(3) be based on a determination that conditions of a potentially harmful nature continued to exist as of the termination, rather than a mere finding that conditions that led to the assumption of jurisdiction still persisted. In the Interest of T.A.S., 62 S.W.3d 650, 656-7 (Mo.App. 2001) ( T.A.S. II ). Section 211.447.4(6) explicitly requires analysis of the reasonably foreseeable future. In the Interest of C.W. and S.J.W., 64 S.W.3d 321, 325 (Mo.App.2001). Findings supporting earlier determinations are not irrelevant, but they must be updated to address the extent to which they describe the time of the termination and the potential for future harm. T.A.S. I at 812; T.A.S. II at 656-7. To that end, a trial court cannot support a termination by merely incorporating earlier findings supporting its assumption of jurisdiction or some other earlier disposition.