Opinion ID: 852115
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Service on Mother

Text: Mother first contends numerous due process violations including a lack of service from DCS and lack of effort by DCS in locating Mother, culminating with Mother not attending the termination hearing. It is of paramount importance in any DCS case for parents of children involved with DCS to receive notice of such involvement. When matters are at the termination stage of a case, and a child is already adopted, it is in nobody's interest that the case be remanded and the adoption potentially be undone due to improper service. The record reflects FCM 1 discovered Mother had been arrested in Utah and contacted two county jails in Utah in search for Mother. The record further reflects that FCM 1 looked for Mother through the Marion County Jail and Indiana Department of Corrections. Further, FCM 1 searched various DCS databases and looked in the local telephone directory. FCM 1 was unable to locate Mother in her efforts. FCM 2 then took over the case and initiated his own investigation into Mother's whereabouts. He made the same search attempts as FCM 1 and was also unable to locate Mother. During these search attempts, Mother was incarcerated on federal charges in Henderson, Kentucky. Although the technology and ability to locate people has advanced, there is no centralized technology whereby DCS can type in a person's name and learn her whereabouts if incarcerated. DCS had no reason to suspect Mother would be in federal custody and no reason to suspect Mother would be in Kentucky. DCS cannot be expected to find a needle in a haystack, which is what Mother is asking DCS to have done. We agree with the Court of Appeals and conclude that if any error existed in DCS locating Mother at this stage of the case, it did not substantially increase the risk of error in her termination proceeding. Mother next contends that DCS misrepresentations on the ADI, which led to Mother being served by publication, substantially increased the risk of error leading to her termination. Specifically, FCM 2 stated in the ADI, which led to the service by publication, that he asked family acquaintances regarding the parent's whereabouts. However, FCM 2 did not speak to any family acquaintances. FCM 2 did, however, check with the Marion County Jail, Indiana Department of Corrections, ICES and ICWIS internal databases, telephone directory, Utah State Prison, Utah Federal Prison, and Salt Lake County Jail. The Affidavit of Diligent Inquiry was signed and affirmed under the penalties for perjury, that the foregoing representations are true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. We find it extremely troubling that a representative from DCS would make a misrepresentation on such an important document. FCM 2 offered the excuse that the Affidavit populated automatically and could not be deleted. If this is accurate, DCS should correct its internal system to ensure that these populations cease immediately so that only accurate information exists on its forms. Yet, in the present scenario, we observe that there were no known family acquaintances for FCM 2 to contact about mother's whereabouts. The error would be significantly more egregious if there were family acquaintances with whom FCM 2 knew to inquire about mother's whereabouts. We also note that Mother was able to cross-examine FCM 2 on this issue during the termination proceeding, which allowed the court to assess FCM 2's credibility in determining what impact this had on Mother's due process rights as well as on FCM 2's credibility as a witness. We hold that the misrepresentation on the affidavit, in this limited instance, did not violate Mother's due process rights.