Opinion ID: 894282
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denial of an improvement period

Text: Next, the mother asserts that the circuit court erred in denying her an improvement period. As we have previously explained, [I]n order to remedy the abuse and/or neglect problem, the problem must first be acknowledged. Failure to acknowledge the existence of the problem, i.e., the truth of the basic allegation pertaining to the alleged abuse and neglect or the perpetrator of said abuse and neglect, results in making the problem untreatable and in making an improvement period an exercise in futility at the child’s expense. In re: Charity H., 215 W.Va. 208, 217, 599 S.E.2d 631, 640 (2004) (quoting W. Va. Dept. of Health and Human Res. v. Doris S., 197 W.Va. 489, 498, 475 S.E.2d 865, 874 (1996)). We have further explained that “an improvement period in the context of abuse and neglect proceedings is viewed as an opportunity for the miscreant parent to modify his/her behavior so as to correct the conditions of abuse and/or neglect with which he/she has been charged.” In re Emily, 208 W.Va. 325, 334, 540 S.E.2d 540, 551. Under this precedent, in order to remedy the abuse and/or neglect problem, the parent must recognize and acknowledge that his or her conduct constituted abuse. As the circuit court aptly explained during the hearing on the motion for a post-adjudicatory improvement period, “you don’t have to have intentional abuse in order to have abuse[,]” and that “being a[n] amenably acceptable parent is more than simply not repeating the same mistakes. It’s understanding what it takes to keep them [the children] safe and to keep them healthy.”22 22 It is clear from our review of the record that the circuit court encouraged the mother (continued...) 20 In the case at bar, the parties appeared at the first adjudicatory hearing with the understanding that the mother would stipulate to the allegations of abuse and neglect, based upon a stipulation reached among the parties at an MDT meeting, after which the Department would recommend an improvement period. At this hearing, however, the mother refused to follow through with the stipulation. The record similarly reflects that the mother had declined a pre-adjudicatory improvement period because she did not believe that she had done anything inappropriate or anything to cause a need for improvement. Thereafter, a contested adjudicatory hearing was held. Following the mother being adjudicated as an abusing parent, the circuit court held an evidentiary hearing solely on the mother’s motion for a post-adjudicatory improvement period. During this hearing, the circuit court heard the testimony of several witnesses, including that of Dr. Miller, the mother’s forensic evaluating psychiatrist. While the mother asserts that the circuit court did not give enough weight to the testimony of Dr. Miller, it is clear from the record Dr. Miller’s testimony was fully considered by the circuit court. In fact, the circuit court appointed the mother additional legal counsel, which was one of the very accommodations suggested by Dr. Miller, in an effort to assist her in admitting her issues and making her amenable to the services being offered to her by the Department. 22 (...continued) to put her past experiences with the Department behind her and to recognize that she had failed her children when they were with her. 21 Under West Virginia Code § 49-6-12(b)(2), the mother was required to prove “by clear and convincing evidence” that she was “likely to fully participate in the improvement period . . . .” Id. The mother failed to meet her burden. As the Department argues–and as the record reflects–the mother refused to acknowledge that she had abused her children by allowing Timber to get into a truck with Jack G. in hopes that he would sexually abuse her, again, so that it could be recorded with a cell phone. The mother further refused to acknowledge that she had abused her children by requiring both Timber and Reuben to live with this abuser for another four months after the abuse was disclosed. Indeed, the record reflects that instead of recognizing that her failure to protect her children was abuse, the mother persistently blamed others, including law enforcement and the Department. Based upon the testimony and evidence received at this hearing on the mother’s motion for an improvement period, the circuit court found, as discussed previously, that the mother had “failed to demonstrate, by clear and convincing evidence, that she is likely to fully participate in the improvement period[;]” that the mother had “yet to take responsibility for her actions or inactions and acknowledge that her failure to protect the children constituted abuse[;]” and that given the mother’s failure to acknowledge the existence of any problem, “granting an improvement period would be futile . . . .” Upon our review of the record and our prior case law, as discussed above, we find that the mother had a meaningful opportunity to seek an improvement period, but she 22 failed to carry her evidentiary burden under West Virginia Code § 49-6-12(b)(2). Given that the grant of an improvement period is at the discretion of the circuit court,23 this Court finds no error in the circuit court’s denial of an improvement period under the facts and circumstances of this case.