Opinion ID: 1358677
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Brianna H.

Text: Brianna H. is the natural daughter of Travis H. and Melissa Y. On April 14, 1997, six-month-old Brianna H. was admitted to City Hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia at the direction of Dr. Edward Arnett, a local pediatrician. X-rays taken at the hospital revealed that Brianna H. had sustained multiple fractures of her ribs and right leg. Brianna H.'s injuries were reported to the Department for investigation, and on April 15, 1997, the Department filed a civil petition against Travis H. and Melissa Y. [5] On the same date, the circuit court awarded the Department temporary custody of Brianna H. On April 24, 1997, a preliminary hearing was held. After the hearing, the circuit judge entered an order continuing the transfer of custody to the Department and directing the Department to permit supervised visitation between Brianna H. and her parents. An adjudicatory hearing occurred on July 1, 1997. In an Adjudication Order filed July 7, 1997, the circuit judge found that Brianna H. was an abused and/or neglected child; [6] ordered the Department to retain temporary custody of Brianna H. and to continue supervised visitation between Brianna H. and her parents; and required the Department to prepare and submit a permanency plan [7] for Brianna H. On September 30, 1997, the evidentiary portion of a disposition hearing took place. At the hearing, counsel for Travis H. voiced an objection to the child's case plan, which the Department had submitted to the circuit court prior to the hearing. Counsel for all sides agreed that the plan did not fully comply with Rule 28 of the Rules of Procedure for Child Abuse and Neglect Proceedings promulgated by this Court. Consequently, the circuit judge ordered the Department to submit a revised case plan within ten days and further ordered the parties to reconvene on October 17, 1997, to conclude the hearing. On October 10, 1997, the Department submitted a revised child's case plan, recommending that parental rights be terminated and visitation discontinued. The Department also proposed, in the plan, that Brianna H. be placed for adoption, either with a family member or in one of the adoptive homes that had already been approved by the Department. On October 17, 1997, the disposition hearing was concluded with oral arguments by counsel. On October 20, 1997, the circuit judge entered a disposition order which departed markedly from the revised child's case plan submitted by the Department. In the order, the circuit judge terminated the parental rights of Travis H. and Melissa Y., as recommended by the Department. However, the circuit court, by its order, also required that Travis H. and Melissa Y. be afforded supervised visitation with Brianna H. Moreover, instead of ordering that Brianna H. be placed in an adoptive home, the circuit court awarded permanent guardianship of Brianna H. to the Department with the direction that she be placed in permanent foster care. [8]