Court Opinion

ID: 9378683
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-12 08:08:59.525705+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:38.711035
License: Public Domain

Affirmed and Majority and Concurring Memorandum Opinions filed March
7, 2023.

                                      In The

                    Fourteenth Court of Appeals

                              NO. 14-22-00652-CV

         IN THE INTEREST OF A.H., L.H., AND A.H., CHILDREN

                    On Appeal from the 314th District Court
                             Harris County, Texas
                      Trial Court Cause No. 2020-01531J

                 CONCURRING MEMORANDUM OPINION

      I join the majority opinion in affirming the judgment of the trial court and
the basis for the termination of Mother’s parental rights, with the exception of the
majority’s conclusion that Mother’s drug use “qualifies as an endangering course
of conduct” absent proof of such. See In re L.C.L., 599 S.W.3d 79, 85-86 (Tex.
App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2020, pet. denied) (en banc); see also Tex. Fam. Code
Ann. § 161.001(b)(1)(E). Here, the evidence presented indicates that Mother’s
mental health was the cause of the endangering conduct, not the use of narcotics.
According to the testimony of Renee Hamilton, the CPS caseworker, the reason the
children were in the custody of CPS was the lack of proof of Mother’s compliance
with her medication. Hamilton stated during trial that Mother had not proved “that
she can have consistent medication management, which was very important and
also tied to the reason the children are in custody.” Although Mother tested
positive for drugs in violation of the Family Service Plan, there was no evidence
adduced that Mother used drugs in front of the children, or that her drug use, rather
than her mental state, was the cause of endangerment to the children.

                                       /s/       Margaret “Meg” Poissant
                                                 Justice

Panel consists of Justices Wise, Jewell, and Poissant. (Wise, J., majority).

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