Court Opinion

ID: 9695641
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:26:08.243374+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:15.354818
License: Public Domain

PER CURIAM:
Appellant U.S.W., the natural but noncustodial father of C.E.W., appeals from a trial court order terminating his parental rights. U.S.W. argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the trial court’s termination of parental rights. We find this argument unpersuasive, and therefore affirm.
C.E.W. was born on March 5, 1981. At birth, C.E.W. suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal hydantoin syndrome, resulting in special needs for occupational and physical therapy. Three weeks after his birth, C.E.W. was placed in the shelter care of the Department of Human Services (DHS) and, on December 9, 1981, he was adjudicated “neglected” pursuant to D.C. Code § 16-2320(a) (1981). C.E.W. has been living in a foster home since that time, and his foster parents have received special training to make them better able to meet the child’s needs. C.E.W. is developmentally delayed in most areas, including speech, language, and social behavior, and he requires comprehensive special education services. According to expert testimony, these special needs, coupled with the existence of residual parental rights in C.E.W.’s natural parents, make it substantially harder to find adoptive parents for C.E.W.
A trial court may terminate a parent-child relationship when it determines, on the basis of the evidence presented and after due consideration of the interests of all parties, that the termination is in the best interest of the child. D.C.Code § 16-2353(a) (1981). In making this determination, the trial court must consider the child’s need for continuity of care and timely integration into a stable and permanent home; the physical, mental, and emotional health of all persons involved to the degree that the child’s welfare is affected, the decisive consideration being the needs of the child; the quality of the interaction and interrelationship of the child and his parents, siblings, caretaker and foster parents; and the child’s opinion, to the extent feasible. See D.C.Code § 16-2353(b); In re K.A., 484 A.2d 992, 995 (D.C.1984); In re K.J.L., 434 A.2d 1004, 1006 (D.C.1981).
In this case, the trial court found that, in light of C.E.W.’s condition at birth,
he was identified as having special needs and provided with occupational and physical therapy. His foster parents were given training in infant stimulation and were called upon to keep a heavy schedule of clinic appointments.
... Even with considerable therapeutic intervention, [C.E.W.] continues to be developmentally delayed in most areas including speech, language and social behavior. He is impulsive and hyperactive and requires skillful parenting and discipline. He has been placed in a special education preschool program, and will continue to require comprehensive special education services.
As a basis for concluding that C.E.W.’s natural parents were unable to meet these special needs, the trial court found that his . mother, an epileptic requiring frequent hospitalization for severe seizures and related chronic problems, has a history of heavy alcohol abuse; that she has at least two other children in addition to C.E.W. who are not in her care; that she visited C.E.W. only sporadically during the four and one-half years the child had been in DHS custody; and that she had been observed to engage in no spontaneous interaction during structured visits with C.E.W. The trial court found that C.E.W.’s natural father also has a history of alcohol abuse; that he has at least two other children who have been raised by other persons; that he has been unable to hold a steady job for any length of time in his adult life; and that, despite attending parenting classes in 1983, he “has shown a pronounced lack of understanding of [C.E.W.’s] limitations and needs.” Although the court found that *627both parents had affection for the child, it also found that the child had not “formed a bond with either natural parent.” Most significantly, the court found that “[t]he testimony and demeanor of both parents at the ... hearing were such that the Court believes they are both seriously deficient in the skills and insight needed to raise [C.E. W.].”
In reviewing a trial court’s termination of the parental rights of noncustodial parents, this court must determine whether the judge’s finding is supported by clear and convincing evidence on the record. In re K.A., supra, 484 A.2d at 995; In re 485 A.2d 180, 183 & n. 3 (D.C.1984). In the instant case, the trial court considered the relevant criteria and also found specifically that C.E.W.’s natural parents were unable to meet his special needs and that an appropriate adoptive family, capable of providing the structure, consistency, support, and understanding necessary for the child’s development, would be substantially harder to find given the legal risk posed by his natural parents’ residual rights. We are persuaded by our review of the record that clear and convincing evidence existe to support the trial court’s finding that termination of parental rights is in the best interest of the child in question.

Affirmed.