Court Opinion

ID: 7395572
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-07-29 01:14:09.478551+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:21:47.690744
License: Public Domain

MARTIN, Chief Judge, dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Because I disagree with the majority's conclusion that the trial court erred in concluding that J.T.W. was neglected, I would affirm the order of the trial court terminating respondent's parental rights.
A trial court can consider "prior adjudications of neglect" but "they will rarely be sufficient, standing alone, to support a termination *243of parental rights, since the petitioner must establish that neglect exists at the time of the hearing." In re Pierce, 146 N.C.App. 641, 651, 554 S.E.2d 25, 31 (2001), aff'd, 356 N.C. 68, 565 S.E.2d 81 (2002). "[E]vidence of changed conditions in light of the history of neglect by the parent, and the probability of a repetition of neglect" are also factors that must be considered, and "visitation by the parent is a relevant factor in [neglect] cases." Id.
Our Supreme Court noted in In re Ballard that it would be almost impossible to terminate parental rights on neglect grounds if the Court were "to require that termination of parental rights be based only upon evidence of events occurring after a prior adjudication of neglect which resulted in removal of the child from the custody of the parents." 311 N.C. 708, 714, 319 S.E.2d 227, 232 (1984). The Court held that
evidence of neglect by a parent prior to losing custody of a child-including an adjudication of such neglect-is admissible in subsequent proceedings to terminate parental rights. The trial court must also consider any evidence of changed conditions in light of the evidence of prior neglect and the probability of a repetition of neglect.
Id. at 715, 319 S.E.2d at 232. "The determinative factors must be the best interests of the child and the fitness of the parent to care for the child at the time of the termination proceeding." In re Brim, 139 N.C.App. 733, 742, 535 S.E.2d 367, 372 (2000) (emphasis in original).
A neglected juvenile is one "who does not receive proper care, supervision, or discipline from the juvenile's parent ... or who has been abandoned." N.C. Gen.Stat. § 7B-101(15) (2005). "Abandonment has been defined as wilful neglect and refusal to perform the natural and legal obligations of parental care and support." In re Humphrey, 156 N.C.App. 533, 540, 577 S.E.2d 421, 427 (2003). While failure to provide care and other necessities is the common conception of neglect, a conclusion of neglect may also be supported in "less tangible" ways including: "evidence of sporadic contact between parents and child" and their "complete failure to provide personal contact, love, and affection" to their child. In re Pierce, 67 N.C.App. 257, 263, 312 S.E.2d 900, 904 (1984) (citation omitted).
Respondent effectively abandoned J.T.W. by not visiting him. The trial court's conclusion of neglect is supported by its finding that respondent "has had no visits with any of her children who were placed in custody since December 2002.... The mother is virtually unknown to [J.T.W.] in as much as he has been in care since he was an infant." This, coupled with the trial court's other findings about respondent's chronic inability to maintain regular employment, stable housing, and make reasonable progress over the course of three years, do not show, contrary to the majority's assertion, that the trial court failed to consider changed circumstances, but rather that it considered these changed conditions in light of the history of neglect and the probability of repetition of neglect if J.T.W. were returned to respondent's care. Therefore, I vote to affirm the trial court's order terminating respondent's parental rights.