Court Opinion

ID: 9580555
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:06:07.414031+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:21.644089
License: Public Domain

*653HUNTER, Judge,
concurring in part, dissenting in part.
I concur with the majority’s opinion as to respondent’s first two assignments of error. However, as to respondent’s third assignment of error, I would affirm the trial court’s conclusion of law that the evidence failed to show to the court’s satisfaction that respondent made reasonable progress within the required time-frame for doing so. I therefore respectfully dissent.
I believe the majority opinion ignores two essential components of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-289.32(3) (Cum. Supp. 1998): (1) that respondent must make reasonable progress within twelve months of the child’s placement outside the home or in foster care; and (2) the reasonable progress must be to the satisfaction of the court. That subsection provides:
(3) The parent has willfully left the child in foster care or placement outside the home for more than 12 months without-showing to the satisfaction of the court that reasonable progress under the circumstances has been made within 12 months in correcting those conditions which led to the removal of the child.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-289.32(3) (emphasis added).
I would hold the evidence as to any progress made by respondent in the twelve months following the child’s placement outside the home is clear, cogent and convincing evidence which supports the trial court’s findings of fact relevant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-289.32(3).
“In a termination proceeding, the appellate court should affirm the trial court where the trial court’s findings of fact are based upon clear and convincing evidence and the findings support the conclusions of law.” In re Small, 138 N.C. App. 474, 477, 530 S.E.2d 104, 106 (2000).
The majority opinion extensively details all of the evidence presented at the hearing as to respondent’s efforts to obtain treatment for her substance abuse problem and to undergo drug screening. The majority of this evidence, however, falls outside of the twelve-month time-frame enumerated in subsection (3) of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-289.32. Case law applying this subsection requires that reasonable progress be made within the time-frame enumerated in the statute. See, e.g., In re McMillon, 143 N.C. App. 402, 410, 546 S.E.2d 169, 175 (2001) (holding subsection (3) met where “evidence demonstrated that [respondent] had left [the child] in foster care for over *654twelve months without making reasonable progress toward reconciliation”); In re Oghenekevebe, 123 N.C. App. 434, 440, 473 S.E.2d 393, 398 (1996) (subsection (3) met “because respondent left her minor child in foster care, for over twelve months, without showing reasonable progress”); In re Taylor, 97 N.C. App. 57, 63, 387 S.E.2d 230, 233 (1990) (“[w]e hold that the record demonstrates a failure on the part of the [respondents] to make reasonable progress toward improving the home conditions during the period in which their children were in foster care” (emphasis added)); In re Bishop, 92 N.C. App. 662, 670, 375 S.E.2d 676, 681 (1989) (assessing whether respondent made reasonable progress from point at which children removed from her custody); In re Pierce, 67 N.C. App. 257, 263, 312 S.E.2d 900, 904 (1984) (respondent’s reasonable progress must be “concomitant” with child’s placement in foster care for the statutory period enumerated in subsection (3)).
I agree that evidence of respondent’s progress following the statutory twelve-month period is admissible and relevant to a degree. See In re Blackburn, 142 N.C. App. 607, 613, 543 S.E.2d 906, 910 (2001) (“[e]vidence heard or introduced throughout the adjudicatory stage, as well as any additional evidence, may be considered by the court during the dispositional stage”). However, the plain language of the statute is clear that reasonable progress must be made to the court’s satisfaction within the twelve months following the child’s placement outside the home or in foster care. Thus, the proper inquiry is whether the trial court’s findings regarding respondent’s lack of progress are supported by clear, cogent and convincing evidence of what transpired in the twelve months following the removal of the child.
DSS witness Johnny Bullard testified that the child was first placed outside the home in June 1997 after the child tested positive for cocaine after birth on 28 June 1997. DSS constructed a “protection plan” wherein the child went to live with the paternal grandmother. Thus, under the statute, the child was “in foster care or placement outside the home” under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-289.32(3) in June 1997. In July 1997, the paternal grandmother informed DSS she was too old to care for the child. As apart of its protection plan, DSS then allowed the child to be placed back in respondent’s home along with the child’s paternal aunt who would assist in caring for the child. This arrangement only lasted for two weeks because respondent continued to test positive for cocaine. Bullard testified that respondent tested positive for cocaine three times since June 1997.
*655Bullard further testified DSS thereafter tried to get respondent involved in the New Visions treatment program. Bullard testified that respondent “went for a time and then she dropped out.” Bullard further stated that he took respondent back to the program to try to get her re-involved in New Visions, but that “she never did get started in that.”
The court awarded custody of the child to DSS on 7 August 1997 because respondent continued to test positive for cocaine. Respondent acknowledged using drugs in August 1997. According to Bullard’s testimony, DSS got respondent involved in a substance abuse treatment program which she attended from 19 August 1997 until 2 September 1997. Following that program, respondent moved to Maryland. Respondent did not enter any further treatment for several months until she entered a program in Maryland around January or February of 1998.
Bullard testified that respondent attended the program in Maryland from January or February to June 1998 “when she was discharged unsuccessfully from that program.” He stated that a letter from the treatment facility indicated they were discharging respondent because she had failed to return to the program. Respondent acknowledged that she knew the treatment facility had written a letter and delivered it to the court. Respondent testified the reason she left the treatment program was because her attorney suggested she seek treatment elsewhere. Respondent acknowledged that despite her attorney’s advice to seek treatment elsewhere, she did not seek further treatment until five months later, in November 1998, long after twelve months had passed since the child had been placed outside the home. Respondent testified she did not participate or seek other treatment until November 1998 because she was “regrouping.” Respondent testified she tested negative for drugs in May 1998.
In sum, the evidence shows that during the statutory twelve months in which the child was placed outside the home and in foster care, respondent tested positive for drugs various times during July and August 1997. Despite DSS’ attempts to get her involved in the New Visions program, respondent dropped out after a time and did not respond to DSS attempts to get her re-involved in the program. Respondent attended a treatment program for only two weeks in late August and early September at the urging of DSS. Respondent did not seek further treatment until approximately four or five months later when respondent entered a treatment program in Maryland in early *6561998. According to a letter from the facility, respondent was discharged unsuccessfully from that program because she failed to return and participate in the program. Respondent acknowledged that she failed to return to the program in June 1998, and that she did not seek any further treatment for several months. Bullard testified that respondent was never able to show DSS that she had successfully completed drug treatment.
The evidence also established that respondent continued to see James Pierce, the child’s father, at various times throughout the twelve-month period following the child’s placement outside the home. Respondent testified that after Pierce was released from prison in June of 1998, he came and stayed with her in Maryland for approximately six weeks. The visit coincided with respondent’s failure to return to her treatment program. Ruth Ann Southworth, the child’s guardian ad litem, testified that her primary concern for the child was respondent’s inability to sever her relationship with Pierce. She testified that Pierce was a known substance abuser who could negatively impact respondent’s ability to overcome her substance abuse. Respondent acknowledged that Pierce had a “substantial addiction to cocaine and other drugs.” Respondent further admitted that Pierce was discharged unsuccessfully from a drug treatment program due to “an inappropriate visitation” from her in February 1998.
Based on this evidence, the trial court found the child was placed in foster care following a failed attempt at in-patient treatment for substance abuse by respondent. It found that throughout the pen-dency of the matter, DSS, the child’s guardian ad litem, and court orders made various requests to respondent that she provide proof of her successful participation in a drug treatment program, and specifically, a treatment program that administered regular and random drug screens. The court found that respondent had failed to comply with the requests to provide any documentation or other evidence to show that she was being or had been successfully treated in any such program. The trial court further found that respondent had maintained her relationship with James Pierce, and that she had not been forthright and credible in her description of her relationship with Pierce.
I would hold that these findings by the trial court are supported by the clear, cogent and convincing evidence of respondent’s progress or lack thereof in the twelve months following the child’s placement *657outside the home. Quite simply, DSS established that respondent failed to successfully complete a single substance abuse treatment program which included random drug screens during the entire statutory twelve months. Despite urging from DSS to continue in treatment, respondent’s participation in such programs was sporadic at best, with gaps of several months during which respondent was receiving no treatment whatsoever for her addictions. The evidence was also clear that respondent maintained a relationship with Pierce throughout the twelve months, despite knowledge that Pierce was himself a substance abuser. Indeed, it was respondent’s relationship with Pierce that resulted in his unsuccessful discharge from a drug treatment program.
Based on this evidence which clearly supports the trial court’s findings, I would hold that the trial court appropriately exercised its discretion in concluding that respondent’s parental rights should be terminated under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-289.32(3). Although the trial court’s findings must be supported by clear, cogent and convincing evidence, the language of the statute is clear that whether reasonable progress under the statute has been made is within the trial court’s discretion and must be “to the satisfaction of the court.” Thus, the discretion afforded the trial court in determining whether reasonable progress has been made is substantial.
The majority elects to substitute its own view of “reasonable progress” for the judgment of the trial court. I cannot hold, based on the evidence, that the trial court’s conclusion that respondent failed to make reasonable progress within twelve months under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-289.32(3) is an abuse of discretion, given that: (1) the evidence before the court establishes respondent was unable to successfully complete a single drug treatment program including random drug screens within a year of the child’s removal, and (2) for a significant portion of the statutory twelve months respondent failed to obtain any type of substance abuse treatment whatsoever. I would affirm the order of the trial court. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.