In re Alicia J.

IN RE ALICIA J.^[1] In re Joshua R.

Nos. F04CP15003386B, F04CP15003387B

Superior Court of Connecticut, Judicial District of Middlesex, Middletown, Child Protection Session

July 30, 2019

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

SUBSTITUTED AMENDED MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ^[2]

Barbara M. Quinn, Judge

On January 9, 2018, the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, hereafter "DCF," filed petitions for the termination of the parental rights of Amadda S. and the fathers of her two children, Steven J., the father of Alicia J., and Joshua R., the father of Joshua R Although Steven J. had been in contact with DCF during the earlier proceedings in this matter, his exact whereabouts could not be established in order to serve the termination petition. Notice to him was provided by publication confirmed recently by the court. On October 28, 2015, both children were removed from Amadda’s care, due to significant domestic violence in the home in which Joshua R. resided with her, as well as transience and homelessness. The children were adjudicated neglected after a contested hearing and committed to the care and custody of DCF on December 15 2016. They have remained in foster care since that time. Subsequent to the filing of the termination petitions, Amadda filed a motion for revocation of commitment.

The termination petitions allege that Amadda has failed to rehabilitate so that she could assume a responsible position in her children’s lives, given their ages and needs. Connecticut General Statutes § 17a-112(j)(3)(B)(i). As to Steven J., the petition alleges that he has abandoned his daughter and has no ongoing parent-child relations with her. Connecticut General Statutes § 17a-112(j)(3)(A) and § 17a-112(j)(3)(D) respectively. As to Joshua R., the petition alleges that he too has failed to rehabilitate pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes § 17a-112(j)(3)(B)(i). Trial on the termination petitions commenced on April 30, 2019, and continued on several days until June 10, 2019. Steven J. failed to attend and was defaulted for his failure to appear. Joshua R., on the first day of trial, consented to the termination of his parental rights. The court found his consent to be knowingly and voluntarily made with the advice and assistance of competent counsel. His consent is accepted and ordered recorded as of the date of this decision. The petition was earlier amended to reflect his consent. The trial proceeded against Amadda.

The court finds from the record that there are no other custody proceedings affecting these two children and that it has jurisdiction. After duly considering all the evidence and for the reasons set forth in detail below, the court denies the motion for revocation of commitment. Based on the clear and convincing evidence, the court grants the petitions and finds that it is in the best interests of Alicia J. and Joshua R. to terminate their parents’ rights to them.

From the credible and reliable evidence presented, as well as the reasonable inferences to be drawn from that evidence, the court finds the following facts.

A. FACTS

1. Steven J., the Father of Alicia

Steven J. is just six months older than Amadda and was seventeen years old when his daughter Alicia was born. At the time of the neglect proceedings, he was residing in Virginia with his parents and reported that he had a good childhood and no history of mental health treatment or need for medication. When DCF contacted him in 2015, he was employed and had been involved in a number of internship programs such as cooking, computers and pest control. He stated that "he was sad to hear that his daughter had been placed in foster care."^[3] He expressed an interest in wanting to be a resource for his daughter, but he has never come to Connecticut for court dates nor otherwise made himself available.

He has had no contact with his daughter since she was very small. He sent no cards, letters or gifts, nor provided any support for her. She does not see Steven J. as her father, but rather identifies Joshua R. as her father figure, as she resided with him for a good number of years prior to her removal from her mother’s care. Because of Steven’s absence from Alicia’s life, the court finds that she has been abandoned by her biological father, in the sense that Steven has never exhibited any interest in his child, nor provided any financial or other support to her, despite court orders to pay support. He has never exchanged cards, letters or gifts, and clearly has never formed an ongoing parent-child relationship with her. The court concludes, from the clear and convincing evidence, that the two grounds alleged in the termination petition have been proven.

2. The Father of Joshua, Joshua R.

As noted above, Joshua R. consented to the termination of his parental rights and no further factual findings need be made about him in support of the termination of his parental rights.

3. The Mother, Amadda B.

A. Background and History

Amadda had a difficult childhood and reported that she was molested in her family home by "uncles." She disclosed the abuse to her mother when she was in the third grade. She reported that she grew up with very little supervision from her mother, who would travel between the United States and Ecuador. She had been traumatized by the death of her father, who committed suicide when she was ten. Her difficult life in her family of origin led her to become a rebellious teenager. By the time she was thirteen, she found herself in foster care in New York. She became homeless after running away from her foster home and lived on the streets for a length of time. She then began to live with the R. family. She became romantically involved with their son, Joshua R. She became very close to him as he defended her and saved her from many bad situations in which she found herself.^[4]

Her first child was born to her when she was just sixteen years old. Her second child, Joshua, was born three years later. And more recently, two years ago, her third child was born. That child, after an initial investigation by the New York child welfare agency, remains in her care. She continues to reside in New York, in an apartment with her mother and her grandmother.

B. The Removal for the Two Oldest Children from Amadda’s Care

Amadda was able to keep Alicia in her care for over six years, from the time of her birth until October 2015. This is a considerable feat for such a young mother and demonstrates the level of her commitment to her child. She was able to cope fairly well until her second child, Joshua, was born some three years later. By that time, she and Joshua R. had established a separate home for themselves in Connecticut. It is apparent that they soon became overwhelmed with the care of the two children, due to low levels of income, lack of parenting skills and considerable intimate partner violence between them, with some events occurring in front of the children. There were multiple referrals to DCF by others in the years 2013-2015. Those reports escalated in frequency and severity in 2015, and culminated with the removal of the children in October of that year. The multiple referrals documented in the investigation protocols and the court-ordered psychological evaluations^[5] establish she had mental health difficulties, was transient, and suffered from domestic violence. Those documents also establish physical neglect of the two older children.

July 2015, was a particularly difficult month with at least three referrals. First, the police responded to the family apartment when a report was received that Joshua threatened to kill himself with a box cutter and intended to cut his wrists. He appeared to be under the influence of drugs. He was taken to the local hospital for medical and psychological evaluation. Upon his release, he returned to the apartment the next day. He and Amadda apparently got into a fight, and Joshua punched her and stated that they were both going to die. He was subsequently arrested for the threatening and domestic violence and spent time incarcerated in the psychiatric unit of a correctional facility. Later, in the month of July, a police officer contacted DCF about physical neglect of Alicia and Joshua. He reported that Amadda had attempted to get herself to a scheduled medical appointment by riding a bicycle with both of her children. None of them had worn helmets and at some point, while on the road, they had all fallen from the bicycle and been injured. They were treated for minor injuries there, all for road rash and Amadda for a possible broken nose. Around the same time Joshua’s paternal grandfather reported that Amadda and Joshua fought often.

After Joshua was arrested for the domestic violence incident, Amadda relocated to New York where Alicia was then enrolled in school in September of that year. In October, Amadda and the children returned to Connecticut. At that time, since DCF had an open child protection case, they attempted several home visits. Amadda was uncooperative and did not respond. A face-to-face meeting with Amadda finally took place on October 22, 2015, when Amadda reported that Joshua R. and she were fighting and yelling at each other. She reported that Joshua hit her, but never in front of the children.

Around the same time, Alicia disclosed the fighting and difficulties in the home to her school teacher, who reported the child’s statements to DCF, as required by law. On the basis of all this information, DCF sought and secured an order of temporary custody of the two children on October 28, 2015. The children were then placed in the first of four foster homes they came to live in over time. They had now been in their last foster home for over two years. After a contested hearing, that temporary order...