In re Alyssa, No. K09-CP00-007959 (CT 2/18/2003)

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Unpublished Opinion

In re Alyssa B., a child under the age of eighteen years.¹

No. K09-CP00-007959

Superior Court of Connecticut

Judicial District of Middlesex

Child Protection Session at Middletown

February 18, 2003

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

RUBINOW, JUDGE.

This memorandum of decision addresses a petition brought to terminate the parental rights (TPR) of Vicki L.² the biological mother of Alyssa B., born September 1, 2000.³ The Department of Children and Families (DCF) filed a TPR petition on July 6, 2001, alleging the grounds of abandonment, failure to achieve rehabilitation, and lack of an ongoing parent-child relationship. For the reasons stated below, the court finds these matters in favor of the petitioner.

Trial of this highly-contested matter took place on August 26 and October 28, 2002. The petitioner, the minor child and the respondent mother were vigorously represented throughout the proceedings.⁴ The Child Protection Session of the Superior Court, Juvenile Matters, has jurisdiction over the pending case. Notice of this proceeding has been provided in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Practice Book. No action is pending in any other court affecting custody of Alyssa.

I. FACTUAL FINDINGS

The Court has thoroughly reviewed the verified petitions, the TPR social study,⁵ and the multiple other documents submitted in evidence which included Connecticut and Massachusetts court records, correspondence from the respondent, and a course completion certificate. The court has utilized the applicable legal standards⁶ in considering this evidence and the testimony of trial witnesses, who included DCF staff members, the foster mother, and Vicki L.⁷ Upon deliberation, the court finds that the following facts were proven by clear and convincing evidence at trial.⁸

I.A. HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS

Alyssa was born to Vicki L. and Stephen B. on September 1, 2000. DCF has had custody of the child since September 5, 2000 when the court (Driscoll, J.) imposed an ex parte OTC; the OTC was confirmed on September 15, 2000. (Exhibits 1, 3.) On October 3, 2000, the court (Driscoll, J.) found the child to be homeless as Vicki L. was confined at York Correctional Institute (YCI) and Stephen B. was incarcerated in Massachusetts. Adjudicated an uncared-for child, Alyssa was committed to the custody of DCF; she has remained in DCF custody ever since. (Exhibits 4, 5.)

I.B. EVENTS PRIOR TO THE NEGLECT ADJUDICATION OF OCTOBER 3, 2000.

Vicki L. was born on May 10, 1972. Her mother used heroin; her father used drugs and died of a heroin overdose when Vicki L. was fifteen years old. At the age of five, Vicki L. came into the care of her maternal grandparents. (Exhibit 1.) Vicki L. has earned her GED; presently incarcerated, she takes computer classes and works as a cottage cleaner. (Testimony of Vicki L.)

Vicki L. first tried marijuana and alcohol when she was fifteen years old. At that time, she became involved with Harold P. Their child Kristen was born on March 11, 1989, when Vicki L. was sixteen years old. (Exhibit 1.)

Vicki L. continued to use alcohol regularly, and also used marijuana. In the fall of 1992, Vicki L. was involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident in Massachusetts. She was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle without a license, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, giving a false name to a police officer, leaving the scene after causing personal injury, manslaughter and homicide with a motor vehicle.⁹ Vicki L. was held in lieu of bail awaiting trial. (Exhibit 2.) Since that time, Vicki L.'s first child, Kristen has been cared for by members of her family. (Exhibit 1; Testimony of Vicki L.)

On October 6, 1993, Vicki L. pled guilty to her pending charges in Massachusetts. She was sentenced to fifteen to twenty years of incarceration with ten years to be served, and commenced serving her sentence at that time.¹⁰ (Exhibit 2.) During the ensuing period of incarceration, Vicki L. took numerous programs including stress class, fitness class, Reasoning and Rehabilitation class and HIV class.¹¹ (Testimony of Vicki L.)

In March 1998, Vicki L. was released from prison. The remainder of her sentence was suspended, and she began a period of probation. As a condition of her probation, Vicki L. was directed to participate in alcohol counseling. (Exhibit 2; Testimony of Vicki L.)

Upon her release from incarceration, Vicki L. lived with her mother for a few months. She then became involved with Stephen B., and again used heroin and marijuana on a fairly regular basis. (Exhibit 1; Testimony of John L.) During this period, Vicki L. allowed and permitted herself to be present "when somebody was doing a B and E."¹² (Testimony of Vicki L.) She thereby violated the terms of her probation and subjected herself to a new arrest in Massachusetts. (Testimony of Vicki L.) Thereafter, Vicki L. moved to Connecticut to avoid arrest in Massachusetts. Pregnant with Alyssa, the respondent mother continued using heroin at least through December 1999. (Exhibit 1; Testimony of John L.)

On January 24, 2000, the Commonwealth acknowledged that Vicki L. had defaulted her probation, and ordered a warrant for her arrest. (Exhibit 2; Testimony of John L.) Vicki L. was apprehended in Connecticut, and was detained at YCI awaiting extradition to Massachusetts.

Vicki L.'s second child, Alyssa, was born at a local hospital on September 1, 2000. The child briefly received treatment in the hospital's intensive care unit, and was taken into DCF custody upon discharge, as Vicki L. could not care for the child while incarcerated. The infant was placed in temporary foster care with Susan and Stanley B. (Exhibit 1.) DCF brought Alyssa to visit with her mother at YCI on October 2, 2000. (Exhibit 2; Testimony of John L., Vicki L.) As Vicki L. remained incarcerated, Alyssa was adjudicated an uncared for child on October 3, 2000 and was committed to DCF. (Exhibits 4, 5.)

I.C. EVENTS FOLLOWING THE ADJUDICATION OF OCTOBER 3, 2000.

In late October 2000, after ninety days of detention at YCI, Vicki L. was returned to Massachusetts to face her pending charges. She has remained incarcerated in Massachusetts, completing the sentence originally imposed in 1993. (Exhibit 2; Testimony of John L., Vicki L.)

On December 7, 2000, DCF brought Alyssa to visit Vicki L. at her place of incarceration in Massachusetts. Thereafter, DCF made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to communicate with Vicki L.'s counselor at the Massachusetts Department of Correction (MDOC) to arrange additional supervised visits between Vicki L. and Alyssa.¹³ Alyssa must be transported for approximately two hours, each way, in order to visit with her mother in Massachusetts. (Exhibits 1, B; Testimony of John L., Carolyn W.)

I.D. EVENTS FOLLOWING THE FILING OF THE TPR PETITION OF JULY 6, 2001.

As found in Part I.A., the TPR petition was filed against Vicki L. on July 6, 2001. On August 16, October 11 and December 11, 2001, DCF brought Alyssa to Massachusetts for visits with Vicki L. at her place of incarceration in Massachusetts. (Testimony of John L., Carolyn W.)

In the fall of 2001, Vicki L. participated in the Correctional Recovery Academy, an intensive six-month program sponsored by MDOC. On October 12, 2001, she received a certificate indicating that she had successfully completed the program.¹⁴ Thereafter, she participated in MDOC's two-month Graduate Maintenance Class, and she now receives one hour of counseling from time to time to reinforce the life management skills she has learned. At her place of incarceration, Vicki L. participates in computer training in prison and she works as a cottage cleaner. She attends AA meetings once or twice a week, and has been referred for parenting classes sponsored by the MDOC. (Exhibits 1, C; Testimony of Vicki L.)

In early November 2001, one-year-old Alyssa was hospitalized for vomiting and dehydration. Diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes, she was treated in the intensive care unit. Upon discharge, Alyssa was placed in residence with Ann and her husband, who were available to provide more extended foster care. Ann and her husband have received training and are skilled in determining how much insulin Alyssa requires, administering the child's insulin injections, ascertaining how much food the child should eat, and how to watch for complications in her condition. Although Alyssa will always be insulin dependent, her condition has been quite stable under her foster parents' care. (Testimony of Ann.)

Now a toddler, Alyssa is happy and well adjusted to life with Ann, her husband, and their eleven-year-old son, who adores his foster sister. Alyssa is beginning to learn to talk; she calls her foster parents "mommy" and "daddy." Ann and her husband would love to adopt Alyssa if she becomes available to them. (Testimony of Ann.)

Vicki L. had no visits with Alyssa from January 2002 through June 2002.¹⁵ Commencing in July 2002, Alyssa has been transported by DCF for one-and-a-half hour visits with Vicki L. each month, at her place of incarceration in Massachusetts. During these visits, the respondent mother has been very appropriate with Alyssa. (Testimony of Carolyn W., Daniel S.) Alyssa is Vicki L.'s only visitor. (Testimony of Vicki L., Carolyn W.)

While Vicki L. hopes to be discharged from prison by the end of 2003, she admits that she is subject to a maximum incarceration date that does not expire until 2005. (Testimony of Vicki L., Carolyn W.) When she is released, Vicki L. wants to attend an unspecified program that could also accommodate Alyssa. (Testimony of Vicki L.)

II. ADJUDICATION

In the adjudicatory phase of this hearing,¹⁶ the court has considered the evidence related to circumstances and events prior to July 6, 2001, the date upon which the TPR petition against Vicki L. was filed, insofar as the allegations pertaining to abandonment and lack of an ongoing parent-child relationship are concerned.¹⁷ With regard to the...