In re Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights to L.J.B.

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IN RE: INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS TO L.J.B., A MINOR APPEAL OF: J.M.S., MOTHER

No. 778 MDA 2022

Superior Court of Pennsylvania

November 16, 2022

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

Appeal from the Decree Entered April 21, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County Orphans' Court at No(s): 2021-4556 A

BEFORE: BOWES, J., McCAFFERY, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E ^[*]

MEMORANDUM

STEVENS, P.J.E.

J.M.S ("Mother") appeals from the decree granting Centre County Children and Youth Agency ("CYS" or "Agency") petitions to involuntarily terminate her parental rights to her two-year-old daughter, L.J.B., under 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 2511(a)(2), (5), (8), and (b) and change the goal from reunification to adoption. Mother's counsel ("Counsel") has filed a petition to withdraw and an accompanying brief pursuant to Anders. V. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967) and Commonwealth v. Santiago, 978 A.2d 349 (Pa. 2009). We affirm and grant counsel's petition to withdraw.

The orphans' court's Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion sets forth the pertinent facts and procedural history, as follows:

[On October 15, 2021, the Agency filed a petition seeking to terminate the parental rights of Mother and Father.] At the April 8, 2022 termination hearing, the Agency presented testimony from two Agency caseworkers who worked with Mother, Father, and L.J.B, and from a Youth Service Bureau [("Y.S.B.")] reunification worker who worked with the family in connection with providing formal reunification services. Various documents from the dependency docket were also filed collectively as an Agency exhibit. Mother and Father both testified in support of their respective positions.

With respect to Mother, the evidence demonstrated the existence of ongoing, significant safety concerns regarding her ability to parent L.J.B. based on mental health diagnoses (depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder) for which Mother was not consistently treating, substance abuse, and housing instability. [N.T., 4/8/22, at 20, 54-57]. The Agency had been involved with Mother and her older daughter, "M", since the fall of 2018 based on similar concerns and as a result of referrals that then three-year-old M was left outside alone and unsupervised on more than one occasion. [N.T. at 7, 13].

Mother's parents ultimately secured custody of M and Mother had supervised visits. [N. at 7]. The Agency continued to provide services to Mother in connection with her parenting of M, including parenting education and support and encouragement of Mother's mental health treatment. Mother was cooperative at times and at other times uncooperative, irrational, and erratic. There was significant conflict with her family. [N.T at 14.]

In May of 2019, Mother became involved with Father. In November of 2019, the Agency received a report that Mother was pregnant with L.J.B. and was abusing Adderall. The Agency, working together with Mother's mental health blended case manager, attempted to address the Adderall use issue with Mother. Mother's mental health and related instability remained a primary concern. Testimony established that, by 2020, Mother was also having difficulty focusing at her job, and housing stability became an ongoing issue due to failure to pay rent, family conflicts, and significant property damage in a rented home that lead [sic] to problems with Mother's landlord. A CYS caseworker met with mother ten days before she gave birth to L.J.B. and [found] Mother was difficult to communicate with and unfocused. Mother tested positive for amphetamines and marijuana at the hospital after giving birth to L.J.B. on March 14, 2020. [N.T. at 15-20].

L.J.B. was adjudicated dependent on April 1, 2020, and placed in the care and custody of CYS.^{[ ]} L.J.B. was placed with a foster family, and she has remained in the foster home since her initial placement. [N.T. at 21-24]. As of the time of the termination of parental rights hearing on April 8, 2022, L.J.B. has been in foster care for a little more than two years, [which constitutes] the entirety of her life. L.J.B. was adjudicated dependent due to significant safety concerns for this vulnerable child should she be in the care and custody of either parent under the circumstances as they existed at that time. [N.T. at 24].

As to Mother, the evidence showed that she experienced a great deal of instability in numerous facets of her life due to ongoing mental health problems, for which she was not adequately treating, as well as drug abuse. Domestic violence between Mother and Father was also a concern. Although Mother had services available and had been connected with providers for some time, she did not consistently follow through with services. N.T. at 54-64].

As to Father, although he expressed an interest in taking custody of L.J.B. on her birth, the Agency had previously been open for services in connection with other children of Father and could not assure the safety of newborn L.J.B. in his care and custody due to ongoing concerns regarding drug use and housing and employment instability. There were also concerns regarding Father's domestic violence.

CYS initially provided reunification services and support to Mother and Father while they were [waitlisted] for formal purchased reunification services to begin. Mother and Father were not living together, and services were offered separately. Because of pandemic conditions in early 2020, visits with L.J.B. were initially held by Zoom. The Agency worked with Mother and Father to facilitate effective and fulfilling visits and to help them with the technology skills required to participate. In this initial period, Mother did well during visits, and engaged with L.J.B. in a loving, affectionate way. Visits were eventually moved to Mother's home for a time. Father participated in Zoom visits during this period, but not consistently. [N.T. at 24-49].

Formal reunification services through YSB began in December of 2020 and continued for approximately nine months, until August of 2021. From the outset of formal reunification services, Mother appeared to have decompensated from a mental health perspective and seemed very unstable. She was unfocused and either unable or unwilling to cooperate when it came to fairly basic tasks such as reviewing documents and required releases. She also consistently tested positive for various drugs, which included cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, amphetamines, opiates and THC. [N.T. at 54-64].

The reunification worker continued addressing drug abuse concerns with Mother and attempted to help her, to no avail. Mother at times appeared impaired or subdued to the point that she did not actively participate in visits with L.J.B. Mother had been recommended for a partial hospitalization in the summer of 2020 but chose not to follow through; according to Mother, she was afraid of losing her job. [N.T. at 64-71].

She was ultimately discharged from mental health and substance abuse counseling for noncompliance and/or failure to attend. Mother's reunification counselor testified to concerns over Mother's ability to handle basic parenting tasks. These issues could not be addressed because of the need to focus primarily on Mother's mental health and substance abuse problems, and there was never an ability to progress beyond that focus due to mother's unwillingness or inability to cooperate or follow through with treatment. [N.T. at 70-72].

[The Agency determined that] Mother's mental health issues and substance abuse clearly negatively impacted her ability to parent and to provide safety for L.J.B. Mother was inappropriate in handling of L.J.B. and in interactions with her YSB caseworkers. Home conditions were at times found to be inappropriate for a young child, with items such as razors found on the floor. She was observed to be hallucinating during a visit with L.J.B. Mother could not consistently use a car seat or highchair properly, and at times demonstrated exasperation at being asked to try. [N.T. at 62-71]

Mother was continuing to feed L.J.B. baby food after L.J.B. had transitioned to regular food, and on one occasion overfed L.J.B. to the point she was gagging. Mother was harsh in her words and tone with L.J.B. Reunification workers had to intervene during many visits to ensure L.J.B.'s safety and well-being. [N.T. at 63, 67-68].

At about one year of age, L.J.B. appeared fearful of Mother; she would be tearful and at times scream when Agency workers spoke of visits with Mother. Visits were moved from the home to an Agency setting because of safety concerns. Visits were ultimately terminated on July 20, 2021, after a hearing because of Mother's conduct and to protect L.J.B.'s well-being. [N.T. at 70-71].

Mother was fired from her job in late July of 2022[, although she subsequently attained other employment], and [she] was experiencing difficulties in the relationship with her landlord. Formal reunification ended in August of 2021 given the lack of cooperation. The Agency served Mother with paperwork for the termination hearing in December of 2021. She appeared disheveled and "off" to the caseworker. [N.T. at 72-100].

In January of 2022, Mother was admitted for a brief in-patient psychiatric stay. She was released with prescribed medications. She contacted a mental health provider, and, as of the termination hearing date, was on a waiting list for intake. She did not provide a release for related records.

Mother testified at the termination hearing. As of that time, she was working with services in the community to attain stable housing, but was living in a hotel and planning to transition to another. She was working with other community supports to secure connections to services. She testified to wanting to develop a closer relationship to the foster

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